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August 16, 2007
Workshop for Parents
I mentioned earier this week I was doing a Back to School workshop for parents. It's definitely the time of year for teachers and administrators to tell parents about their programs and get everyone off to a good start. This school was no exception.
The turnout was great. About 150 parents and a few children showed up to see what was going on at the school. It was fun as we checked people in to see how many new parents with first time kindergarteners were there. They were so excited for their children. Then there were the old-timers with sixth graders who knew about how things worked. Well, they mostly knew, but this was their child's last year at this school, and who knew ANYTHING about Middle School.
When doing a workshop for parents, I avoid talking about data and statistics and boring stuff, but I do point out one study that was done a few years ago. The study looked at 66 different studies involving parents helping their children with learning. The result was that everyone of the 66 studies showed that when parents were involved with their child's learning, the child did better in school. It didn't matter what the education level of the parent was, the ethnicity, or the income. What mattered is that they spent time with their child on learning activities.
Yes! Thank you. I have four children and I worked full time while my kids were growing up, but I know when I spent time with them, reading a story or doing a science experiment, they did better in school than when I was too busy to help.
The study went on to say the two most important things a parent can do is to:
1) Have a positive attidude about education and learning
2) Believe and have confidence that their child can learn
Well, that puts it in a nutshell. One of the most fun classes one of my kids took was a literature secion of her English class. After their first reading she came to me saying she didn't get it and no one in her class got it. We sat down and reread the story by Edgar Allen Poe. Then we went back and talked about what he might be trying to say. The next day she went to class knowing she "got it." She was the only one who did. She came back every night with a new reading until the whole section was complete. We both enjoyed it. Not only did we enjoy the reading, we enjoyed the time together. Oh, and she enjoyed the success!
Sometimes they brought me stuff I didn't like or know much about. If it was in their dad's areas of expertise, I could pass them off, but sometimes neither one of us was that great at what ever the project. Then it was a bit more challenging to help, but if, as the study showed, what it took was to be positive about learning and confident they could get it, no problem. That I can do.
Positive and confident are two things you can do for your child this year. Make this the best year ever.
Posted by Dr Joni at August 16, 2007 01:58 PM