Although our schools are only nearing the half-way point of the school year, according to the calendar, it’s a new year! And with the new year, come New Year's resolutions. One suggestion that you might consider as a parent is to make the resolution this year to help your kids do well in school. A study from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory states, “When schools and families work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer and like school more.” Multiple other studies show that kids whose parents are involved in their education have better grades, more appropriate school behavior and a better attitude toward school than those with less involved parents.

When schools and parents work together to engage families in ways that improve learning and support parent involvement at home and school, students make great gains.

Here are some ideas from www.colorincolorado.org to help parents resolve to be more involved in their children’s education in new ways this year.

• Meet your child’s teacher. Arrange to meet with your child’s teacher and let the teacher know that you want to help your child learn. Make it clear that you want the teacher to contact you if any issues develop with your child. Attending parent-teacher conference is a good way to meet face to face and discuss your child’s progress.
• Ask for special services if your think your child might need it. If your child is having problems with learning, ask the school to evaluate your child. The teacher might be able to provide accommodations for your child in class.
• Make sure that your child gets homework done. Let your child know that that you think education is important and that homework needs to be done each day. You can help your child with homework by setting aside a special place to study and removing distractions.
• Volunteer at your child’s school and/or join your school’s parent-teacher group. Teachers appreciate it when parents show an interest in the school. You can volunteer in your child’s class or other places in the building.
• Demonstrate a positive attitude about education to your children. Showing our children that we both value education and use it in our daily lives provides them with powerful models and contributes greatly to their success in school.
• Talk with and listen to your child. Talking with your child offers some great ideas for using conversation to stimulate language development. It’s also extremely important to show your child that you’re interested in what she has to say.
• Encourage your child to be responsible and work independently. You can help your child to develop these qualities by establishing reasonable rules that you enforce consistently, making it clear to your child that he has to take responsibility for what he does, both at home and at school.

As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important teacher. When parents and families are involved in their children’s education, children perform better and have positive feelings about attending and participating in their own education.

Lex Puffer
Assistant Superintendent