May years ago while I was going to grammar and high school, I have very distinct memories of my mother helping me with homework. Every quarter she would enthusiastically wait for my report card to see how I was doing. Despite my less than stellar grades, her support helped me graduate and go on to finish higher education. These days it seems such family situations have become more rare.
It is hard to say if there is more or less involvement of parents in student's education. There isn't a whole lot of snooping into homes to watch interactions among parent and child. However, there have been some indications that parents aren't as involved with their children, and even less with the school system. That seems to follow the trend of lower grades and at least less civilized student behavior. Of course, there is another factor that I will discuss later that contributes to that. With this I want to focus on parental involvement in school education.
When parent-teacher conference arrives, it is always interesting to see what parents show up. The majority of the parents have children who for the most part are doing well in school and hardly needs the meet. There are a few who come around where the student does need the help, and usually there is a slight improvement the next semester in the grades. It can be hard to break a habit that a student developed over years of schooling. On the other hand, some students are just not school material no matter how hard the state tries to make sure no one is left behind.
What is disconcerting is the number of parents who don't show up, especially when the student needs extra parental support. When you call the parent on the phone it seems that they are always busy, not home, or the student and siblings are the only ones available. Now, a lot of this has to do with the poorer family having to work extra hard to earn a livelihood. Other times the parents are just bad parents who are not present because of less savory reasons. Sadly, these conditions reinforce the bad work ethic of the student who doesn't have anyone to teach self-control.
What needs to happen is to re-insert parents back into the life of a child. It doesn't matter if the student will never get more than a passing grade. Support at home is at least as important in having a child pass at all as to pass with stellar grades. How the parental involvement can be returned to higher levels is a hard question to answer. There are all kinds of reasons the parent is increasingly absent.
What is known is this; the more parents are involved the more likely the student is going to succeed. Some of the lack of participation has to do with the school system itself. Too many administrators, and a few teachers, send the message that parents aren't needed. That might sound shocking and a few administrators and teachers will balk at the whole idea. Yet, the schools are constantly asking for more money so that particular programs can continue. That parents get the idea that if they throw more money at the schools that means they don't have to contribute to anything else. Another problem is that schools often give conflicting signals to parents. On the one hand they continually talk about having the parents help, yet on the other they almost never ask for parental input. They claim all these studies and follow the recommendation of the most up to date new scholarly teaching method fad. When parents to voice an idea, it is often considered censoring (and sometimes it is) of the school system. It is as if the parents are needed as long as they keep their mouths shut.
Perhaps that is why there has been such an increase in homeschooling. Many feel silenced by the school systems that need them so badly. In order to have more control of the learning environment of their kids they take to doing it themselves. That has its own problems related to proper education of the adult, socializing of students, and taking money away from schools that might need it. All three of these will probably need separate discussions. It would be nice if the schools and teachers took more time to hear of the complaints and suggestions from the parents. At the least, take them seriously as co-educators. Too often the teaching establishment and the parents of the students come from completely different worlds. To find a way to ease that tension could increase student grades and more. It worked for me and my family, and many others I have seen.
It is hard to say if there is more or less involvement of parents in student's education. There isn't a whole lot of snooping into homes to watch interactions among parent and child. However, there have been some indications that parents aren't as involved with their children, and even less with the school system. That seems to follow the trend of lower grades and at least less civilized student behavior. Of course, there is another factor that I will discuss later that contributes to that. With this I want to focus on parental involvement in school education.
When parent-teacher conference arrives, it is always interesting to see what parents show up. The majority of the parents have children who for the most part are doing well in school and hardly needs the meet. There are a few who come around where the student does need the help, and usually there is a slight improvement the next semester in the grades. It can be hard to break a habit that a student developed over years of schooling. On the other hand, some students are just not school material no matter how hard the state tries to make sure no one is left behind.
What is disconcerting is the number of parents who don't show up, especially when the student needs extra parental support. When you call the parent on the phone it seems that they are always busy, not home, or the student and siblings are the only ones available. Now, a lot of this has to do with the poorer family having to work extra hard to earn a livelihood. Other times the parents are just bad parents who are not present because of less savory reasons. Sadly, these conditions reinforce the bad work ethic of the student who doesn't have anyone to teach self-control.
What needs to happen is to re-insert parents back into the life of a child. It doesn't matter if the student will never get more than a passing grade. Support at home is at least as important in having a child pass at all as to pass with stellar grades. How the parental involvement can be returned to higher levels is a hard question to answer. There are all kinds of reasons the parent is increasingly absent.
What is known is this; the more parents are involved the more likely the student is going to succeed. Some of the lack of participation has to do with the school system itself. Too many administrators, and a few teachers, send the message that parents aren't needed. That might sound shocking and a few administrators and teachers will balk at the whole idea. Yet, the schools are constantly asking for more money so that particular programs can continue. That parents get the idea that if they throw more money at the schools that means they don't have to contribute to anything else. Another problem is that schools often give conflicting signals to parents. On the one hand they continually talk about having the parents help, yet on the other they almost never ask for parental input. They claim all these studies and follow the recommendation of the most up to date new scholarly teaching method fad. When parents to voice an idea, it is often considered censoring (and sometimes it is) of the school system. It is as if the parents are needed as long as they keep their mouths shut.
Perhaps that is why there has been such an increase in homeschooling. Many feel silenced by the school systems that need them so badly. In order to have more control of the learning environment of their kids they take to doing it themselves. That has its own problems related to proper education of the adult, socializing of students, and taking money away from schools that might need it. All three of these will probably need separate discussions. It would be nice if the schools and teachers took more time to hear of the complaints and suggestions from the parents. At the least, take them seriously as co-educators. Too often the teaching establishment and the parents of the students come from completely different worlds. To find a way to ease that tension could increase student grades and more. It worked for me and my family, and many others I have seen.
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