15 Ways Parents Can Play a Role in Their Child’s Education
The boundaries of education are expanding because of the new-age changes in teaching methods and learning processes. As a parent, you must use every opportunity to get actively involved in your child’s schooling experience and help boost their curiosity and open-mindedness.
When you are keenly involved in their education, it shows them that you care, and this positive feedback proves to be nurturing for their academic journey.
Being a companion to your child in their young years can be very rewarding throughout life. After all, schooling is about learning the facts and developing the essential principles to lead life the right way. And that can only happen when a child receives positive reinforcement both at home and at school.
Do you want to know how you can increase your involvement in their education? We have some great tips for you. Keep reading!
Why Is Parental Involvement Important In A Child’s Education?
Children need all the support and care they can get when navigating school life at a young age. Unfortunately, there are too many variables in their day-to-day life, and more often than not, they don’t have the right tools to deal with the situations they face.
While their teachers are constantly present for them at school, parents should also become active supporters of their child’s education to ensure educational success. When parents take their involvement at school seriously, they enable their children to excel in studies and become well-rounded individuals.
How Can Parents Expand Their Role In Their Child’s Education?
Notice And Monitor
Here’s the easiest way to start getting involved in your child’s education right away – closely monitor your child’s academic performance. You can only make meaningful changes when you know what needs to change. For that, you can check their grades, report cards, attendance reports, teacher feedback, and school progress reports and understand how they are doing at school.
Also, don’t forget to notice what your child loves doing. Do they love biology? Do they love attending their art class? Find out their passion and help them explore it.
Be Present In PTA Meetings
Receiving teacher feedback through email or text messages throughout the year is great. But what’s even better is the in-person parent-teacher meeting. Make sure you are present at each one of those. This is your chance to learn about your student’s academic, emotional, and social progress.
Becoming an active part of the parent-teacher association (PTA) at your kid’s school also allows you to personally get to know your child’s teachers. This partnership helps when you want to discuss your child’s performance in depth to improve their learning experience.
Volunteer At School
You should never hesitate to volunteer at your child’s school. You can lend a helping hand in various school activities such as annual functions, orientation events, school contests, educational trips, and more. This gives you a chance to connect with your child outside of the home environment and helps you get a sense of the school’s overall vibe.
When you agree to chaperone an event, you also stand a chance to meet other families. If you find it difficult to take out time for school activities, you can call the school and ask to volunteer for activities that don’t require your attendance.
Set Good Examples
Sending your child to the school doesn’t mean you take a backseat and let the teachers handle it all. The school does its part, and you have to do yours too. You can do that by becoming a parent your children can look up to for academic assistance.
If there’s a part of the curriculum that you are not well versed with, make an effort to learn about it. This motivates your child to persevere and keep learning even when the going gets tough.
Make It Practical
With children, every waking minute of every day can be a learning opportunity. You can put their active mind to use by helping them connect their coursework to real life. For example, you can discuss the different constellations while stargazing with them. You can tell them how a fridge keeps things cold when serving their favorite ice cream. You can introduce them to photosynthesis when helping them pot a sapling in your backyard.
Make it a daily habit to connect with them and their coursework in the most creative ways. This will push them to ask more questions and get curious about their learning at school.
Read Together
The easiest way to stay connected to your child’s coursework is to read it with them every day. You can also visit the library with them after school and let them pick the book they would like to read with you. It will help them develop a love of reading that will automatically improve their performance at school.
Tweak The Ambience
Does your home provide a peaceful environment where your child can study without distractions? Does your child often witness their elderly quarreling or discussing serious family matters?
The effects of a chaotic home on your child’s young mind might not be visible instantly, but they can be detrimental to your child’s academic success. As a parent, make sure you do what you can to provide the best environment for your child to prosper.
Help With Coursework
Helping with homework is often frowned upon when you have young children. But that doesn’t mean you should stop helping them in their academics. Don’t do every lesson for them while they spend all their time watching television. Instead, ensure that you give ample support so they are not discouraged in the face of tough assignments.
Advise
Is your child suddenly falling behind in their grades? Does it look like they are not placing enough emphasis on education? Please don’t assume that they are being ignorant. Passing upsetting comments might not be the best way to go. Probe the situation and try speaking to them directly. Offer positive advice and help them see right from wrong.
Assist In Exam Prep
Exam time can be more stressful for your child than you think. You can do more than just help them learn the concepts to alleviate this stress. For instance, you can help them stay organized with their deadlines or set up a dedicated place to study.
Encourage And Reward
Young students might not always be internally driven to achieve their academic goals. So, there’s no harm in providing them with some healthy external motivation in the form of encouragement.
When your child hits a milestone at school, make sure you celebrate it with them. While rewards are a great tool to help your children stay excited about their studies, overdoing it might be counterproductive.
Make Time
These days, since both parents are usually working, it’s easy to get caught up in work and keep your child’s education on the sidelines. Are you wondering how are parents involved in their child’s education in this fast-paced world?
Be present at home when your children arrive from school so you can welcome them warmly and discuss their day. You can also set aside some time every week to take them outdoors and spend quality time with them. The closer you are to your child, the better you will help them flourish academically.
Prioritize Education
Do you have a travel plan coming up that might interfere with your child’s school schedule? It’s best to postpone that if you can. Remember, when you prioritize your child’s education, your child notices and learns from it.
Don’t Overschedule
It’s obvious that you might want your child to achieve greatness in every aspect, whether in sports or studies. But you must take care that you don’t overburden your child. Kids usually have a highly stimulating environment at school. If they are involved in too many extracurricular activities after school, they might stop enjoying their life. Please make sure you are mindful of their downtime.
Learn Something New
An amazing way to bond with your child and become their study buddy is to learn something new yourself. You can pick up a new language, craft, or informative book. Try to involve your child in your learning process. Share your learning process with them and let them witness your struggles too.
This approach may help your child see you in a new light and connect with you better. You can also teach them some new study skills that they can easily use during their own learning time. You can also establish a common study time with them at home when you both sit down and revise your coursework. This will foster a unique companionship that will benefit your kid’s academic success.
Over to You
When you take a step towards school involvement, you model a better learning process for your child and help the school community grow in a meaningful way. Whatever be your schedule, schools usually provide ample opportunities for parents to get involved.
Take a step ahead and enroll your child in LEAD Powered schools that offer Smart Classrooms, certified and trained teachers, and more that focus on your kid’s holistic development Know More