As parents, our job is to protect, love and educate our children in well-rounded ways. You might take your child to piano lessons or soccer practice, or teach your children about the ways of nature and the importance of a good moral foundation. Simply being involved in bringing about a positive childhood outcome through positive reinforcement and other methods, can mean the difference between success and failure in a number of areas, which is why it’s of utmost importance to stay active in your child’s life, especially when it comes to education.

Today’s Family And Support In Education

The old adage goes, “It takes a village to raise a child,” and never more is it truer than today. Families consist of more than just the traditional two-parent structure of yesterday, with blended families leading the charts for current household composition. Single parent homes account for over 26% of children in America, which means that around 25 million children have the right to free and standard education. These children often grow up with a strong grandparental influence, as well as support from aunts, uncles, cousins and other authority figures – a community effort to support the growth and development of today’s kids.

According to a 2002 report from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, “When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more.” Parental involvement in a child’s education also leads to better test scores and higher grades, higher graduation rates and these children often attend school on a more regularly consistent basis than those who lack a supportive familial network. An active interest in your child can also improve social behavior and help them more readily adapt to a number of situations, as well as give them a better chance at passing their classes and earning important educational credits. It may not feel like you’re doing so much for your child, but you are actually doing a lot more than you could ever know.

Over the many decades that standard education has been available in the United States, schools have developed specialized plans to help involve parents in more of their child’s educational activities. This might be a reading log that needs to be signed every night, or include Family Fun Nights which take place at the school on designated days each month or semester. Most schools have a system of support that can help prop a child up when they need it most, even if the involvement from their parent(s) is limited – what a great resource in and of itself!

Education works in two ways: children perform much better when they are given educational goals to meet, when their parents talk to them about school expectations, and when they see their parents actively participating in school events. Sitting down and doing homework with your child, taking the time to explain difficult lessons, or getting them the help they might need due to certain barriers goes a long way in giving your child the confidence they need to succeed and grow as a person.

The other way lies in how schools work to engage parents and guardians through open, honest communication and individual partnerships. By honoring a parent’s concerns, fulfilling educational promises and sharing in decisions for the child’s best interests, a school aims to improve student success and build much-needed trust. This applies to all children regardless of economic status, racial background or their parent’s own educational level and personal achievements.

Parental Involvement And You

There are a number of healthy benefits to indicate how an avid interest in juvenile education can benefit your child is untold ways, but what about you? Do you receive any personal rewards of your own? Research says you do, even if you’re unaware. Parental involvement means you have increased confidence in your own parenting and decision-making skills, as well as having a stronger belief in the school system’s ability to teach your child in a proper manner. Also, once you understand the stages of your child’s development better, you’ll be more likely to use more affection and positive reinforcement, rather than negative emotions and punishment. That sounds like a win-win for everyone!

When parents are involved in their child’s education, it often means the school has a better reputation within the community, meaning more support and outreach programs for children in need. Learning is a collaborative effort between parents, children, educators and school officials, and this inherent trust is beneficial to all children within the school system. But this support doesn’t stop at school alone; it extends to specialized programs like special education, outside tutoring and even homeschooling, should that be the case. In fact, teaching your child at home requires a level of dedication and parental involvement that can’t be ignored.

Home-based, parent-led education accounts for the teaching of around 2.2 million children, and allows for the customization of lesson plans that traditional schooling often cannot accommodate. In this way, children get the one-on-one parental involvement necessary to succeed in a safe, stress-free environment that allows them to expand their knowledge with little to no pressure from the educator, which would be you. Your child will receive all of the benefits of parental involvement that go with a public education, only with the love of guidance of their familial support system on a daily basis. You can’t go wrong with that!

No matter how you slice it, taking an active stance on your child’s education will bring lifelong rewards to both of you. Life is easier with a little bit of help, and Special Education Resource is here to provide you with all of the information you need to be an involved part of your child’s schooling, especially for those wanting more info on special education tutoring. We believe children thrive when given the resources to help them succeed. We take the lessons, curriculum and homework your child receives from their traditional classroom or from you in the case they are home-schooled, and mold it into the learning style they need to maximize their success.  No matter where you are in the educational process, know that you’re not alone! We’re always here to help.