Student Career Path Awareness: Parents Have a Role in Child’s Academic Success

 

Are you now a stay-at-home parent looking for something positive to do that will help your child now and in the future? Invest in their academic success by making education a priority and fun while you have this time together.

 

Teachers all across Morgan County are preparing e-Learning materials each week to help students retain the knowledge they’ve learned, stay connected with their classroom, and encourage them to continue learning.

 

“Parental involvement is key to a student’s academic success. Research shows that students with involved parents usually have higher academic achievement, improved social skills and behavior, self-confidence, and are more likely to attend school,” said Paragon Elementary School Principal Ryan Cox. “During this crisis, although it is understandably a difficult challenge for parents to be working from home and helping their own child with at-home learning, it is a wonderful opportunity to become more involved in their child’s education.”

 

The Community Foundation of Morgan County (CFMC) understands educators have only so much time in the classrooms to teach students critical subjects like math, reading and English that prepare our children for either higher education and/or the workforce. That’s why it’s so important for parents or adults in the home to be actively involved in their child’s education. If school drop-out rates increase, this becomes a real problem for our community as we’ll also see an increase in poverty, government assistance, incarceration, and more.

 

If you’re struggling to find time to help your kids with homework or can’t get them motivated to learn, here are some helpful tips:

 

·         Make learning real. Use your life and work experiences to show your child how school plays a role. For example, ask them to help you fix a meal. They’ll learn to use fractions, read, tell time, and multi-step problem solving.

·         Create a schedule. Set a specific time each day for learning and have rules in place, such as completing all work before stopping or no phone allowed at the table.

·         Be an encourager. Even if you didn’t like school, don’t tell your kids about it. Instead, motivate them to do their best. Give them a treat for completing an assignment or use affirming statements such as “I believe in you or you’re doing a great job!”

·         Resist the urge to take over and do the homework yourself. If your child is frustrated, listen and ask them to talk about it. Guide them to find a solution to their problem. If you believe an assignment is too difficult, contact the teacher and share your concern.

·         Celebrate the successes. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture to show your child that you’re proud of the work they’re doing. Play a game with them or cook one of their favorite foods.

 

CFMC believes a real solution to keeping children in school is for parents to be actively participating in their education. Use this time at home to make a positive impact in your child’s life now and in the future.