Monday, October 26, 2009 5:08 PM CDT
Parents interested in learning instill same in their children
By DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
Parent-teacher conferences tell a lot about students. The conferences also tell a lot about parents.
St. John’s Lutheran School sixth-grade teacher Mark Ewald said that it is vital that parents and teachers work together to help children succeed academically.
“Students whose parents are involved in their academics, I very seldom have to tell them something they don’t already know. These parents already know what’s going on — even when things are going very well,” said Ewald, who doubles as the school’s assistant principal.
Ewald said students whose parents are involved in their learning throughout the school year are less anxious and less worried, because they aren’t trying to hide anything.
He added that when parents continually take an interest in the child’s school work, it lets the student know they care about his successes.
St. John’s has a reading incentive in which all families are encouraged to participate outside of school, Ewald said.
“We push the idea of reading together. We encourage parents to read with their children,” he said.
Karen Hart, the on-site director of the Infant and Child Development Laboratories at Eastern Illinois University, said reading with children should begin immediately, to lay groundwork for life.
“Get started, and the earlier the better,” she said. “The (reading habit) should continue on through the life span of each individual.”
Hart said reading to a child, while holding him close, is a routine that could be incorporated in a child’s daily schedule soon after birth.
“The soothing voice, colors, and pictures, all help the child learn about the world around them and (they) begin to experience what books are about,” she said.
Research shows that a sincere interest in a child’s education and homework pays huge dividends academically, Hart said.
“If a parent is interested in academics (and is) constantly learning about new ideas, topics, reading, history, nature, art, then through example, the child will likely show interests, become inquisitive and eventually, study and succeed in whatever area of interest they pursue,” Hart said.
Ewald said parents should take the opportunity to compliment a child.
“Don’t be critical. Take opportunities to compliment a child, any time you can,” he said. “Stay involved. Ask questions like ‘How did it go today?’”
According to the University of Illinois Extension, parental involvement in children’s studies helps build a child’s confidence, and improves their academic successes from year to year.
Hart and Ewald agreed that when a parent encourages more and criticizes less, the student progresses.
“The benefits of encouragement, respect and understanding of the child by the parents is immeasurable,” Hart said.
Contact Dawn Schabbing at schabbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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Harry Potter wrote on Oct 26, 2009 9:28 AM: