Authored by Suzanne Alicie in Child Education
Published on 07-08-2009

Children who go to public schools have teachers, faculty and principals to guide them through the rules, the work and the learning so why do parents need to be involved in their education?  It is a fact that children who have parents who help them study and are involved in their education score higher on tests and perform better overall in the educational system. Does this mean you have to be a classroom mom or head of the PTA for you child to succeed in school? No, but it means that as a parent your children are your biggest investment, and they are worth the extra time and effort to make sure that they get the best education that they can to prepare them for the real world.

Being involved in your child’s education is entirely different from being involved in your child’s classroom. Baking cupcakes for the holiday party isn’t going to help your child succeed. There are several things that you can do to be involved in your child’s education that don’t even require you visiting the classroom during school time.

1. Open the lines of communication with your child’s teacher. Either through phone calls, email or even a daily agenda the teacher can make you aware of what challenges your child is facing. They can inform you what assignments they have coming up or even what subjects they are excelling in.
2. Help your child with their homework, or if they don’t need help at least discuss it with them. It helps you keep in touch with what they are learning and lets you glean a little information from the child about their interests and thoughts.
3. Check out the schools curriculum for your child’s grade so that you will know what your child will be learning. You will then be able to check out books from the library or help them find things on the computer that will help them tackle each new section.
4. Provide a quiet homework area and make sure that the child sets aside a certain time daily to do school work or simply read once their homework is done.
5. Follow your child’s progress yourself. Don’t count on the teacher to notice if he is having a little problem in a certain area. Teachers have many students to keep up with and small issues might slide under their radar. If your child is having a problem with vocabulary or multiplication and you think he needs to work on it more, then find worksheets online or websites with games to help make it all a little easier for him to understand.

Being involved in your child’s education doesn’t require you to be at the school every week, or to constantly hover over your child while he is doing homework. It does mean letting the child and the teacher know that you are concerned, and that you do care. It also shows you are supportive of the child and want to help them succeed and get the best education they can get.