It takes a village to raise a child

As a parent of two young boys, I want to know everything. I want to know what I need to do at home to cement what they learned at school. I had a situation where I spoke to my child’s teacher concerning his test scores. I requested she notify me of test days so I can help prepare my child. The response I received in regards to my third grade child is that it is his responsibility to write the assignments in the agenda. Now this baffled me because I want to be a part of my child’s education, however, I now must rely on my son to write this information down. This is the little boy who must be reminded to brush his teeth every night and to make his bed every morning.

The blog I read really emphasized something I feel is very important which is parent involvement.  One of the reasons why I chose this career field is to create that bridge and provide parents an informed account of their child’s education. As much as we should hold students accountable for their assignments, as teachers we need to allow parents to have an active role in their child’s academics. Simply notifying parents of major projects or test days will allows parents to check on their child’s progress or to push their child to take action. As a parent-teacher team, this can only result in a positive outcome in academics and behavior.

The blog provides examples on how parents can become involved with the school such as PTA, school board meetings, and mentorship. The reality is most parents are struggling to balance work, family and school. I know first hand the frustrations of leaving work at 5:00, battling the traffic, creating a delicious meal, helping kids with their homework and finally working on my own homework. By the time these tasks are complete its almost midnight. The last thing on my mind was PTA and school board meetings. So as teacher, how can I involve parents into their child’s education without taking up more of their time?

As a teacher, I envision going above and beyond with pictures, videos and captions. Currently, as a student at Marymount, I am most excited about taking a course on how to incorporate technology into the classroom. This will allow me to achieve my goal of informing parents. First, blogging can provide parents a quick glance into their child’s day and read on important events. Most importantly, I want the parents to feel like they are part of the school’s community and to feel confident that we truly advocate for their child’s education.

Source: http://gettingsmart.com/2015/02/parental-involvement-schools-matters-teachers-perspective/