Parents who remain actively involved in their children's school activities, especially their learning curriculums, can help their children to excel academically. Their efforts will reveal themselves over the coming weeks as students around the world start to receive their marking period grades.
Academic Excellence Starts Early
It is not uncommon for parents, even parents of students who make the honor roll, to be concerned about the grades that their children will be assessed throughout the academic year. Establishing effective, stress free study, homework and test habits in their children can diminish, even eliminate these concerns for parents.
Avoid waiting until the middle of the first grade marking period to encourage children to read independently, work out math equations and write complete sentences that lead to engaging stories. Teachers and national policymakers know that the more involved a parent is in their child’s education, the greater the chance that the child will excel at school.
The United States Department of Education "My Child's Academic Success: Tools For Student Success" article addresses areas where a parent's positive involvement can make the difference between their child struggling or succeeding in school. Some of those areas include helping a child improve their reading skills, learn to become responsible and complete homework assignments absent undue stress.
At the turn of the decade, two of the National Education Goals were that “By the year 2000, all children in America would start school ready to learn.” “The National PTA Talks to Parents: How To Get The Best Education For Your Child” booklet has a wish list from teachers to parents. It echoes what national policymakers had as their goal by the year 2000. It is simply this – that parents become more involved in their child’s education.
Parents Staying Active in Their Children's School Activities
Attend parent and teacher conferences to remain apprised of the child's performance, areas where there is significant room for improvement and ongoing strengths. Showing up for parent and teacher conferences is important because sometimes children forget to tell parents about their academic struggles or fail to do so because they are embarrassed to reveal their struggles in math, science, reading or other standard subjects.
Use flash cards, color markers and chalkboards to reinforce lessons taught in school. Turn off the television to provide quiet time for children to read, learn and study in. Doing so eliminates distractions and helps children to focus. At the end of each evening, parents would do well to review their child's homework to insure that their child completes assignments.
Regularly ask children about their day, what their relationships with their teachers are like and if they feel they would benefit from further studying or assistance. Fathers and mothers should be equally involved in their children's academic lives.
Praise successes and lessons learned to build healthy self-esteem in children. Stay alert and consider getting tutoring assistance from a licensed professional organization like the Sylvan or Huntington Learning Centers. Princeton, New Jersey based Educational Testing Service (ETS) offers testing for students so that teachers and parents can assess a child's current learning levels. Being aware of gaps in a child's learning early and getting the child help can diminish years of academic struggle, a challenge that can over time start to erode a child's self-esteem.
Books That Help Children Learn to Read
The National Institute for Literacy partners with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the U.S. Department of Education to provide researched material to parents and educators. By using the resources, parents and educators can stay abreast of new, improved ways to teach children to read and continue to grow academically. Additionally, organizations like Hooked on Phonics, Succeed to Read and the Star Fall Store distribute books parents and teachers can get to strengthen an older child's reading skills.
According to its official website, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is the United States' largest "volunteer child advocacy association." Parents who are members of the PTA not only impact their children's academic lives positively, they also make positive contributions to the lives of other children. Another benefit to parents who are PTA members is that they receive discounts on books purchased from Barnes and Noble.
Gaps in a child's learning can be filled by working with a professional tutor and buying educational books from organizations like Sylvan and Huntington Learning Centers, Barnes and Noble, Cushcity, Amazon.com, Borders, Waldenbooks and local libraries and local booksellers.
Resources:
United States Department of Education. My Child's Academic Success: Tools For Student Success. 15 November 2009.
 |
