Parents Involvement in School
Parents’ involvement in school is of key importance for the educational success of a child. Child is considered the most important and precious asset for the parents. When a child comes in this world, the parents start taking great care of her development and education as it is the desire of every sensible parent that her child should obtain good health and high grades.
Parents want their children making progress in the fields of education and life. Education plays a vital role in this regard. It is an important stage for the child when she is admitted in the school. She needs great care at this stage and her parents’ involvement in school can be beneficial for the child’s future progress.
Parents’ involvement in school creates a big difference in your child’s work and life. It brings a positive change in your child and makes a positive impact on her and her school. Through researches, it has been observed that parents’ involvement in school and their interaction with teachers and students is of great importance. Different surveys demonstrate that as much the parents are involved, so much the child is likely to succeed.
Benefits of parents’ involvement in school
As sensible and tricky parents, your involvement in school can bring numerous benefits for your child.
Some of them are as under:
1: Good grades
As a parent, if you are involved in your child’s school and have interaction with her teachers, she can get marvelous grades and higher scores in her tests and exams due to your involvement in school. When both teachers and parents jointly take responsibility, it brings good and positive results, and your child becomes more active. As a result, she becomes able to touch the heights of success.
2: Regularity and punctuality
When your child observes that you are in contact with her school staff and teachers, she develops positive change in her personality and starts accepting responsibility of her life and success. She starts attending her classes responsively and regularly.
Her regularity and punctuality is the result of parents’ involvement in school.
3: Social skills
Parents’ involvement in school and their cooperation with teachers can be helpful in developing better social skills in the child. Different social skills she practically experiences are time management, relationship management, stress management, positive mindset and many more. These skills enable her making her name and fame in the society.
4: Development of habit and responsibility of doing homework
Your child becomes not only responsible but also sensible and develops the habit of doing her homework in time. By providing help and support, as a parent, you get her homework done in time. In this way, your child easily learns how to manage time. That is the outcome of parents’ involvement in school. Time management becomes no more difficult and this skill of time management brings great success for your child.
5: Your child’s interest in school increases
Your child starts taking interest in learning and school activities. She becomes an active and energetic learner. Her thirst for knowledge increases and to quench her thirst for learning, she takes help from her teachers and parents. She is benefitted a lot by her parents’ involvement in school as learning becomes very easy and interesting for her. It seems easy for her to get higher education.
Good parenting techniques for your involvement in school
It doesn’t matter whether you are a rich parent or poor one, you can do it. Just develop a belief that you can do it and if you have such a belief, you will do it. Your involvement in school can make a positive difference in your child. There are some suitable parenting techniques for you as conscious parents’ involvement in school.
- As a parent, you should join the parents’ group at your child’s school. Your involvement in school will make you aware of the different views of the parents and teachers which will enable you to understand and help your child in her positive grooming.
- Build an appropriate relationship with your child’s teacher. You can use email, hand written notes, or whatever is convenient and easy for both of you.
- Being a parent, it is essential and favorable for you to talk to your child about her day at school by asking what activities she performed during learning process at school.
- Involve yourself with your child’s reading and as parent, you yourself read loudly with your child. In this way your child’s reading skill will be improved.
- Present yourself as a homework coach for your child and let her take responsibility, but during this process remain in touch to be aware of her assignments. Doing this will grow self-confidence in your child. Provide her chances to keep learning actively and it shouldn’t seem burden but she should consider it fun to do it at home.
- By getting involved with your child, you should say to her, “Your education matters and you are important to me. I want you make progress in the field of education as it is such an asset that increases on spending and no other wealth is as useful as education. We safeguard wealth but education safeguards us. So, try to enhance knowledge as it brings positive changes in character and behavior.
- If you use the technique of parents’ involvement in school, you will come to know what is happening at school. As sensible parent, your involvement in school will make you a better and stronger advocate for your child. You will be able to handle and guide her in a better way.
- Parents’ involvement in school matters a lot and brings fruitful results in your child. By building relationship with her teacher, you can create positive difference in her personality and attitude.
- Parents’ involvement in school provides the solution of the questions which are present in your mind about your child’s education. In this connection, no matter how much busy you are, it is necessary for you as parent to spare time to be in contact with your child’s teachers.
- As a parent, your participation, in your child’s progress in school education, leads your child to advancement in her learning process. Your support and assistance for your child outside of school and at home saves your child from any inconvenience in the process of education. Parent teacher meetings in school should be held at least on monthly basis in order to judge child’s progress in study and co-curricular activities.
Parents’ involvement in school makes you aware about school’s plans and programs that are essential for your child’s holistic development. You are well informed of your child’s progress due to building relations with your child’s teachers.
Further advantages of parents’ involvement in school
It brings about better outcomes for your child in learning.
Politeness in your child’s behavior is developed.
Better community support is provided to your child.
It forms positive relationship among parents and children.
Positive outlook in you and your child is the result of this this parents’ involvement in school.
It improves family communication between parents and teachers.
It enables teachers and parents to understand well about family dynamics, cultural background, strengths and challenges a family passes through. As parents, you can better understand the teacher’s expectations about your child and challenges she has to face.
Reasons of Parents’ less involvement in school
Sometimes, if parents don’t show involvement or are less involved, they may have following reasons:
Shortage of time
It is hard for the parents to find time in today’s busy life. for their child, they can manage little time that is not sufficient and it becomes very difficult for parents’ involvement in school properly. Resultantly, parents are unable to achieve favorable results.
Parents’ low education level
Another problem that is faced by some parents is low education level which impedes in the process of parents’ involvement in school as they fail to understand the challenges related to their child.
Lack of resources
Some parents have the few resources that don’t meet the required purpose which is needed in parents’ involvement in school as everyone is surrounded in some circles.
Fear of consequences
Mostly parents fear about the consequences thinking that their involvement with school may create gap between them and their children.
Feeling of anxiety
Sometimes parents feel anxiety and difficulty being involved in school. Lack of confidence, low self-esteem, undeveloped coping skills and undeveloped life skills increase their anxiety.
In a nutshell (Parents Involvement in School)
The US department of education estimates 7000 dropouts every day of the working school day. One out of four high schools’ dropouts is due to lack of parental support.
So, it is time to think how we can be more involved but not be helicopter parents as they have excessive interest in the life of their children but lack resilience and elasticity.
Your child and her school need your support that will help and guide your child to live a successful and an independent future. As a parent, if your involvement in school fuels your child’s success, it is everything to you.
By: Prof Ajmal Dass Jaipal
