When parents and families get personally involved in education,
their
children do better in school and grow up to be more successful in life.
Sounds like common sense, doesn't it? Yet parental involvement is one of the
most overlooked aspects of American education today. The fact is, many parents
don't realize how important it is to get involved in their children's learning.
Often parents would like to be involved, but have trouble finding the time.
All parents and family members should try to find the time and make the effort
because research shows that
when families get involved , their
children:
- Get better grades and test scores.
- Graduate from high school at higher rates.
- Are more likely to go on to higher education.
- Are better behaved and have more positive attitudes.
Family involvement is also one of the best investments a family
can make.
- Students who graduate from high school earn, on average, $200,000 more in their
lifetimes than students who drop out.
- College graduates make almost $1 million more!
ALL parents and families can enjoy these benefits. It doesn't matter how much
money you have. It doesn't matter how much formal education you've had yourself
or how well you did in school. Family involvement works for children at all
grade levels.
What is "Family Involvement in Education"?
It's a lot of different types of activities- the keyword here being 'ACT'.
Whatever actions you undertake will have benefits for your child. We offer these
suggestions:
- Keep in touch with the school. Families who stay informed about their children's
progress at school have higher-achieving children.
- At the beginning of the year find out if your child's teachers distribute course
outlines or a course descriptor or syllabus. These types of communication often
contain helpful information about individual teachers' expectations for
homework, class assignments, and project work.
- If your child has always been a "wait until the last minute and then work like
crazy to meet that deadline" student with respect to the completion of homework
and project work, BEWARE! Bright students can 'get by' on this work pattern
through middle school- but in high school the work load is simply too large.
Your child's grades will be lower- perhaps much lower than what they are
accustomed to receiving. Moreover they will feel stressed and discouraged.
- Another variation on this 'let's wait' pattern, is the student who believes that
they can 'take it easy' for the first five weeks of the marking period, and then
start earnestly completing assignments after Progress Reports. Again, this
strategy usually results in academic failure in high school.
- Plus, remember that a studetns final cumulative average begins being calculated
with the first grade they receive as freshmen.
You can help coach your child to change these ill-fated homework strategies.
How?
- Establish a daily family routine with scheduled homework time.
- Set a regular time for homework each afternoon or evening, set aside a quiet,
well-lit place, and encourage and expect children to study.
- A popular 'quality assurance' measure used in the business world states; "You
get what you inspect, not what you expect." Ask to see your child's completed
assignments, as well as 'works in progress'. Also encourage your child to use
their agenda book.
- For larger project work and reports, students often need guidance with how to
organize materials or outline writing and research tasks. Breaking a project
down into a series of smaller 'chunks' allows students to complete tasks on an
established time-line. Your child's teachers, as well as the school media
specialist, can provide additional resources on the 'how to' aspect of managing
project and research paper completion.
- There is a wide array of facts, information and tutorial resources available on
the Internet for high school students. We have compiled a list of Internet
resources pertinent to secondary level studies.
- If you are at all uncertain about your child's academic standing, DO NOT wait
for the five week Progress Report or ten week Report Card grade to confirm your
suspicions! Instead ACT today and contact your child's teachers or school
counselors to request this information. Parent/teacher conferences are also
available.
- Use TV wisely! Academic achievement drops sharply for children who watch more
than 10 hours of television a week, or an average of more than two hours a day.
- Express high expectations for children by enrolling them in challenging courses.
You can communicate to your children the importance of setting and meeting
challenges in school. Tell your children that working hard and stretching their
minds is the only way for them to realize their full potential. Expect and
encourage your children to take tough academic courses. Make sure they never
settle for doing less than their best.
'Effective parental involvement' can be as simple as asking your children, 'How
was school today?', but ask every day. That will send your children the clear
message that their schoolwork is important to you and you expect them to learn.
Some parents and families may have the time to get involved in many ways. Others
may only have the time for one or two activities. But whatever your level of
involvement, remember; If you get involved and stay involved, you can make a
world of difference.