Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

Community Problem Report: Childs Education

The University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1301
Valeria Carrillo

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

Abstract
Parent involvement has been shown to be an important variable that positively influences
childrens education. In spite of this, many parents do not appear to be getting involved in their
childrens education. This lack of involvement may have a negative impact on student
performance in and out of the classroom and ultimately affect their continuing educational
development and success. Teachers just as much as parents, need to play a major role in
connecting classrooms, homes, and schools. Parent involvement goes a very long way, there are
many positive benefits that not only benefit the child, but as well as the teachers and at home
relationships.

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

Introduction
Parental involvement promotes the social growth of a child. Research has conducted over
the past 30 years, parent involvement goes a very long way, children whose parents are involved
in their formal education have many benefits in the long run. They have better grades, test scores,
long-term academic achievement, attitudes and behavior than those with impartial mothers and
fathers (Anne T. Henderson 1988). Parents who are becoming involved in their child's schooling
creates extra sources of social interaction, which will influence the child's behavior. For example,
parents talking to their children about getting more involved in the school, by participating in
activities or sports, will deliver a message to the child that education is extremely essential and
beneficiary. Parents should be talking with their children's teachers and letting them know about
their family. That way the more he or she knows about your child, the better they will be able to
connect with your child on another level.
Parents play a critical role
By constant communications with your childs teachers about your childs hobbies,
interest, pets and learning troubles and strengths, it offers a closer student teacher relationship
throughout the schoolyear. One way in which parents play a critical role in their childrens social
development is by encouraging play and interacting with other students and making friends.
Once children are able to work in group settings with other children and peers, this could and
will build social skills, and teach the child to learn to get along with other students, and also
decrease the number of disruptions in the classroom when the teacher is teaching. Why you may
ask, parents need to stress the importance of manners that can be taught at home such as such as
manners including yes mam, no mam, yes sir, no sir, please and thank you those phrases work
in which they help smooth the teachers day and help himself and others learn, such as listening

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

when classmates answer questions, writing his name on assignments, and keeping his desk and
work area organized. Parents can easily help your children avoid interrupting by learning ways
taught at home. Teachers love student participation and interest, rather than yelling out too often
which causes unnecessary disruptions. It is better to express the good times to speak, such as
when the teacher is welcoming questions and the not so good times, such as when the teacher is
talking to another student causing interruptions. Practicing in these type classroom behaviors will
help with less interruptions and a better learning environment for all. Parental participation
encourages emotional growth of a child and social skills. The association between a child and
parent is a long-lasting, emotional, learned response. It is the love in a parent and child
relationship that forms the basis for a child to trust or not to trust their environment. This proper
relationship is crucial for a child to trust other adults, such as their teachers and also to trust other
students and make friends. The more time that children spend with their parents, the more
confidently they feel about the way they are being raised. Parents not only need to have this
friendship with their child, but also let go a little. Self-sufficient kids have more confidence. If
your child struggles to tie a shoe or finish a vocabulary word, resist the instinct to step in and do
it for him, but still encourage your child and let him know you are there for him every step of the
way. Letting your children finish tasks will give them the confidence to step up and do well in
school. Anxiety for a child may be if the switch between school and home is too sudden. There
needs to be a steadiness between parents and teachers, so a child will feel comfortable. Parents
need to create home settings to support and encourage children to become better students.

Schools can provide workshops and offer suggestions for home conditioning activities
that support learning. This gives the teacher an understanding of the familys background, respect

