About “I Care” at The Parental Involvement Place
The Parental Involvement Place (“I Care” Products & Services) is the sole supplier of the “I Care” Positive Parenting Character Curriculum and the “I Care” On-Line Parental Involvement Data Collection and Evaluation Service. The “I Care” Curriculum goals are the same today as they were in 1996 (13 years ago) when the first “I Care” Curriculum was developed and implemented. And that is to provide educators with engaging and meaningful ways to:
- Get busy parents involved with their children at home.
- Simplify the teaching of character at school.
- Involve the community in the teaching of character.
- Measure and document outcomes.
The “I Care” Curriculum continues to evolve. New components have been added based on feedback from parents, teachers, and community partners. The good news is that “I Care” has grown to new levels. Today, over 100,000 classrooms have successfully implemented the “I Care” Curriculum from grades Pre-K through 12.
Elbert Solomon, the developer of “I Care,” started out as a high school math teacher before transitioning to Chemical Engineering and corporate business. There he first used Total Quality Management (TQM) originated by William Deming, who literally revolutionized the Japanese economy by applying the principles of TQM. During his years as a teacher, Mr. Solomon encountered many children who were not meeting their potential. As he dialogued about this with his wife—a former elementary school teacher and administrator—as well as with other friends and colleagues, one issue emerged: lack of parental involvement. Try as he might, he could find no one to define parental involvement in measurable terms. Instead, it was always “good” or “not good enough.”
After extensive research and input from parents, educators, and community partners, the “I Care” Curriculum came into being—enabling families, schools, and communities to simultaneously teach, reinforce, and model good character.
