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What are some examples of positive parental involvement with their children's education? I'm wondering specifically for two-income families where both parents work during the day. Since they can't volunteer or otherwise be seen at school, how do they remain involved in the children's education?
What are some examples of positive parental involvement with their children's education? I'm wondering specifically for two-income families where both parents work during the day. Since they can't volunteer or otherwise be seen at school, how do they remain involved in the children's education?
You do not have to volunteer or ever be "seen" at school (except to attend parent teacher conferences) to have a very positive involvement in your child's education.
How about reading to your child, checking their homework, being respectful when talking about their teacher & school, reading & answering notes sent by the teacher, reading the classroom & school newsletters and things like that? IMHO, as a retired teacher, those things are much, much more important than volunteering at school.
Think back to when you were in school. Depending on your age, it may have been extremely rare for dads and moms to ever volunteer at their child's school but parents still showed their children that they valued education and learning.
Last edited by germaine2626; 03-13-2016 at 02:47 PM..
Attend all parent conferences (usually required nowadays I think and schools work with parents to accommodate meetings outside the normally scheduled conference dates) by tag-teaming, one parent one time, other parent the next.
Stay On Top of It:
-Meet your child's teachers/school principal
-Make sure student gets a good night's sleep and breakfast before school
-Get student to school on time, prepared with all necessary materials -always
-Make sure your child's dress is appropriate/according to school rules
-Check that lunch money/credit is up to date -Leave a note of love and encouragement with child in lunch/backpack -Check with student at end of day -Ask student how his/her day went. LISTEN, really LISTEN to his/her responses! TALK TO YOUR CHILD!
-Ask about home assignments
-Find out student's FAVORITE class/subject - and why? Share this interest with him/her.
-Find out student's LEAST favorite class/subject - and why? Help them turn this into a positive.
-Share with child about your POSITIVE experiences in school.
-Go through the backpack yourselves to check for notes from school, homework assignments, and anything that shouldn't be there!
-Stay available /in same or nearby room as child does homework or available by phone if possible in case they have questions. Or they can be taught to leave you a note that you can read when you get home and they are asleep. Brainstorm ways to do this. -Ask if there are: problems; new friends; things to celebrate; difficult subjects; what social things such as dances, fund-raisers, sports events are upcoming and if student will be involved, why/why not? -Go online to school / district website to keep abreast of it all: political/school board/staff changes/community events/any issues -Regularly review student/teacher/class online portfolio or teacher-parent communications. Most schools have these now and parents can actually see what grades students currently have, what assignments are due/missing - this is HUGE!
-Respond to ALL school communications
-Do not argue/be confrontational with teacher/admin in child's presence.
-Have child/school on SPEED DIAL and have school info with you ALWAYS.
-Ask teacher/school principal how you can be of service on behalf of your child in ways that don't conflict with your work schedule.
-Follow the rules of the school/class/district: a school manual is distributed at the beginning of every school year. You can get a duplicate whenever needed.
-Be really nice to the school Secretary. Seriously. They know a lot and wield some power in the day to day.
-Celebrate the accomplishments; commiserate with the not-so-good times; UPLIFT at ALL times!
- Rinse and Repeat
That's my two cents. Most of these things do not require the parents' presence at the school and are what good parents should do. I've even seen parents who work the night shift fit in time to do most of these things.
I retired from a school system after 30 years and currently work in a middle school.
What are some examples of positive parental involvement with their children's education? I'm wondering specifically for two-income families where both parents work during the day. Since they can't volunteer or otherwise be seen at school, how do they remain involved in the children's education?
Parental involvement isn't just volunteering at school. Reading to your kids, having them read to you when they're older, letting them see YOU reading for enjoyment, looking over their homework and helping them with concepts they struggle with, make sure they get to bed early enough to get a good night's sleep, make sure they get to school on time, pack them a good lunch, put a note of encouragement in their lunch....etc, etc, etc.... Anything that sends the message that education is important and that you care about their education.
If getting off work is an issue for things like parent teacher conferences, arrange a phone conference or keep in touch with the teacher by email. It does not hurt to contact the teacher early in the year and let him/her know that you'd like to know if there are any issues as soon as they come up rather than waiting until they grow into real problems.
If you can afford it, buy more school supplies than your child needs and donate extras to the classroom and tell your child to share what they have with others because education is important enough to help a friend who needs a pencil or paper.
