Getting Ready for a New School Year Again-The Power of Parent Involvement!

As the school year, 2017-2018 kicks in, let us embrace the power of parent involvement in their child’s education and beyond! Parent’s role as a teacher shouldn’t stop when your child enters school! Parent play an important role in your child’s education. You have heard many times that, “It takes a village to raise a Child”, while the statement is very true in many societies, it is also undeniably true when it comes to supporting your child’s education, it takes a parent’s involvement in your child’s education to effectively facilitate his or her learning.

When I think about my involvement in my children’s education, I look at it from many angles, and at different levels: from home to school! We know learning starts from home, from the time you have that child you have been teaching him or her how to hold his/her milk bottle, how to talk, walk, and read. Continue to inspire a lifelong love of learning by using everyday opportunities available to teach your child. Your child needs your guidance.

How do I Help my Children get Ready for School Every Day?

Getting the children ready for school every day is the biggest challenge for many parents. However, it doesn’t have to always be challenging! Here are some home checklists for parent’s involvement in your child’s education and development that will help and make it easy to get him or her ready for school and learning every day:

Be a Loving Parents and Show a Love for Learning:

Loving parents love their child unconditionally. Responding to your child’s needs and interests is the greatest way of showing him/her that you not only say I love you but also l care for your needs and interests, from home to school; from educational needs to personal interests. Loving and caring for your child not only makes him/her feel safe and comfortable, it helps build positive relationships, it helps to regulate social-emotional needs; but also, it helps your child build self-esteem which is a must have a trait to succeed in school and beyond.

Jean-Paul Richter, a German writer once said, “The conscience of children is formed by the influences that surround them; their notions of good and evil are a result of the moral atmosphere they breathe”.

When a child sees that you care for him/her, he or she is more likely to cooperate in many ways. Showing interest in your child’s education in particular, and in his or her life, in general, brings you closer and more likely to experience mutual understanding of one another.  Maintain close communication by talking to your child often about what is happening at school, encourage and support school work and ensure that your child finishes assignments and turn them over on time as well as remaking the assignment when he/she gets poor grades; get involved in school life by visiting your child’s school regularly-attend parents’ nights, school plays, etc. In addition, set high expectations for your child by encouraging him or her to do his or her best and work collaboratively with your child’s teacher and talk to them about goals and expectations for your child. Every parent has expectations from their children! In doing so, it will give your child opportunities to share what is in his or her mind freely. 

In addition, parent can show a love for learning by letting your child see you reading or writing often; let your child read your writing (if you write more often) or let your child read a book to you and vice versa; engage him/her by asking questions about school, subjects, teachers and their friends; chances are he or she will follow your lead.

Meet Your Child’s Physical Needs:

Make sure your child’s basic necessary needs are met. Physiological needs, such as food and shelter, followed by needs related to safety. As a parent, you are your child’s advocate for healthy living and good personal care and hygiene. Prepare nutritional meals daily and teach healthy eating and healthy living habits; ensure your child dresses up appropriately and presentable.  

According to Maslow’s motivational theory in physiology which comprised of five tier models of human needs stated that, “People are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on…every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences including divorce and loss of a job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy”. 

Therefore, as a parent strive to  ensure that  your child’s needs are met first, then  make learning a family experience by establishing a home structured environment and routines that allows your child to learn more and stimulate creativity, experimenting and discovering things together from cooking, painting, gardening, or make up a story and act it out, whatever fun activities you can find and do together at home are an open opportunity for learning and bonding; as well as prepare him or her for the next level.

Teach Self-discipline:

Harry Emerson Fosdick once said, “No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined”.

Self-discipline according to the definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary is, “the ability to make yourself do things when you should, even if you do not want to do them”.

So, if you lack self-discipline you may be unable to start many things that you ought to accomplish or finish! The ability to have control over things you can do and the motivation to do them is self-discipline. 

As individuals, we must build up self-discipline to set clear goals and directions we want to go. For example, for a student, your goal is to go to school and learn to the best of your ability. Self-discipline for a student is the willpower to perform well in school it includes paying attention when classes are in session, maintain good attendance, avoid temptations for bad behaviors-alcohol, drugs, sexual activities while still in school; limit TV viewing and video games; give yourself extra study time in school and at home, etc. 

