This paper suggests three major directions for improving the family-school relationship, and thus developing productive environments for learning. First, a meaning of curriculum is defined to determine where parents and teachers should direct their attention in order to improve the curriculum in families and schools. Second, four existing assumptions about education that separate families from schools are examined and criticized: (1) academic competence results from the successful completion of tasks under the direction of a teacher in a school; (2) teachers are primarily responsible for decisions about the academic (mainly cognitive) growth of children in school while parents are expected to make the major decisions about the physical and social or emotional development of children in the family; (3) the important variables in the family that affect academic competence are essentially inalterable; and (4) the organizational conditions that hinder teachers from including home environment as part of the curriculum are practically impossible to influence from inside the school. New assumptions which might be used for forming closer associations between families and schools are mentioned. Thirdly, a design for teaming parents and teachers is proposed, one that would encourage both groups to collaborate in building complementary learning environments for elementary school children. (Author/SS)