Parental Involvement in Learning

Whether children attend public or private schools,Communicate: Regularly communicate with the
they benefit when parents become involved in theirteacher, either via parent-teacher conferences,
education. According to the National Institute forweekly progress reviews, or homework reviews.
Literacy, when parents or other family membersTalk with the child, and have them share their
frequently read to children entering kindergarten,schoolwork and school day experiences.
those children were at a distinct advantage overVolunteer: Volunteer to help out in the classroom or
children whose families read to them less often.Theat other school activities.
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that "ChildrenHome Learning: Point out the links between
who were read to at least three times a week by aschoolwork and real life situations. Go on family
family member were almost twice as likely to scoreoutings that reinforce the concepts being learned in
in the top 25 percent in reading than children whoschool.
were read to less than three times a week." TheAccording to the National Education Association,
study also found that, of children who were read toparental
at least three times a week,involvement in learning is crucial. As evidence, they
cite the following findings of research into parental
76 percent had mastered the letter-soundinvolvement:
relationship at the beginning of words, compared to
64 percent of children who were readWhen parents are involved in their children's
to fewer than three times a week,education at home, they do better in school. And
57 percent had mastered the letter-soundwhen parents are involved in school, children go
relationship at the end of words, compared to 43farther in school - and the schools they go to are
percent who were read to fewer than three times abetter.
week,The family makes critical contributions to student
15 percent had sight- word recognition skills,achievement from preschool through high school. A
compared to 8 percent who were read to fewerhome environment that encourages learning is more
than three times a week, andimportant to student achievement than income,
5 percent could understand words in context,education level or cultural background.
compared to 2Reading achievement is more dependent on learning
percent who were read to fewer than three timesactivities in the home than is math or science.
a week.Reading aloud to children is the most important
The positive impact of parental involvement inactivity that parents can do to increase their child's
learning doesn't end with kindergarten. Having achance of reading success. Talking to children about
variety of reading materials available at home helpsbooks and stories read to them also supports reading
older children with reading proficiency. The Nationalachievement.
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) foundWhen children and parents talk regularly about
that, among students in the fourth grade, "The 68%school, children perform better academically.
of students who had three or more different typesThree kinds of parental involvement at home are
of reading materials at home performed at theconsistently
Proficient level, whileassociated with higher student achievement: actively
students who had two or fewer types of readingorganizing and monitoring a child's time, helping with
material at homehomework and discussing school matters.
performed at the Basic level. Students who had 4The earlier that parent involvement begins in a child's
types of reading material at home performed theeducational process, the more powerful the effects.
highest."Positive results of parental involvement include
Similarly, students who discussed their studies andimproved
who talked about reading at home had greaterstudent achievement, reduced absenteeism,
reading proficiency than those who did not.improved behavior, and
And students of all ages who regularly saw parentsrestored confidence among parents in their children's
and other family members reading at home wereschooling.
positively influenced.There are many ways that parents can become
In addition to having a variety of reading materialsinvolved in their
available at home, discussing reading, and setting achildren's education - the important thing is to
good example by reading, there are a number ofbecome and stay
ways that parents can create and nurture a homeinvolved!Brent Sitton is the founder of
learning environment. Although the Teachers InvolveDiscoveryJourney has a variety of tools available to
Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS)help parents with their home learning efforts. Our
program from the National Network of Partnershipchildren's book reviews identify character trait and
Schools at Johns Hopkins University is directed tochild behavior issues in the book. Each children's book
teachers, it includes a number of excellent strategiesreview contains 5 related fun and educational child
that parents can implement to become active in theiractivities to enjoy as a family, inspiring the passion
children's education.for learning and reading!