Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Parental Involvement in the Classroom

One problem that is being faced in today's classroom is the lack of parental involvement in the classroom. When a parent does not have or does not take the time to be involved with their child and his or her school, both are missing out on a lot. If parents were able to to help look over their child's homework or help them with questions they may have, then there would be a lot more student success in the classroom. It is difficult in this day for parents to be involved in school because of job responsibilities outside of the home. But, the child's education should not be overlooked. The teacher alone cannot have as good an impact as a teacher and a parent when it comes to education. What can we do as teachers or as parents to get parents involved with their student's schooling? There may not be any simple answer for the question, but there are definitely things that we can do today. What are your suggestions?

5 comments:

jen said...

I agree with you Katrina! Parental involvement is extremely important for the child. I used to teach in Taiwan and I could tell the difference between those who had parents that were involved in their school work and those who weren't. For example, I had a class of nine 6 and 7 year olds. The students that were doing well in my class always received help from their parents.
We had a day were the parents could come and observe me as the teacher, teaching their children. The students that were above the rest had their parents come that day. Some of the other parents that didn't show up were parents of those students who weren't doing as well. I think it is extremely important for parents to be involved with their child in the class.

Gordon and Katrina said...

Great blog Katrina! I agree that parents have an important role in afterschool education

kleialoha said...

I really agree with you! I wrote an entire english paper on parent involvement. It is crucial! Especailly before the age where they go to school I see some kids who come into kindergraden so unprepared and some that excel above all expectations and that is all because of parent involvement. Personally my mom wasn't really involved in my education because she was a single parent and working hard but I think I turned out alright but with my brother who is 12 years younger than me she stayed home and was very much involved and I could see some differences. But I guess the only thing as teachers we can do is try to have more opportunities for interaction like parent night, parent teacher confrence and bringing in parents to observe teaching or like show and tell. Good job I loved your blog!

camandan said...

I think that parents need to stress, to their children, the importance of education. That means that they need to take an active role inside and outside of the classroom to encourage their children to excel in school. I know that when my parents asked if I had any homework, or if I needed help that they cared. I also knew that I could come to them with questions that I had, or if I needed something to help me do better in my classes, whether if it was a notebook, or if they just help me answer a question, they would help me no matter what. Parents are the biggest influence in their young children's life, and they should encourage them to do the best they can in the classroom?

aimee said...

katrina, so true. if children see that their parents care about their education, they are certainly more prone to take an interest in it themselves. thanks for posting on the subject.