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March 14, 2008
Support Counts
“I never went to school a day in my life,” said Elio Galarza through an interpreter last night at a parent workshop at Fremont Elementary School in Fowler, California. “I work two jobs, 16 hours a day. I want my children to be good students. I want my children to get a good job and to work an eight hour day.”
Elio and his wife have four children. One is already in college and a second in high school. They attended the third-fifth grade workshop for their third child. They are very serious about having their children succeed far beyond what they have been able to do.
So were the 30 or so other parents who attended the workshop. Magdalena Zurita, a mom who attended both last night and the night before at the K-2 workshop, said, “I want my child to study. I didn’t study. He wants to be a doctor.”
My message is always about helping and supporting a child’s learning, but in many ways last night I was preaching to the choir. I often am. Most parents really want to help their children do well, learn, get good grades, and succeed in life. I don’t have to work too much with a group like this on motivation. I only need to give them a few tips on how they might focus their efforts.
I usually provide activities parents can do at home to help. I’ve even written books about the topic with all kinds of fun activities to do. Everywhere I go I pick up new ones. No surprise from this group of parents, but last night I heard another one to share.
Josefina Lopez suggested a game she played with her child when she was learning the alphabet. She says they’d pick a letter then they’d have to come up with a first name of someone whose name started with the letter, then a last name with the same letter, a city, a flower, and as she put it “cual cosa,” another thing, that started with the letter. Josefina’s alphabet game could be a good one for driving to the store, folding laundry or doing the dishes. If you have a child just learning the alphabe try out this activity and let me know how it goes. I'm sure Josefina would like to know too.
Elio and Josefina have plans for their children. Their children know the importance of an education because their parents tell them and support them in making sure they learn. These are tomorrow’s adults and their skills are the ones we’ll depend on.
Posted by Dr Joni at March 14, 2008 08:02 AM
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