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

for the parents efforts and an understanding of student diversity. When parents show interest in
education, by doing activities at home, children seem to also gain higher self-esteem and feeling
of self-worth. Childrens sense of who they are, is closely connected with the sense of who their
parents are. The teachers who make the effort to make sure a child and their parents are
welcome, are the ones with a better chance of connecting with the child. Parental involvement
promotes academic growth of a child as well. When parents are involved in their childs
education, this sets a good example of education being important. Studies have shown that
parental involvement in a childs education has more influence on academic success than the
familys socio-economic status, race and education background. There are many advantages
when parents play and active role in a childs education process. Parents who set high
expectations for their children, encourage them to reach their full potential. Children spend much
more time at home than at school, this offers opportunities for parents to have private lessons in a
familiar setting. With this one on one atmosphere, parents are able to help their child with
homework. A lot of the time children need guidance in using their time productively, so in return
they will be prepared for class the next day. Children also benefit from seeing a consistency
between the values and lessons taught at school are also practiced at home. Parents need to keep
in touch with teachers to understand what is expected of the children and then parents can
reinforce at home.

When you relate classroom lessons to home life, you demonstrate to the teacher that both
you and your child are paying attention. This provides and extra dose of positive reinforcement
for the teacher. Another factor which parents have enormous control is the variety and amount of
reading being done by their child. The single most important activity for building knowledge

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

required for ultimate success in reading is reading aloud to children. Fifteen minutes each day is
all the needed to read with your child. Families can help their children develop good study
habits, supervise their homework, monitor TV viewing and after school activities, and supervise
regular bedtimes and school attendance. Families also model good learning practices through
their own education activities. A 1992 study done by Barton and Corey shows that controllable
factors, such as absenteeism, amount of TV watched and the kinds of learning activities offered
at home, make a huge difference in the average students achievement. Instead of watching TV a
parent and child can play a game, read aloud, or talk about their day. This proves much more
beneficial for the childs whole educational experience.
Involvement
Teachers and schools have a constant responsibility to get parents involved in their
childrens education. Communicating with parents may be hard, but it is extremely necessary and
beneficiary. Schools are where most families can establish contact with their childrens teacher.
Newsletters or emails can be made to pass information about school activities and functions but
as well used to offer tips on what parents can be doing with their children to better their
education and schools. Families can support schools and childrens learning in important ways.
Parents provide a needed service, and are being used more often. There are simple ways to get a
parent involved in education. Parents do not need to be highly educated or have lots of free time
in order to help their children learn. School web sites and e-mails are two ways to give busy,
working parents a better chance to look in on their childs progress, stay in contact with teachers
and keep up to speed with school events. This also gives teachers a way to get in touch from their
homes with parents who dont have time to meet in person. Using technology will allow parents,
students and teachers to get reliable, secure, confidential access to one another. Parents can make

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

a teachers life much easier by making sure your child has enough supplies, checking to see if his
homework is complete and sending permission slips in on time

Parent who volunteers are a great way for parents to see first-hand the classroom
environment. A parent and teacher
relationship can give parents the
feeling of not quite being alone in
their responsibilities with bringing

in

parental volunteers, parents in this

way, learn to gain more respect for
the job the teacher does. Volunteers
could help with individual children,

Figure 1. The relationship between a parent and a

teacher, and the benefits it may have on your
childs life.

with small groups. They could also

or
be

used for preparing material and setting up activities. For the experience to be successful, both
teachers and volunteers need to recognize that the teacher is the major decision-maker and
authority figure. When parents are interacting with the children in the classroom this also is a
time for parents to see how well their child is functioning with peers and other adults. Parents
can volunteer as tutors and classroom aides, as well as assist with field trips and in the
lunchroom and front office. Volunteering as tutors will not only give parents a feeling of
satisfaction and a child self-worth because they know their parents care about their education,
but it is also a major help to the teacher. Having volunteers can allow the teacher to worry less
about small things and more about bigger matters. Effective forms of school to home and home
to school communications about school programs such as conferences, newsletters, and progress

