How You Can Get Involved As A Parent

ou can affect the academic achievement of your own child, of all the children in a classroom, of a whole school, or even an entire school district by getting involved both in and out of school.

What you as a parent can do:

Be your children's first teacher. Spend time playing with them. Talk, ask questions, and read to them or have them read to you. A half-hour of reading together daily can make a difference in academic achievement.
Make sure your children receive needed health care and preventive services. The Family Resource/Youth Services Center at your school can assist. Call your local school district office.
Provide ways your children can explore the world around them. Ask them questions about what they are seeing, touching, and thinking. Encourage them to talk and write about their thoughts.
Check with your children's teachers to find out what your children should be doing at their ages. This will help you know what behavior and learning levels are typical.
Stress the importance of school to your children by explaining that school is their "world of work." Insist on regular school attendance.
Make sure that you support learning outside of school. Work with your children's teachers to know what to emphasize in these activities.
Support your children with their homework by establishing a regular homework schedule for them and creating a place where they can work without interruption. Spend at least thirty minutes reviewing the results of their work with them. Call the teacher immediately with any concerns about academic progress.
Establish a restricted TV-watching schedule. Work with your children to allow them a role in making some decisions about what programs to watch. Encourage selection of at least one news show. Even with monitoring the shows children watch, it is suggested that children not watch more than two hours of television a day.
Stop by your children's school regularly. Informal visits to eat lunch and spend a few minutes in classrooms are important supplements to times when you are there for programs or conferences.
Volunteer in classrooms. This indicates that you do care about education and learning. Volunteering also provides a needed human resource for schools. Possible classroom activities might include preparing instructional materials such as those needed for primary school, reading to children, tutoring individuals or small groups, etc.
Run for a seat on your school-based decision making council or assist in local decision making by serving on school councils, school boards, school council committees, or local or state committees.
Run for the school board or encourage others to do so by offering to help with their campaigns and supporting the work of members once elected.
Get involved with your PTA/PTO. If your school does not have a PTA/PTO, form one.
Participate in or develop and conduct parent education workshops. Help organize study groups around specific topics.
Don't be afraid to ask questions of your children's teachers. No concern is too trivial. Prepare for parent/teacher conferences by developing questions such as the following:
- What are my child's greatest strengths?
- Greatest weaknesses?
- What is my child's reading level?
- How and how often is it measured?
- Does my child work hard and finish his/her work on time?
- What is your policy on homework, and how much time should my child spend on it each night? What has he/she learned in the last six weeks?
- What will she/he be learning in the next six weeks?
- What can I do as a parent to support my child's success in school and at home?
Encourage people who have no children in school to join you in supporting school programs and services. We need the help of the 75 percent who do not have children in our schools. Take them with you to programs. Encourage them to volunteer. Make educating children a community effort.
Talk with other parents about concerns you have. Support each other.
Ask for a copy of the Core Content for Assessment, the guide for teachers as they prepare curriculum and instruction. Hold a discussion about the content with the PTA, school council curriculum committee, or other group of parents.
Continue supporting your schools even when your children are finished with their education.