Parent Involvement

Performance Learning PLUS is a monthly e-newsletter by Performance Learning Systems (PLS), a comprehensive educational services company that has provided a full spectrum of programs, products, and consulting services for educators and business professionals since 1971.

Would you like to see more PARENT INVOLVEMENT at your school? Read on to find out how you can encourage your parents in supporting their children's academic endeavors.

Tips

You can explain to parents that they are in the best position to help their children understand the benefits that come to those who study hard. Below are six specific ideas you can share with parents.

Advice for Parents

Talk with your child about his or her future education and career goals. Help your child map out which courses he or she will need to get there. If you aren't sure yourself, ask a school counselor or teacher.

It's normal for your child to want to participate in sports, after-school, and social activities, but make sure academics receive high priority. Limit the hours your child works, if your child has to work at all, and keep tabs on other activities that take time away from learning. American teenagers spend more time dating, caring for younger siblings, and doing household chores than teenagers in many other countries.

Make sure your own words and actions send a positive message about school achievement. Make it clear that effort counts more than inborn ability. When we say such things as, "I just don't have a head for math," or "He's a born artist," we may signal to our children that it's not worth trying things that don't come easily.

Make space and time at home for serious study, and monitor your child's homework. Children who discussed their studies at home at least once a week had higher average scores on a national reading test than those who discussed studies less often. Your child will learn more if you offer homework guidance instead of answers.

High school students do better when their parents take an active interest in their studies and attend school activities. Yet more than 40% of parents of high school students never attend school activities.

Teenagers sometimes ridicule kids who make an effort in school. Children also pick up negative messages about achievement from television, movies, music, and even casual adult conversation. The values you instill will help your child stand up to outside pressure. You can also enlist support from other people your child admires.

• Encourage your child to take challenging courses in middle school and high school.
• Make it clear that school is the number one priority for your child.
• Look at your own beliefs about achievement and the messages you send.
• Encourage and supervise your child's studies at home.
• Become involved with you teenager's school activities.
• Help creat a society that values academic achievement.

As an educator, you are well aware that the more students are motivated to learn, the more the global community benefits as a whole. You can recruit parents to support your endeavors in the classroom and offer support to parents in turn for the active role they play in their children's academic pursuits.

We invite you to forward or print out this issue for parents you know who may be interested.

Source: Brochure from Center on Education Policy (CEP), 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 619, Washington, D.C. 20036. For more info.

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