Totally agree with the others. I work in the same district and naturally, the same hours. I "volunteer" by being the perfect SPED parent - flexible and realistic with IEP goals, 100% follow-through at home, all expectations completed, and make all consultant communications myself while keeping her in the loop (she has 48 morning/afternoon students).
It can be frustrating to see kids always late, never do their home reading (starting grade one on A level and still at A level by March), absent constantly, and so on. One has medical issues, but some simply don't care. That would be more valuable than photocopying.
Well, every few years my mother would call up the school and scream at them.
It was a very productive kind of involvement. I once caught a cold because kids who brought their lunch had an eating area outside, and it was a cold, rainy day. My mother screamed at them so much that they changed the school policy and all the kids were allowed to eat indoors in the cafeteria in bad weather.
But in terms of "involvement," to me it really just means keeping tabs on what's going on and how the child is doing.
a. Value education and expect them to do their best. This doesn't mean all A's or that every kid goes to college, but that you encourage them to give 100% to whatever they do.
b. Teach them self reliance and responsibility. Obviously the amount depends on their age. The expectations for a kindergartener and a senior getting ready for college are two very different things. Start age appropriate and grow with them. Give them stretch challenges to grow but a soft landing so they can learn.
c. Let them fail sometimes. Don't smother them by protecting them from every bump and bruise.
d. Teach proper math techniques. They may be angry now, but will thank you later. Bad habits in elementary school will become mountains impossible to climb in college.
e. Take trips to places where they can experience nature, science, and history. Disney might be fun, but things like National Parks, Battlefields, and Historic Sites take classroom learning and put it into a real perspective. Visit a battleship, a NASA center, or a historic village that demonstrates how people lived "back when."
f. Place a sport. Any sport. Teaches teamwork, motor skills, determination, and how to both win and lose with grace.
g. Have a hobby. There are a world of mechanical skills, electronics, computers, etc that can be learned in a hobby.
h. Scouts. Boy, Girl, Venture, Campfire, whatever. Teaches them everything from teamwork to leadership to volunteerism. I know, not necessarily politically correct, but none-the-less these organizations really are some of the best teaching them to be good citizens.
i. Religion. Your choice, but teach them good values.
You'll notice that little of what I said specifically applies to schools. That's because much of what I mentioned are the things that prepare and grow our youth to be successful students. If we do these things it enables the school to do what the school is designed for -- to educate youth academically while we as parents educate their character.
Well, every few years my mother would call up the school and scream at them.
It was a very productive kind of involvement. I once caught a cold because kids who brought their lunch had an eating area outside, and it was a cold, rainy day. My mother screamed at them so much that they changed the school policy and all the kids were allowed to eat indoors in the cafeteria in bad weather.
But in terms of "involvement," to me it really just means keeping tabs on what's going on and how the child is doing.
I think "screaming" can be counter-productive and not what I would want to model for my kids. When I didn't like a school policy, I was able to change things by having a meeting with the Principal, along with other parents, and talk about alternatives. I also got involved in the PTA so I could help initiate new programs. It is hard for parents that work outside the home to be involved in the school, but just being a good parent, staying aware of what's going on and treating teachers and administrators with the same respect you want to be shown is all that's needed.
Just encourage your kids to do well by making education important. Make them WANT to do well. It's not as easy as all that because every kid is differently motivated but I think that's probably more important than stuffing envelopes in the back of the classroom.
Well, every few years my mother would call up the school and scream at them.
It was a very productive kind of involvement. I once caught a cold because kids who brought their lunch had an eating area outside, and it was a cold, rainy day. My mother screamed at them so much that they changed the school policy and all the kids were allowed to eat indoors in the cafeteria in bad weather.
But in terms of "involvement," to me it really just means keeping tabs on what's going on and how the child is doing.
I really, really hope that you are joking. Sadly, some parents do believe that yelling at the teacher or principal is a very productive kind of parental involvement.
I have been in education, either as a teacher or a substitute teacher for close to 40 years. I sincerely doubt that the school changed their policy because your mother "screamed at them". I suspect that there were several parents who contacted the school and calmly explained that they disagreed with the policy or wrote letters to the school about the policy, or staff members who felt that the policy was wrong and it was just a coincidence that the policy was changed around the time that your mother "screamed" at them.
PS. while I certainly agree that it can be uncomfortable to be outdoors in cold rainy weather if you are not dressed correctly, but you do know that you "catch colds" because of being exposed to germs (the cold virus) not because of being outdoors in that weather?
Last edited by germaine2626; 03-13-2016 at 04:54 PM..
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