All these things are possible and are controlled by your thoughts and how you manage your thoughts. If you don’t control your thoughts, you cannot control what to do, for you will have conflicting thoughts, hence unable to know what to do and how to do it! You cannot achieve success in school or life if you don’t pay attention to your thoughts and behaviors in relation to taking responsibility for your daily learning.  As a parent, you can encourage and support your child to learn effectively, however, you cannot force him or her; it’s his or her responsibility to take charge of his or her learning by developing habits that encourage learning and love of learning.

Mahatma Gandhi, once said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your destiny”.

Therefore, encourage yourself every day to do the best you can at school and at home, and make it a habit. Your actions or inactions will define you and set you for either success or failure. Studies indicate that people who develop a higher degree of self-discipline master their lives better and are happier, because they don’t spend time procrastinating what to do, they are stable and consistency in what they do.

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently”. Tony Robbins

Build Self-Confidence and Independence:

Self-confidence and independence are crucial traits to have to feel comfortable in life whether you are in school or at home.  Self-confidence is the ability to feel comfortable with yourself and the world around you. It's the ability to be certain about your competencies and skills. Self-confidence includes a sense of self-esteem and self-assurance, in addition, a belief that you are capable. 

When it comes to learning, every child is different in the way they learn and acquire knowledge. Knowing your child’s unique talents, skills, abilities, special needs, and interests will help you support your child best to acquire the self-confidence he or she needs to master his or her learning and beyond. Your child will enjoy learning and develop a healthy learning curiosity and builds creativity from the opportunities you bestow to them, but be sure to leave a room for independent learning. Self-initiation efforts are also crucial in managing daily routines. So make sure that your child doesn’t become too dependent on you even in the areas that need self-initiatives.  You must encourage your child to figure things out while supporting their efforts.

Let Your Child Play to Learn:

Play matters! Children play to learn, so give your child enough time to play and relax. A play is a major activity through which young children learn. Appreciate play can provide a lot of teaching, learning, and skills development. I believe that children play to learn! 

A play is the reflection of the child’s growth, the essence of the child’s life. A window into the child’s world. Through play, children acquire the foundations of logic thinking, reading, and writing. Furthermore, a play is a self-satisfying activity through which children gain control and come to understand life-understand who they are, what they are capable of, and how to better themselves in the play area. 

Furthermore, play teaches children about themselves, they learn the discipline of the games they play and the perseverance to endure, and how to win or lose a play. Children learn best through play! Before the children can understand the concept of soft and hard they need to experience soft and hard activities such as play dough or building with blocks. Before children can hold a pencil to write a letter on the paper, they need to have developed and control their small motor skills and muscles through cutting, pasting, pouring, painting and drawing.

There are many advantages of play as it serves important functions in children’s physical, emotional, and social development. Children express and present their ideas, thoughts, and feelings when engaged in symbolic play. During play, a child learns how to deal with emotions, how to interact with others, how to resolve conflicts, and how to gain a sense of competence and accomplishment-all in the safety that only play affords them.

As George Dorsey put it, “Play is the beginning of knowledge”.

And Charles Schaefer said, “We are never more fully, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are paying”.

Parents and teachers have a role of providing an environment that supports child-initiated learning including play.

Constructivist theorists/researchers, for example, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky pioneered work in early education and child development. Their views on how children learn, and when they are more likely to learn specific concepts and skills are the most popular guides in early education and development. 

According to Jean Piaget, the development of logical thought and socio-moral knowledge and behavior can be well learned through dramatic play. On the other hand, Lev Vygotsky focused on the social aspects of the child learning through the role of adults and older children in supporting cognitive, self-regulation, and language development. Thus, adults’ role in conversation and storybook sharing supports the child’s language development. Therefore, appropriate play can provide a lot of teaching, learning, and skills development.

Have Fun Learning:

Life isn’t always serious, don’t take learning too serious that you lose the fun of learning! While it feels good to manage your daily learning, it funnier to enjoy the learning process itself for the love of learning to occur! While all parent wishes to be honored as the parents of highly academic performing students, success in school and in life is more than academic performance! Imagine if all students can perform at the same level of straight A’s, we wouldn’t have all these other various talents, skills, and creativities that we see around. As long as your child is learning and developing towards the right direction, that all matters.

Robert John Meehan, said, “Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding”.

Parents and teachers are there to encourage and support their children’s learning. We must not force children to learn or perform above and beyond their ability, rather help them to unlock their full potential.

“Do not train children to learn by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each”, said Plato.