Wednesday, September 25, 2024
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Ways To Show Parental Involvement In Child Development?

A parent’s role in a child’s education does not end with sending them to school. Right from teaching your kids to walk until you teach life skills before they go to college, parents have a huge responsibility. Children succeed in life when parental involvement is equal to the child’s efforts. Read on to know why parental involvement is important and what are the benefits of parental involvement in schools and child’s development.

Parent involvement at school or class events is highest for students in elementary school, as 85% of parents regularly attended meetings, volunteering activities, etc. However, in high school, the participation was the least.

The book Sociology of Education published by the American Sociological Association mentions the effect of a positive relationship between parent involvement in preschool and kindergarten with reading achievements in 8th grade.

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Studies also found significant positive associations between parent involvement in early elementary school and socio-emotional development among kids in later elementary school.

Ways To Show Parental Involvement In Child Development

Other Benefits of Parental Involvement In Child’s Development In Schools

Research shows that good parental involvement both at the home and school can bring many benefits to the child both in school and at home. Here are some of them:

  • better socio-emotional development in children
  • later improved reading proficiency
  • student engagement
  • academic success
  • high school completion
  • as well as adaptation in society.

What is Parent Engagement?

According to experts, the definition of parent engagement means both teachers and parents share a common responsibility to help their children educate and meet educational goals.

Parental involvement in child development is essential, as it promotes positive classroom behavior. Parent participation validates the child’s effort, the homework is completed, and in turn, children become better organized.

Overall parental involvement makes their child successful and a great student.

Even from a teacher’s point of view, when the parents are involved in education, the teacher feels ease at their job. They love to see how their student evolves and develop. It is a collaboration between the teachers and parents that genuinely help the students achieve great results and develop well-rounded personalities.

Parental involvement in child development creates a powerful energy. Additionally, it also  facilitates the learning process. When parents show involvement, the student absentee percentage dropped by 20%.

Learning is a continuous process and should, therefore, continue even after school back at home. Thus, parental involvement encourages the child to reach his true potential.

There are several ways to get parents involved in student learning beyond homework, but the foremost thing for it to work is complete trust and genuine collaboration and not dumping off.

Real-time Factors Influencing Parental Involvement

According to the European Journal of Educational Research, here are some of the real-time factors that can tell how involved you are as a parent concerning your child’s development.

As you now realize that there are a great number of benefits of parental involvement in schools and child’s development. You must start incorporating these activities into your schedule according to the age of your child.

Factors Influencing Parental Involvement

1. Parental involvement at the start of the primary school

  • Read books to your kid
  • Tell stories
  • Sing songs
  • Play with Alphabet toys
  • Talk about things that you as a parent had read
  • Play word games with your child
  • Write letters or words
  • Read aloud signs and labels

2. Parent for 15-year-old interactions or conversations

  • Discuss political or social issues
  • Discuss films or TV programs
  • Talk about what your child is doing at school
  • Spend time just talking to your child
  • Talk about what your child is reading on their own

3. School-based parental involvement 

  • Try to volunteer in physical activities (e.g., sports, building maintenance)
  • Volunteer in extra-curricular activities at your kid’s school (eg, clubs or competitions)
  • Participate at your child’s school library
  • Assist a teacher at your kid’s school
  • Appears as a guest speaker at your child’s school
  • Participate in local school government (e.g., parent council or school management committee)

Ways To Improve Parental Involvement In Child Development?

Ways To Improve Child Development

1. Create A Study Space And Routine For Kids

A child learns a lot at home. What the school teaches and the way the parents reinforce those school schedules are both crucial. A designated study area where the child would regularly sit without fail and a fixed time to complete their work along with separate self-study time make the children learn better.

The role of the parent is not to only provide with study space but to help them follow up the schedule and understand the concepts better.

  • Help them to prioritize and create the right balance between curricular and co-curricular activities.
  • Completing homework and self-study both are equally important as well as some time for refreshing the mind and body.
  • Children naturally learn this when they see how their parents are managing their tasks and the guidance they receive from them.

Parental involvement must focus on educating kids beyond homework and classrooms.

https://alignthoughts.com/why-having-a-home-library-can-be-good-for-your-kids/

2. Never Teach, Always Revise Lessons

Over-enthusiastic parents make this simple mistake of teaching their children. You must be the master of the subject, but when the child learns both from the teacher and the parent, it confuses them.

They do not know which technique to follow and end up confused. There is a certain way how a teacher conducts her lessons.

Teachers design the topic to make each child understand the topic in the most efficient manner. The teacher might share some tips with parents so that they could guide their children in the same way.

For example, with my kids, the teachers at the beginning of the session explained how each subject would be tackled unit wise.

The teachers share relevant resources and worksheets to reinforce what they teach in the class. And parents were involved only to help the children in understanding and not doing the assignments. This way, the parents are always in the loop and are engaged in the school activities.