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

reports allows the parents to keep on top of their childrens education. But, this also benefits the
teacher by gaining an awareness of their own ability to communicate clearly and if they need
improving or different techniques (National, 2001). Parents should be a part of school decisions.
When there are parents on school boards, they are a key component of school reform They can
help develop family involvement and school
improvement plans. They may also have a voice
in curriculum development and in the kinds of
training offered to teachers and which to be hired.
Parents have the right to demand the best
education for their children, and that includes the
Figure 2. Percentage of Parents whove been
reported attending school events, volunteering or
serving a committee in 2012

kinds of teachers being hired to teach their

children. Parents can also organize school events,

attend student performances and other school related activities. An even simpler way to get
parents in the classroom is to allow the celebration of birthdays and holidays. Parents can
provide refreshments and small games, showing children that school can be fun. This is also a
time when teachers can take a break and have parent volunteers introducing activities. This type
of parental involvement can benefit the school in other ways, as well. The morale boost that
teachers receive from supportive parents help them to feel more positive about their jobs and
their schools.

Another way to get parents involved is for teachers to provide information and ideas to
families about how to help students at home with homework and other activities. Teachers can
provide calendars with activities, a schedule of homework assignments and academic goals that

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

can be set within a family. This will benefit teachers by respecting parental involvement and
support, a better design of homework assignments and a better chance of having all the students
complete work assigned (National, 2001).This may help a child view a parent more similar to a
teacher, and home more similar to school. A parent involvement pledge is to recruit and organize
parent volunteers. Benefits of pledges for teachers were readiness to involve families, awareness
of parent talents and interests in school and children and greater individual attention to students
with help from volunteers (National, 2001). Findings from the U.S. Department of Educations
prospects study in 1993 revealed that students in schools with parent involvement pledges
perform better in school because of a greater reinforcement of learning at home. This type of
encouragement will benefit a teachers ability to teach a child and a child to learn from a teacher.

Possible Problems
With all good things, there comes bad, some possible problems that may be as a result of
parental involvement may be harmful to a childs education and a teachers authority. Even
though parent volunteers are brought in to help the teacher, it may also demand extra time on the
teacher and a sense of over involving themselves in their childs education. Its great to have help
with activities, but it may be difficult for the teacher to figure where and how to involve parents.
Many teachers work hard to create and sustain programs in which kids come first, but theyre at
a loss when it comes to figuring out where to involve parents (Hopkings, 1997). There may be a
lack of administrative support, communication skills between parents and teachers, or lack of
classroom space. Some parents may even become inappropriate and become too leading or
disagree with the teachers methods, causing the teacher to feel intimidated and have a lack of
confidence. There are few parents who dont want to be more involved in their childs education.

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

It is also a problem for parents, especially working parents, to find the time and energy to
become more involved (Hopkings, 1997), especially when their child may not be the only ones
they care for and with career is school themselves, it gets tough. With teachers, school, and
parents working together there are endless possibilities to what they can do to improve all
childrens education.
Conclusion
The success of a child in education varies on the involvement of their parents inside or
outside of school. Parents need to show their child that education is the most essential part of
life. Checking homework, reading aloud with a child, or volunteering to help in the classroom is
a great way to show the importance of education, and the value one has to is. Communicating
both ways between home and school is important for parents to keep up to date on school
activities and their childrens progress and is also important for the teachers to be involved in
childrens lives to better connect in and out of school. Not only does a parents involvement
influence the academic growth of children but also the social and emotional growth as well.
Parental involvement in and outside of school promotes a teachers ability to teach, and
childrens ability to learn.

Running Head: CHILDS EDUCATION

Resources
Parental Involvement in Schools. (2013, September). Retrieved from
http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=parental-involvement-in-schools
Parent Teacher Relationships - Amy Simpson's Portfolio. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://sites.google.com/site/amysimpsonsportfolio/artifact-3
Hopkins, G. (1997). Parental involvement is easy as pie. Education World. Retrieved November
30, 2001, from http://www.education-world.com
The National Campaign for Public School Improvement. (2001). Retrieved November 30, 2001,
from http://www.projectappleseed.org
Henderson, A. T. (1998). ERIC - Parents Are a School's Best Friends., Phi Delta Kappan, 1988.
Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ377529