HOW
How can parents help at home?
PARENT ENGAGEMENT LEADS TO SCHOOL SUCCESS
Lisa Pawlak
It’s back-to-school season—time to shop for supplies, fill out forms, and help the kids get organized. This fall, teachers and school administrators will likely encourage you and other parents in the community to get more involved with your child’s daily education. Why? Because parental engagement has longterm and wide-ranging positive impacts on a child’s academic success, overall health, social relationships and future career possibilities. Here you’ll discover the importance of parent engagement, along with things you can do to better support your children academically. What is parent engagement? “Parent engagement means efforts by the school district and schools to seek input from all parents, and to engage parents as partners in their children’s education and in decisionmaking,” according to the California State PTA website. “It also means promoting parent participation in programs that meet the needs of their own students and others on campus.” A student’s success at school involves Parent active participation volunteers! by parents, teachers and Concerned administrators. According about time to the Centers for Disease commitment? Control and Prevention (CDC), Read our “When parents are involved at article How to their children’s schools, their Volunteer at kids get better grades, choose School without healthier behaviors and have Burning Out at better social skills. This type of www engagement also improves the .SanDiegoFamily odds that their kids will avoid .com/resources/ unhealthy behaviors, such as educationsexual risk, tobacco, alcohol and directory/1853. other drugs.”
22 • SanDiegofamily.com • September 2018
At the most basic level, parents can simply talk to their kids about school. Ask what they learned that day, about homework assignments, how they did on a test, who they sat with at lunch, or something that made them laugh during class. These daily discussions will show your child that their life at school—and how they perform in class—is important. Parents might also choose to discuss how academic success leads to greater college choices and more future career pathways. “When parents talk to their children about school, expect them to do well, make sure that out-of-school activities are constructive, and help them plan for college, their children perform better in school,” states the National Education Association (NEA). To enable constructive homework sessions, create a quiet space for studying and set a regular time for daily homework. Try to be nearby to answer questions, but don’t be tempted to do your child’s homework, even if she is struggling. If needed, sit down and help guide her; discuss any difficulties with the teacher; and take advantage of tutoring services – sometimes offered after school at no cost. School communications, such as newsletters, emails, notices and mailings, often provide details of what is being taught in the classroom and ways the students are being assessed. These can also help keep you apprised of recent developments in state standardized testing. Explore local afterschool enrichment programs throughout this issue. Many offer quality activities at reasonable prices. Support literacy education by regularly visiting the library and, whenever you can, make it part of your family’s evening routine to read with your child before bed. Finally—and this is a big one— demonstrate appropriate electronic usage by putting your phones, tablets, laptops and other electronic devices away in order to give your children