For years, I have taught school. I have taught preschool through higher education. During this time, I have seen the most prepared students and the least prepared students. However, my favorite question comes from those parents who are truly involved in their child’s education and interested in knowing what they can do to help their child.
Learning does not primarily occur at school. That is a hard concept for many parents and students. Some erroneously believe that the student will attend school, soak in all the needed knowledge for a successful life, graduate high school, go to college and live a happily ever after successful life. This is simply not going to happen. Learning must be supported at home.
Being a mother of six children, I understand the burden of working, juggling sports, activities for them and myself and still attempting to ensure that homework and studies were completed. An additional burden falls on parents when the child is not thriving or when they are accelerated. (Because let’s be honest, school curriculum is generally aimed toward the middle of the class, the average child.) There is a lot.
So, what can you do? As a parent? As an educator? As a grandparent? Or even as a volunteer?
Parent
As a parent, you can start right from the start. From the first day, read to your baby. Teach your child to read before they start school. Talk to your child. Turn off the technology. Have family dinners. Get involved. Ask about their days.
Each school district has published online the skills and competencies that each child should know at each grade level. Ensure that your child can meet those milestones. Make a game out of it. Post it. Track it. Celebrate the accomplishments and successes.
It is important to be involved in every stage. Don’t think that your surly teenager doesn’t want you to be involved. They do. They just don’t want to let you know that they do. Try simple things with a teenager. For instance, quiet cars. No music or technology. Guess what? They’ll fill in that quiet. Then, as a parent, you can see what needs there are. Reach out to your school. There are many resources within the community to help your students. But don’t forget you may be the best resource of all.
One of my favorite memories as a teenager happened during a night of exasperation with geometry homework – proofs. I just was struggling to get it. I was a new student in a new school, new city and even new state. The math curriculum being used was very different than what I was used to. It didn’t help when the teacher told me to ‘forget’ everything I had learned before. I sat in the living room with my mother. The two of us had my spiral notebook with my class notes, textbook and homework out. My mother spent a couple of hours that night helping me. She first learned the material and then aided me to understand it. Now, as my own daughter is a high school geometry teacher, my mother shared that experience with her and how she still finds that to be one of her sweetest memories too. And guess what? I passed the class with an A. (Thanks, mom!)
For younger students, it is sometimes easier. First, the subject matter is simpler. Plus, the parents are usually more involved as there is more parent/teacher communication. But there are also things you can do at home. Support learning at home by adding to their learning. For instance, if your child is learning fractions at school, apply that learning at home. We did this in our home by cooking. It’s even more fun to frequently switch out the measuring cups in the sugar and flour containers to make them think. Or we would toss out fraction questions in the car in a silly manner. “I’m thinking that I am going to buy five cheeseburgers for dinner. How many cheeseburgers do we each get?” Of course, there would be the silly answers. “I’ll eat them all then I won’t have to share.” Or my favorite one day, “I’ll eat them all then I won’t have to divide and do silly math problems in the car.”
Encourage reading as well. Be an example. Still go to the library – even in the digital age. Set reading goals. Read what your child is reading.
Educators
Be sure to reach out to parents – even if you are teaching older students. Reach out to parents even if they do not respond. Why? Because you never know if they are reading the information. You may be reaching a parent even if you do not realize it.
When reaching out to parents, try a newsletter. (Be sure to email it as well as post it on your website. Parents forget to read the website, but they will see an email.) Provide quick tips for parents. Let them know what you are doing in your classroom. Give them some tips to connect classroom with home and application tips. Give your parents some talking points. If you’re learning about George Washington, share some facts with parents that you find interesting and challenge them to find one fact to talk about with their student.
Collect tips. Talk to other teachers. Be open. And don’t beat yourself up! There is always a long list of things we’d like to do and try as educators!
Other Family Members
Don’t think that you’re done when your children move out. You’re not. You should still be involved as much as possible. Encourage learning and development. Talk about school. Talk about careers. Talk about goals. Share what you learned as a student when you were that age. (Yes … they may scoff a bit, but they will love the family history later in life.) Ask what you can do to support learning. Volunteer in the school. Ask the student how their day was. What did they learn?
Most importantly? Tell them you are proud of them. It is hard to go to school. It is hard to deal with all of the myriad of outside influences our children deal with today. Just pause for a moment. How many of your generation had to deal with or worry about school shootings? The world is different, and it is stressful on our students.
Volunteers
Have you seen the news lately? Have you seen the shorter of teachers? It is astronomical. There is a lack of resources. Who suffers? Our children!
So, even if you do not have children in school, go volunteer. Get involved. See what you can do to help. Maybe you don’t have a PhD, or you weren’t a great student yourself. It doesn’t matter. Just go and talk to the school. They will find a place for you.
For years, I worked with a friend, and we hosted a Halloween Carnival at the local elementary school. It was a huge commitment, but it was also so fulfilling to see the children excited. Another favorite was spending one morning a week in the library. I reshelved books and read to one class. It was my favorite morning of the week. Schools will not turn away a volunteer!
What ideas do you have? How do you get involved? How do you support learning at home?
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