By Rosa Mirembe Mushega: Teaching For Success Founder
The way parents contribute most to their children’s education is through what they do at home. Parenting has become increasingly challenging especially with the increase of technology as a doorway to learning in the 21st Century. In addition, parents have varying levels of education, work hours, family dynamics, and financial status, which makes parental involvement at home an unleveled playing field. The good news is, that you can still support your child’s education using a variety of different strategies.
Parents should always have high expectations for their children. You should let them know that it is important that they do well in school. Regardless of your child’s academic performance, express your belief in their potential to progressively improve. Do not chastise your child for underperforming, instead partner with their teachers to figure out why they are not working to their maximum potential. Lack of adequate sleep, anxiety, poor diet, abuse, a learning disability, slow brain processing, lack of understanding of taught concepts, exhaustion, and volatile family relationships are just a few of the reasons why some children are not successful in school. Don’t be quick to blame your child for poor grades. Begin by checking if you are providing them with adequate support at home, that is conducive to learning.
It is important to talk with your child about the activities and programs they participate in at school and what they are learning. Refrain from just asking, “How was school?”. Instead, ask them, “What did you learn at school?”. Talking to your child daily about their school day provides several opportunities to share ideas and personal experiences with them, in addition to connecting their learning to the real world. Learning does not only occur in a classroom or at school. There are many opportunities for students to learn through conversations, discussions, and practical activities outside of school. For example, you can teach your child about fractions when cutting up fruit for their snack or dessert. You can also talk about measurement, by bringing to your child’s attention, the different units, weights, or volumes on food packaging, or even the measurements used when cooking or baking. This has a greater impact on academic achievement than only monitoring homework, being at home after school for your kids, and limiting the time they are allowed to watch TV.
Help your child develop a positive attitude toward learning and good work habits by influencing their attitudes, sense of personal competence, work habits, perseverance, self-advocacy skills, planning, and goal setting, in order to increase their chances of success in learning. In addition to directly teaching your children, focus on helping them handle internalized and external distractions, deal with failure by learning through mistakes, have a growth mindset, increase their confidence, praise them for effort and persistence, and demonstrate a positive attitude about school. Progressively these attributes will build a solid foundation for ongoing success.
Reading is one of the most important foundations of education. You can make a big difference in improving your child’s literacy skills, by reading and talking with them about topics and main ideas in different books and stories. Reading with your child, and letting your children see you reading, is the best way to encourage them to learn to love to read. Make reading for your child a fun and engaging activity. Reading is not only when a child is reading a storybook, it is also when they are reading newspapers, magazines, comic books, road signs, signs on buildings, and billboards to name but a few. Don’t just be content with your child’s ability to decode words, but focus on their ability to understand what they are reading. It is very possible for a child to be a fluent reader, but have a low level of comprehension of what they are reading. Ask relevant questions to help them make connections between what they have read, and their own lives, other books they have read, or what is happening in the real world through media text forms. Furthermore, teach your child to make inferences and think critically about the text they are reading to strengthen their higher-order thinking skills.
Parent involvement in school activities is an important way to get involved in your child’s education. Prioritize your time and attend your child’s school concerts, cheer them on in school team activities, or participate in community events and meetings planned by your child's school. Parent involvement in school activities can foster a sense of community within the school. It can also help build stronger relationships between teachers and parents, and provide opportunities for parents to connect with other parents and support each other. School-based activities may not necessarily have a direct impact on student achievement, but they can be a fun and engaging way to build strong school communities. It is not always possible for all parents to turn up for school events for various reasons, including varying work schedules, accessibility to transportation, and financial constraints, but when you can, make an effort to participate in your child’s school events as a supporter and stakeholder of their school community.
Finally, parental involvement does not only include mothers but fathers, extended family members, guardians, and anyone who is invested in your child’s education.
Don’t undermine the difference you can make in your child’s success and achievement in learning, by being an involved parent!
Educators and parents are strongly encouraged to look out for more 21st Century learning and teaching strategies in our next issue, and visit our website at www.teachingforsuccess.ca to access our workshops and consultancy services. Free resources will be available in May on our website.
Teaching For Success provides extensive training in professional development and consultancy services in the education sector, for primary and secondary schools, and tertiary colleges. Our aim is to equip educators through professional development, to cognitively engage students in their learning, to prepare them to compete in the 21st century global economy.
FREE RESOURCES:
How Parent Involvement Leads to Student Success
https://www.waterford.org/education/how-parent-involvment-leads-to-student-success/
How Parental Involvement in Education Helps Children in School
https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/parental-involvement-in-education/
Family Engagement = Student Success
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwEPv2ob_QI