Parental Involvement

Parental involvement has shown to be really important in the development and learning process a child goes through, and I completely agree. In the previous EDU class i took, we talked about a parent’s responsibilities to teach his or her child the basics upon entering pre-school. Are parents supposed to teach colors? alphabets? shapes? numbers and etc before he or she admits his or her child into kindergarten? Most people would say yes, but what if those parents do not speak English. How can they take on those responsibilities when they too have no knowledge of the subject matter? Parental involvement at a young age is crucial to how a child grows up because they will internalize that experience and project it onto their children in the future. However, some parents are too busy to pay any attention to what a child is learning at school so they have no way of getting involved. Studies show that parental involvement shows an increase in students grades and confidence. I remember a professor told me that the difference between scoring high on SATs scores and scoring mediocre is that those who score higher have frequent conversations with parents. It seems pretty striking how little it takes to help a child succeed. Its not even like those conversations revolved around vocab/math studies, just regular talking about the child’s day.

Parental involvement could also be applied in schools. Similar to the conversation we had in class, I think parents should get involved in the classroom but it is very hard to know where to draw the line. Of course parents should be able to have a say in how and what is being taught in school because the material can conflict with religious or even personal beliefs. But how do we decide when it gets intrusive and when are parents stepping overboard? It’s a sticky situation because some argue that parents aren’t involved enough, and then when they do get involved, they get criticized. Personally, I feel that not all parents need to join the PTA or get involved in the school. Once they do, they almost become a part of the faculty, which is not okay. I remember children in elementary school who had parents that were in the PTA, and it just seemed they always got treated better and were let off easier when they got in trouble. But I agree that parental involvement makes a child smarter. My cousin is very involved with her child, who is 4 years old, and his education. I saw them the other day, and he recited the vowels to me! I didn’t learn vowels until i was like 2nd grade! and he’s four years old… Of course, my parents do not speak any English, but still. Parental involvement in schools and in a child’s life only has many benefits, so it should be highly encouraged. So, should we try to regulate parental involvement in homes to better learning? and how can we help those who have careless parents?