*Originally posted 9/30/15
Todd Latiolais, Staff Attorney for CHILDREN AT RISK, discusses the recent press conference, and how parents can be involved in their child’s education.
CHILDREN AT RISK had a press conference to discuss parent engagement during the school year. The press conference was held to celebrate the kickoff of the new school year and to discuss tips for parents. September is designated as both National Literacy Month and Attendance Awareness Month, so there was a large emphasis in this press conference about what parents can do to engage in their children’s school life and to encourage them to be more socially and academically successful.
When we use the term “socially successful”, we are talking about a child’s social readiness – how able is the child to interact with other students and with teachers? When parents are more involved in their child’s school education, we find that kids have higher social readiness. One tip from the press conference was to encourage children to express themselves with words, and also teach them to listen to others and give others a chance to talk. Another suggestion that I thought was really interesting was to grow a child’s independence by choosing clothes that are easy to buckle or zip on their own. Children also learn independence when they’re assigned their own chores, like setting the table or tidying up the toys after playtime.
Children need to shift gears from vacation time to a school mindset, and some suggestions were to have a scheduled time for meals, playtime and study time. This prepares the child for the more regimented school schedule. Another suggestion was to have an area dedicated to schoolwork at home. Also, encouraging children to engage in fun activities where they can count, sing and read. For example, when you take your child shopping with you, have them name the different fruits and vegetables or count them as you’re putting them in your cart.
When thinking about National Literacy Month, there are plenty of strategies to encourage reading. There was an emphasis at the press conference on the literacy problem and how children are not reading as much as they should. An interesting fact mentioned by Connect4Literacy is that if children are not reading at grade level by the third grade, they are FOUR times more likely to drop out. So reading was greatly emphasized. It’s good to encourage children to choose the books they feel they want to read, and make many books easily available at home that are at the child’s reading level. Another angle is to just model that behavior as a parent by reading in places where the child can witness that or even sign up to read to children at their school or library. On Connect4Literacy.org you can find suggestions and volunteer opportunities to read in your community.
September is also Attendance Awareness Month. The first Attendance Awareness Month was in 2013. It coincides with the beginning of the school year to remind us all of the direct correlation between good attendance and academic achievement. We’ve found that 1 in every 10 children misses school chronically, which is missing more than 10 percent of school days. Absences can sneak up on you, and missing only two days a month can cause a child to fall behind in school. So the aim is to involve parents, schools and communities in improving attendance by understanding obstacles preventing it and working as a team to resolve these obstacles. These include a child’s poor health, but also things such as lack of transportation or an unstable situation at home. Parents can find a multitude of tips and resources on attendanceworks.org.
I think a major takeaway message from the press conference was that parents are a child’s first teacher, and a teacher always comes prepared. Parenting is one of the hardest jobs out there, but it’s also the most important – and there are plenty of great resources out there to help you do your job even better. Another very helpful resource is calling 211. This a helpline hosted by United Way. It’s available 24 hours a day and addresses many family and education concerns.