Why Parents Must Get Involved in the Child’s Education

Parents should be actively involved in the education of a child despite the fact that there are already several teachers, administrators and other school personnel to provide them the guidance they need through the school’s rules and regulations, the curriculum, and the learning.

Although it has been shown from studies that the children whose parents are involved in their education by helping them review lessons and study for exams exhibited higher scores in exams and performed better in the overall aspect, this is not how and why they should get involved. If being involved meant teaching and the reason for getting involved was for better grades, then all parents had to be well-educated and good at instruction. Furthermore, it such was the reasoning, then parents will fail to clearly express what the purpose of the education of a child is.

No, being involved could include but is not limited to teaching the child and reviewing him prior to exams. Parents must get involved in the education of a child, NOT his classroom. Also, the reason why parents must involve themselves is not for the child to develop a better academic performance, but to make sure that they are getting the proper learning and experience they would need once they are out in the real world. Remember that teaching your child the day’s lessons, attending parent-teacher meetings, or baking pineapple upside-down cake for their Christmas party are not the things that will determine your progress as an adult, and your success as an individual.

The following are some ways by which parents can get involved in their child’s education. Some of these ways need not even require parents to visit the child’s classroom.

- Regularly talk with the teacher of your child. Check on your child’s progress and ask if there are certain problems your child is experiencing in particular. The teacher can tell you what subjects are difficult for him, so you can teach your child at home or hire a tutor for him.
- At least discuss with your child his homework (if not help him with it).
- Obtain a copy of the school curriculum and get supplementary materials in advance for your child.
- Do not just depend on your child’s teachers; monitor his progress yourself!
- Set up a quiet study area for your child at home. This need not be an entire room. A table and a chair with a desk lamp at the corner of your child’s room would do. See to it that a specific time is set aside for doing homework.
- Always motivate your child! Let him feel how much you support him and that you want to help him get the best education of a child possible.

Music Education for Children: Why Should Parents Bother?

As parents, you would want to provide only the best education for your child. This is why parents work so hard; they do not mind getting tired everyday as they look forward to that paycheck to provide for their children’s educational needs. In fact, a star stamped on the child’s hand for being “very good” in school today is enough to put a smile the parents’ faces and make them forget how stressful work can be.

Now, what if someone told you that there was a way to improve your child’s learning for free, would you not be interested to listen? You would, probably. And even if it does not come for free, perhaps you still would, as long as it will benefit your child’s education. Fortunately for parents like you, it does come for free!

So what is “it”? Well, it here means music. Singing, playing, and listening to music, all these activities have long been proven to produce positive effects on a child’s academic performance. In fact, even children as young as newborns benefit from music.

Many different studies on music education has shown that it has a lot of benefits, from calming down a child in a bad mood, to helping the child solve mathematical problems easier and faster. On the whole, music education for your child helps him move forward to achieving success as a student.

Many researchers, in fact, believe that music has many other positive effects that are yet to be discovered, which is why studies on music are still being conducted today. To convince you of the importance of music education for your child, here are some of the findings of the studies conducted on the relationship of music education and children’s academic performance.

One of the studies showed that a group of students who had piano training scored higher in math by 27%. Another one showed that the young students who either play or sing in school bands are have less tendency to drink or smoke. It was also proven that exposure to music has a soft of soothing effect as it can change the mood of a child. The schools that implement music education which involves the students constantly being exposed to music reported that the number of cases involving fights and arguments between students was reduced considerably.

Countless surveys have come up with one and the same conclusion that most students find it easier to study when a music class is incorporated in their curriculum. Playing music also serves as the outlet of students, as it becomes their form of self-expression, helping them control their emotions better. Likewise, if your child learns to study music, he can produce the same effects while he is in class, such as the ability to listen and understand lessons easier. Bottomline here is that providing music education for your child will improve his performance and behavior, both in school and at home. Who knows, maybe the next time you see your child when you get home, there will be more than one star stamped on the back of his hand.

The Transition Points Every Child Goes Through

Child development and education are two of the most vulnerable yet most significant stages in life. It is during these stages that the child’s first identity is built based on how he first sees himself, how he thinks he should behave, and how he expects others to behave in relation to him. During these stages, also, the child will face different challenges as he goes through many transition points. These challenges include physical changes, social demands, academic pressures, and emotional needs. Some of these can be handled with just a little getting used to but others truly can place much stress and pressure on the child.

This is why parents play an integral role during child development and education. It is crucial that parents are there to provide particular understanding and guidance for the child. They must offer him support, understand what he is going through, and help him cope with these challenges.

Preschool may pose emotional, academic and social challenges for the child. This is the time when a child experiences his first prolonged separation from his parents and could also be the first time when the child is required to stay put at his assigned chair for brief periods of time, and listen and follow instruction. The child also learns how to read, write, and listen, and develops his comprehension and memory skills by learning the alphabet, the names of colors and how they look like. As for social challenges, a child is used to being pampered and being the center of attention but preschool with its group nature, requires him to share colors, books, and other supplies, participate in group games and activities, and ultimately, share the spotlight.

Early elementary years usually involve acquiring new skills and discovering hidden talents, forming new friendships, crying over petty fights, facing bullies, developing a “boy versus girl” mindset, experiencing having crushes (thus marking the start of self-consciousness and insecurity), and going through periods of envy every once in a while.

As one will see, a lot of things happen during child development and education and all of these things will have affect your child in one way or another, making it vital for parents to make sure that he receives the love, understanding, guidance, and fair discipline that he needs.

The Areas of Development Crucial To The Establishment Of The Child’s Identity

Child development and education are perhaps the most critical phases in one’s life. These stages span the human life from birth up to the end of adolescence. What a child experiences during these years would shape practically his entire identity and determine what his adulthood would be like.

During the early part of these years, a child will first begin to make sense of the world, and determine how he sees himself, how he sees other people, what he thinks the proper way for him to behave should be, and how he expects other people to treat him. These years are characterized primarily by the child’s innocence.

The years that would follow involve experiencing changes in the body, being exposed to the principles of right and wrong, establishing personal values and ethics, discovering talents, building self-esteem, developing self-awareness, forming new friendships, beginning to take notice of the members of the opposite sex, going through periods of insecurity, being confused for a lot of things, starting to assume independence, going through fights between parents, develop decision-making and critical thinking skills, and ideally, a shift from childhood to maturity just before entering adulthood. These are the things that generally will take place during the stages of child development and education.

Speaking of development, the following are the six different areas of development in every child:

1.) Physical development. This involves the development of cognitive abilities and motor skills as the child starts to explore his surroundings.
2.) Intellectual development. This involves making sense of the world and developing his personal perception of the things around him.
3.) Social development. This concentrates on forming of the child’s identity and his ability to establish relationships and attachments that can last, deal with other people, and understand what his place in particular community is.
4.) Creative development. This involves the discovery and improvement of skills and talents.
5.) Emotional development. This involves developing self-confidence, being aware of one’s self, developing insecurities, understanding emotions, and the ability to cope with them.
6.) Spiritual development. This involves the development of faith, prayer and the belief that all things are beyond his control. This developmental domain provides a source of hope and motivation for a child when all else fails.

Child development and education center on the child, but call for the guidance, presence and involvement of the parents and other people.