Just about every parent I have ever met, as a teacher or as a parent myself, want the best for their children.
And by the ‘best’ I also mean the best education.
And by the best education, I don’t mean you have to send them to the most expensive school, nor provide them with the latest and greatest in technology, but rather it means by being involved.
And by being involved, it doesn’t mean being in the classroom every day. Of every week. Of every month.
I am a working parent. I have also been a single working parent since my daughter was half way through Year 1 and my son had not even started ‘big school’ yet. And in that time, I haven’t always worked as a teacher (my kids are now in Years 10 and 8, so I have been doing it on my own for a while now).
I know just how difficult it is to ‘be involved’ in your child’s schooling on a physical level. In my years in the classroom as a teacher, and as a parent, there are always going to be the parent’s who can come in and listen to the reading, run the P and C, organise the school concert, run the canteen, and many more important things that schools really rely on parental involvement to ensure those needs are met.
Confession – I have never done canteen duty. I was once rostered on on a rare day off, my son got sick and I couldn’t do it. I have never been able to since as I have always worked.
But I am not talking about that today. I am talking about being ‘involved’ in what your kids are doing.
Children perform better in school and life when there is some type of parental involvement. And this starts from before they even get to school.
By reading to them, having puzzles, lego (this is an absolute winner and will be written about in more detail soon), art and craft supplies (no, I don’t mean spending a fortune – go to the $2 shop, or save toilet paper rolls, egg cartons etc), lots of books, and interaction with adults as well as other kids can help to set our little ones up for life long learning.
Visit the library, spend time on the computer exploring topics of interest (this will be explained in more detail soon for some ideal sites), go to the zoo, the beach, the park, the supermarket (not when either of you are tired or hungry though!). All these places provide opportunities for learning.
Once your little darling’s are in school, support them. I know it can be hard with young ones, who might come home tired, you might have been at work or have toddlers/babies or worse – teenagers – but by talking to your children about their day, you are involved. My son rarely used to tell me anything about his school day. I would ask different questions when I picked him up form after school care, but he just didn’t respond. But, when I was cooking dinner, or in his younger years when I would read him a story at night, he would then open up about what he had done. Even now as a high schooler, I don’t badger him. I always ask him how his day was, and I find that sitting eating dinner is when he feels most comfortable to share his day (or when I am about to climb into bed exhausted – then he shares!).
Stay in touch with the teacher. Please don’t hassle them on the way into the classroom but in these modern days most teachers would happily supply an email for you to make contact with the. I have done it as a teacher and do it as a parent – but make it meaningful communication – email is a feasible method of communication but not as a ‘weapon’!
Talk to your children about their homework. I still remember doing my homework at the kitchen table while Mum was cooking dinner when I was in primary school. Take an interest. Homework can be a hot topic but if your child is given it, find out what they are doing.
Make sure your children get to school on time. This is working as partners with your school. I have taught so many children who consistently arrive 10-20-30 minutes late a few days a week. It all adds up and by the end of the year, you will be shocked at how much time they have missed. Valuable time. I know that there are exceptions, every one understands this, but instill in your children the importance of being on time.
Have high and realistic expectations for your children and talk to them about this. Ok, not everyone is going to grow up and become a doctor, or a nuclear physicist, or an astronaut, but don’t ‘dumb don’ what your kids can achieve. I have high expectations for my children. That doesn’t mean I expect them to achieve 100% in every piece of work in every subject, but I know what they are capable of. To me, it’s about effort. And I am exactly the same with any children I teach. Only recently I had a little girl in a class constantly tell me she was dumb and she couldn’t do anything. No matter what we were doing, she would always tell me she couldn’t do it. So, we sat down and I told her she wasn’t allowed to say those words to me any more. That she now had to tell me if she ‘didn’t understand’ something, or if she was ‘having trouble with something’. And that is exactly what she now says to me. But she also has a bit more of a ‘go’ with things now. And that is a win win in my eyes.
The majority of the tips here are for younger or primary aged students. Some of the tips are just as appropriate for high school and senior students, but in Part 2, I will focus more on the high school’s and how parents can remain involved.
How are you involved in your children’s education?
Schoolopoly 