When people hear the term “parental
involvement in school,” they usually think it means taking part in PTA
activities, helping to chaperone field trips, or volunteering in the classroom.
It’s important to remember that
another form of parental involvement is even more crucial — taking part in
education at home.
This means encouraging children
to read, monitoring their homework, reading to them, placing reasonable
restrictions on TV viewing, and making sure they go to school every day.
It also means talking to
children about why school is important.
Many children do not always get
such attention. In some cases, both parents are working and are simply too
tired at night or are not inclined to do so. In single-parent families, often
it is impossible for a parent to cover all these bases.
Many modern children spend at
least as much time watching TV as they do in school. And, of course, if
students don’t attend school regularly, they can’t benefit from what it offers.
Parents have to be around the
house to supervise; they have to put pressure on their children to turn off the
TV and do their homework or read. They have to make sure their kids go to
school even when there is some small reason for staying home.
This kind of parental
involvement is hard work, and relentless work, because it must be constant. But
it’s hard to think of anything more important parents can do for their
children.