Too much of anything is good for nothing, not even too much parental involvement. So keep the right balance and do not over involve in your kid’s life.

https://alignthoughts.com/how-to-make-sure-your-child-is-not-spoiled/

3. Encourage Parents Participation

Building a bridge between parents and teachers is one of the key components of parental involvement in a child’s development.

According to PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), only 41% of students’ parents discussed their child’s progress with a teacher. Whereas 57% did so after the teacher’s initiative.

There are various ways in which the parents can show involvement in school activities like volunteering, sports day events, etc. This kind of parental involvement in child development helps in building an active community of parents and teachers.

Additionally, in this community, there is complete transparency where both parties get together as one to work for the betterment of the students.

It sets up an excellent example for children when they see a favorable environment; they are encouraged to work hard. They see parents as an extension of the teachers at home and vice versa.

Benefits of Parental Involvement

 

4. Keeping Parents Abreast Of School Activities

Some parents are busy and might not be able to attend all the school activities like meetings, seminars, etc. Thanks to technology to help improve parental involvement in child development.

A better way to keep such busy in the loop is through social media. Sending notes and home assignments in diaries is an old method.

There are various apps through which the parents can know what activities are going on in the class. SnapHW and Facebook are some of the apps where parents have access to photos, videos, and notes from the teachers.

Both my kids have individual email addresses to access the class website. The class website details the below:

  • the results of various competitions
  • usage of any resource links for study
  • upcoming events
  • and the teacher’s blog.

The parent does not feel out of the loop with such methods. Technology has indeed bridged the gap and is helping in building a healthy relationship. As a result, when the parents are aware, they are more vigilant and sometimes enjoy studying with them.

Additionally, this also prevents kids from lying as all the activities and grades are available transparently. Here’s how you can find out if your kid is actually lying to you!

Life Skills to Teach Your Kids Before They Go To College

5. Parents Should Set A Good Example

There are two kinds of parents.

  1. One who is least concerned about their kid’s education. These types of parents merely enroll their children and leave it on the teacher to shape up the future of the kid.
  2. And the other kind is a hovering parent who over involves and is over-enthusiastic. They usually question the authority of the teacher and fill their child’s mind with disrespect.

Moreover, parents should set a good example. They can do this by being respectful towards the teacher and following their guidelines. Hence, such cordial behavior helps in maintaining the right authority of the teacher.

It is also important for the parents to make sure that your kid is not spoiled. Look for signs and stop your kids when they are wrong.

Always encourage your child to do better. Never demotivate. Even in class, no teacher would ignore a child who is not able to grasp a concept. Positivity from parents and teachers is an excellent motivation for good child education.

6. Collaborative Homework

Homework or projects where parents help their kids create a bond between the child and parents. It may also not necessarily be indoor help. For instance, take the kids to the zoo and explain about their habitat and eating habits of the animals.

It is also a fun activity where the children learn and have fun. When parents show involvement, it leads to healthy communication and collaboration between the three factors in a child’s education- kids, teachers, and parents.

Jonathan Bailey of Malvern College in Egypt says about a conversation in learning –“learning at home equates to an improve attitude and hopefully a more determined and successful individual.”

Conclusion On Parental Involvement In Child Development

As per research, two-thirds of teachers believe parental involvement in education results in better performance in school.

Parental involvement in child development is associated with better outcomes for children such as lower dropout better school engagement, better grade, test scores, and attendance rates.

Key Takeaways On Parental Involvement In Child Development

  • Learning is a continuous process and should, therefore, continue even after school back at home.
  • Parental involvement in child development is essential, as it promotes positive classroom behavior and socio-emotional development in the child.
  • Children succeed in life when parental involvement is equal to the child’s efforts.
  • Even from a teacher’s point of view, when the parents are involved in education, the teacher feels ease at their job.
  • There are also several ways to get parents involved in student learning beyond homework.
  • The role of the parent is not to only provide with study space but to help the kids follow up the schedule and understand the concepts better.
  • Similarly, the parents should always be in the loop and engaged in school activities.
  • Too much of anything is good for nothing, not even too much parental involvement. So keep the right balance to get all the benefits of parental involvement in schools.
  • There are various ways in which the parents can show involvement in school activities like volunteering, sports day events, etc.
  • You can also have activities where the children learn and have fun.
  • Thanks to technology to help improve parental involvement in child development.
  • Parents should set a good example by being respectful towards the teacher and following their guidelines. Such cordial behavior helps in maintaining the right authority of the teacher.
  • When parents show involvement, it leads also to healthy communication and collaboration between the three factors in a child’s education- kids, teachers, and parents.
  • In conclusion, parental involvement in child development gives better outcomes for children.

Your thoughts,

What are your thoughts on parental involvement in a child’s development? Do you know more benefits of parental involvement in schools? Let us know them in the comments below.

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Preeti Bhandari
Preeti Bhandari
Preeti B lives in Canada with her two boys, who keep her on her toes. Content writing and paper quilling are two art forms that she is passionate about. She loves to express herself through these two mediums. Apart from these, listening to music and reading books are the hobbies that take her to a different zone.

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