Posted on 01/25/2017
Did you know that the #1 predictor of your child’s educational success has nothing to do with IQ, the school system, or even his or her school teacher? It’s you, Mom and Dad. No pressure. Don’t worry: You don’t have to have a PhD in Education to provide the kind of support that sets your child up for success. You just have to be involved in the process. Exactly what that means depends on your source, but here’s an overview of the three basic schools of thought on the issue.
Educational Interest
Naturally, kids compartmentalize. When school stuff stays at school, it’s easier for them to refrain from seeing education as important to the rest of life, both now and in the future. That’s where parental interest in a child’s education comes in. According to the NEA, parental involvement in a child’s education can be summed up by a few simple steps: “When parents talk to their children about school, expect them to do well, make sure that out-of-school activities are constructive, and help them plan for college, their children perform better in school.” This kind of interest comes across most strongly when both parents discuss educational issues with their kids, whether they live together or not.
School Involvement
Other organizations and studies have focused more specifically on parental attendance at and involvement in school-related activities, such as general meetings and other school events, scheduled teacher conferences, and volunteering on a school committee or within the school. While that kind of parental involvement in school increased between the years 1999 and 2007, it has plateaued since 2012. Parental involvement is defined as parent reported participation at least once during the school year in attending a general school meeting; attending a scheduled meeting with their child’s teacher; attending a school event; or volunteering in the school or serving on a school committee.
Now, don’t get overwhelmed by that list: You don’t have to head up the PTA, be the official “Room Parent,” go to every single concert or athletic event, or become BFFs with your child’s teacher. Even a single visit to the school each month can make a world of difference. (Bonus points if the secretary knows your name by the end of your child’s tenure in elementary school, but really, no one is keeping track.)
Learning Integration
Even the best classroom teacher is extremely limited, because they have very limited opportunities to help their students take their education beyond the classroom. That’s where you come in, Mom and Dad. The best way to encourage your child to be a life-long learner is to model learning yourself. Share something you’ve read or learned recently that excites you and incorporate learning activities into everyday life. Simple things like helping measure ingredients in a recipe, calculating sale prices at the store, and finding spelling errors in print can help them connect what they’re learning in the classroom to real life.
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