If I were to ask you if education is important in your home you’d probably say “Well yeah! I’m on this tutoring website trying to help my kid!” And in most cases, I’d agree that many parents feel that education is very important for their children, but they don’t always know how to emphasize its importance at home.
In fact, many parents expect their children to bring home A’s and B’s without really doing much more than dropping them off at school every day. And while school attendance is vital to success, even if your child is very bright, certain tools for future success such as good study skills, organization and prioritizing must be emphasized at home.
Now you may be saying “Yeah…but I’m not a teacher, that’s their job right?” Well, yes teachers and schools do have a big responsibility for what happens in the classroom, but, the good news, however, is that it’s not as hard as you may think to make learning a priority at home. Here are few tips below:
Build a Relationship with the Teacher: Believe it or not, but one of your strongest allies in the education of your child is their teacher. I know that’s not always what you hear on the news and some blogs. I know you may think she is lazy, or you don’t like the method she uses to teach your child how to add. But, as a former public school teacher I can assure you of two things #1 most teachers are there because they genuinely want to be (nope…not even those long summer breaks could make someone who truly doesn’t want to be a teacher stay a teacher) and #2 it would make her day if you asked her something about what’s going on in the classroom. That’s because teachers spend an enormous amount of time planning for your child every single day. They also spend money on resources, attend conferences to learn that new math you hate and most of the time, they really want to work with you to ensure the success of your child. When you stay in touch with your child’s teacher, you’re in the know of what’s going on at school and can get tips on how to extend learning at home.
Create a Routine: One good way to show your children how important education is at home is to make it a part of their daily schedule. This could be done by creating a board at home that lists all the child’s responsibilities including when and how long to study every day. It is also important to note that while there may be other things going on at home such as chores, family obligations and even religious activities, repeatedly knocking homework and study time off the list of priorities will only communicate to your child that it’s ok to skip educational activities to do other things. If you truly want to make education a lifelong priority, it has to be modelled at home by you so that your children will firmly understand its importance.
Show Interest: What’s in your child’s backpack right now? Do you know what they are studying at school this week in reading? Do you know the dates for the upcoming science fair? If you do, great! If not, consider asking yourself “why not?” When children see their parents getting excited about what they are learning, they get excited too! Many teachers and schools send home weekly newsletters with information on learning objectives, new skills and assignments. Even if you don’t know everything about what your child is doing at school, seeing you check for their homework accuracy and newsletter will show your child that school is important and you want to know what they are doing when they are there.
Don’t Make Excuses: I cannot tell you how many conferences I have sat through where I informed a parent of their child’s areas of growth or behavior challenges and was met with a comment similar to “well I was _______________ in school, so I can’t expect Johnny to do anything better.” Wait…hold the press…did you just say that because you couldn’t read well in school that you’re ok with your child not reading well either? Maybe it’s just me and where I come from, but parents typically want their children to do better than they did in all areas of life. This is normal, but it’s not going to happen by making excuses for them because you don’t know how to help them. Let me start by saying this: it’s ok if you don’t really know how to help, that’s a big part of why the teacher is there (see above paragraph on building a relationship with them) but it is NOT ok to just sweep it under the rug, because history has a way of repeating itself when we don’t do things differently than they were done before. Making education a priority at home will never happen if you are making excuses for why you can’t (read “won’t”) make time to study with your child, return their teacher’s phone calls or keep them accountable for the expectations you have set for them.
At the end of the day, children are a lot like empty silos just waiting to be filled up with the skills they will use to navigate through life, and no matter how much you talk about the importance of school and learning, none of it will fill them up, if they don’t see that importance manifested in action.
If you have more questions on how to make education a priority at home or would like to schedule a tutoring session, contact me here!
I’d also love to hear about the great ways you make education a priority in your home! Leave a comment below.
