It’s a wonderful thing to walk into an arena or a soccer field and see so many parents, grandparents, aunts and friends cheering on their children. They are their biggest fans whether their child is the best on the team or just tries his/her best. In fact, look at the benches and you will likely see a couple of parents that volunteer to coach the team.
The lessons children learn from participating in sports can include teamwork, leadership skills, perseverance and a sense of accomplishment. Parents get the opportunity to be cheerleaders and build community relationships with other parents who are interested in the same thing.
These are all valuable experiences.
Why is it then that when a school hosts an event to provide parents resources or skill building opportunities often there are only a few that attend. Sure community bar-b-ques, movie nights and fun events might attract a good number of community members, but, when it comes to learning how to support their child’s math skills or how to improve their literacy achievement, often there are only a few that attend.
Our children learn the same skills mentioned above by becoming engaged in their school and their learning.
Parents are their child’s most consistent educator. Teachers and Principals can change year after year, but, students come home to the same parents everyday. They have the single greatest influence on how their child views the value of education.
If parents send their children to school and believe that is su cient e ort to get them a good education then the research would say that they are wrong. What we know is that a child whose parents have huge expectations of them in terms of achievement will work hard and strive to meet those expectations. If a parent is engaged in their children’s education it is likely they are more con dent in school because their parents are cheering them on everyday at home.
Today so many of our children have mental health issues such as bullying or stress in schools. If their parents are visible in school and talking about school everyday, it follows that they will be open to discussing these issues with their parents. When parents are visible in school and showing interest in their daily work and activities it more likely that children will be open to discussing school issues with them. In today’s world it is more important than ever that our children feel their parents have their back.
We don’t have the time to get involved
So many parents are challenged to balance work and home there seems to be too little time to get all the things they have to in a day. It is easy to begin putting o having a conversation with their child about their school day and homework until the next day. Soon they may realize that they have not read with their child in more than 2 weeks, or failed to look at their agenda to see what’s going on for that same period of time.
Education is the single biggest factor in uencing a successful future for a child.
Learning starts at the beginning of life, when you smile at your child and they learn to smile back, when they first learn to crawl and you stand them up to encourage them to walk, to the day they walk on stage to accept their diploma – they look to you as the parent to teach them and support them along the way. Even as children become adults and have their own families, parents are there to answer the questions and provide encouragement.
Finding time to spend with your children to support their academic achievement will be one of the biggest accomplishment you have as they grow.
Changing times in education
Today, like never before, our children are learning quicker and meeting newer challenges than we did when we were young. Curriculums are more ambitious and technology plays a much bigger role in their learning.
I have heard many parents say that they “can’t” support their children because they don’t understand the new math or the new inquiry based strategies that many are learning. The best way to learn these new methods of teaching is to engage with your child. Let them teach you as they learn and when you see that they cannot show you how they should approach a problem it is an indication they may need extra help at school. This is a great time to communicate with your child’s teacher. Let them know that your child may need to review the last lesson and where they seemed to falter.
This allows the teacher and parent to address the problem immediately so that it does not compound and a ect their future understanding of the subject.
Many parents, including myself, had little or no exposure to technology as a learning tool. We watch our children surf the web, research or complete assignments on a computer or a tablet and it literally boggles our mind. This trend will only increase as our children prepare to become workers competing in a global market where their education and skills in this area will be paramount for success. Again, this is another area where our children can become our teachers. We need to show we are interested and learn how technology plays a role in their learning process today.
Besides depending on our children, schools often o er parent evenings that will provide valuable tools and resources for parents to support their children’s learning. It may not be possible to attend every opportunity presented to you, however, if you can make it to one or two of these types of events during the school year it will make you more con dent in supporting your children’s learning.
Building strong school communities
The old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is never more true than today.
With education funding providing challenges for schools, labour disruptions and mental health issues on the rise, school
administrators need parents to partner with them to improve the school community and the educational experience of the students. The most e ective way to do this is to join your school council.
The school council is a government mandated group in every school empowered by Ontario Regulation 612 to work in partnership with the Principal to improve the educational experience of EVERY STUDENT in the school.
It takes no speci c experience to make a di erence by working with other parents on the council. The only thing you need is the desire to make the school a better place and to voice your opinions on how you think the council might support other parents to engage with their children.
The reaction when parents are asked to participate in the school council is sometimes that they don’t have the time. If you can give two hours a month to attend a meeting then your voice can really make a difference. You will have the satisfaction of demonstrating to your child that education is a high priority to you and that it should be to them.
BE YOUR CHILD’S CHEERLEADER!! COACH THEIR WINNING TEAM – THEIR EDUCATION TEAM!
Remember to share
Like this article? Be sure to share it with other parents and school councils. Use the share buttons above and below this article. Find more articles like this one in our monthly e-newsletter. Be sure to subscribe to it by clicking here.
