School
districts all over the country are suffering from a lack of parent
participation. Could you imagine a day when fifty percent more parents show up
for a parent’s night? Parent involvement
can change an entire school system. I
challenge parents who are reading this article to use their social networks to
encourage friends of your family to show up at Parent’s Night. If more parents showed up it would let other parents
know what resources are needed and they could play a major role in helping
schools to become better. Gone
are the days when a mother stayed at home to raise children and participate in
school activities. When a child’s parent
is involved in their school it sends a message that they care. If a parent is
working they can send a relative or a grandparent. Something needs to be done to make parent
involvement in K12 schools a high priority on their list of daily activities.
Each parent should want to witness their student’s academic success. Their
student’s achievements will draw them into the school and encourage them to
participate.
What the educators are saying about parent
involvement is true. Parents who read to
their children early develop children who enjoy reading. Children are like sponges absorbing new
knowledge at a tremendous rate.
Parents are great role models for their
children’s love for learning. If the
majority of the parent’s time is spent in front of the television or laptop
computer then it becomes their child’s main source of information and learning
too. In other words parents who
demonstrate a joy of reading instill it in their children. A student’s
enthusiasm for learning should begin in the home then spreads to a child’s in school
instruction. Here are a few tips:
1.
Parent Involvement – Make out a schedule of dates when you or a relative will
show up for school meetings during the academic year. There are plenty or resources
that are only announced during a parent’s night. Also you are getting an opportunity to meet
your student’s instructor to find out how they run their class. You will also uncover ways that you can get
involved with at least one activity for the year.
2.
Encourage them to set goals for themselves – Children need to know that there
is no limits to wait they can accomplish.
Encourage your child and stay involved in school activities.
3.
Failure is success – Help your child to understand that there is a lot that
they can learn from each failure. Let
them know that they will know to try something different the next time that
they are pursuing a grade. The student may also need a tutor to help them to
learn a particular subject.
4.
Surround your child with positive role models – Get them involved in activities
that promote leadership and determination.
An optimistic child can learn that they should never give up.
5. Expose your child to the world - Children need to know that there is more to
the world than their immediate neighborhood.
There are a lot of positive things that they can learn from others.
6.
Physical fitness and good health leads to optimism – A child who is physically
healthy will have more energy and enthusiasm for life. A child who is eating
write, physically fit and gets sufficient rest will be a very productive child.
7. Get a Tutor – If your student needs help with
their academic achievement level talk to their teacher about tutoring. The
teacher may provide it or have a tutoring recommendation. If you ask you will find out that other
parents are getting help for their children.
Some governors are saying we need more standardized
tests to resolve the student achievement gap.
Testing is not the answer. Parent involvement is an alternative that
costs fewer dollars to implement. The
resources that are allocated for testing could be spent to increase the number
of parent leaders who are in the schools.
Some schools are finding ways to get parent’s involved in the daily
activities of their schools. Parents who
are involved can learn about instruction methods that other parents can use in
the home. They are the catalyst to get
parents who are not involved to volunteer for special projects.
Parents sometimes reflect on the bad experiences
that they had when they were in K12 schools.
Student achievement can be raised when parents know that their active
participation will make a difference in their child’s learning capacity. Some parents are looking at their child’s
achievement level to see if there are any differences. They need to know more about the benefits of
looking at the value of education from a different perspective. Some parents do not know what a good
education looks like. School
administrators and teachers must continually advocate for increased
communication with parents.
Parents need more information about how K12
education is changing. Most parents are not aware of the financial
challenges that school systems are facing. Many schools are underfunded
when compared to school districts within their own states. Parents can
play a role in encouraging their local legislators to get involved in changing
their states school funding formula.
Parents should invite the legislators to visit schools and to witness so
that they can witness the challenges that they are facing. It is easy to create a policy that under fund schools when you make assumptions that money is getting wasted. Parents need to partner with schools in order
to help with specific resources that their child’s school requires.
The United States is
steadily slipping in terms of its edge in graduating students from high
schools, trade schools, and colleges.
Starting a national campaign to help parents to understand their role in
student achievement is a solution whose time has come. New and innovative organizations are
needed. These organizations must take
into account the changing trends in family structures. Parents are looking for solutions to the
achievement gap. The solution lays in a
combination of community and K12 schools working toward alternative education
activities which are easily implemented in the home.
Some parents are raising the bar on their
expectations for their student. They are
often interested in identifying resources that will prepare their child for
college. They participate in after
school and weekend programs right along with their child. They sign up because of their belief that
their program will serve as a link between high school and post secondary
education. Today is the day to get involved and make a difference in your local
school. Parents are the key to a successful school and their child’s future
career opportunities.
