Helping Parents Prepare Their Children for School

All parents want their children to do well in school. But many are unaware that what they do at home has as much to do with school success as what the teacher does in the classroom. Here are a few tips that parents should know that can increase their child’s chances for academic success. You might want to share these ideas with parents at parent/teacher fellowships, in your class newsletter, or at a conference.

• Academic achievement improves when parents read, talk, and listen to their children. Even as little as 15 minutes per day may improve test scores.
• Children do better in school when their parents have them follow certain routines. Having an evening family mealtime, a regular bedtime, and a time and place to do homework are among the most effective routines.
• Reading ability is directly related to the amount of reading children do in school and at home. Half of all fifth graders spend less than 4 minutes per day reading at home but spend 130 minutes watching television. Parents can encourage reading by modeling reading, by giving books as gifts, and by visiting the library and bookstores with their children.
• Excessive television viewing is associated with low academic achievement. However, moderate viewing, combined with parental monitoring, increases achievement for some students. Asking questions while viewing with the child is especially helpful.
• Belief in certain values contributes to greater success in school. Parents who believe and teach their children the value of hard work, the need for personal responsibility, and the importance of education contribute to their children’s academic success. Students who hold these beliefs achieve more, have fewer discipline problems, and are less likely to drop out of school. A student’s beliefs, his peers’ beliefs, and his parents’ beliefs on these concepts are more important predictors of academic success than are socioeconomic factors.

Adapted by Don Jacobs from What Works: Research About Teaching and Learning. U.S. Department of Education, 1987

Reprinted from Teacher to Teacher.

Used with permission from BJU Press. For permission to reproduce this article, please write BJU Press.