Teach English in YitAo Zhen - Suqian Shi

Is it important for parents be involved in their children education process? From the very first moments in your child’s life, and as soon as you both meet, you spontaneously think to yourself about the many things you want to teach him. You find yourself excited about sharing all of your experiences and life lessons with him, but at the same time thinking that you are only a parent not a teacher and that you don’t have the skills to be a teacher. However, the good thing is that you don’t have to take any courses to be a teacher as by nature, you are the child’s first teacher. Parents have always played a great role in the life of their children. They are always present for support and guidance. That is why it is very important for them to get involved in their children's education process. Parent’s engagement can directly affect child's behavior, attitude and academic outcome. According to Sapungan, G., and Sapungan, R. (2014), they described the parents as the most important “Stakeholder” in any school environment this is because of the great roles they play in the alteration of the child`s academic process. Not only that, but it was also stated that the parent’s involvement in the education process creates more success opportunities, and also develop a strong profound relationship with the child, as they spend more time with their children while monitoring all their activities. There are many techniques parents can do to be involved in their children’s education journey. This can be initially classified into two main categories: home-based techniques and school- based techniques, with both including several ideas to be applied to get parents efficiently involved in their child’s education process. Home-based techniques  Forming a Secure Attachment As parents learn the importance of their role in their child’s education process, it is important to also learn that during the first 3 years of life, a child’s brain is developing at an astonishing rate and by age 3, the brain has almost reached 80% of its adult size, and key areas of brain responsible for different aspects of the child’s development peak during this period (Ashik, 2016). With this said , it is then undeniable that it all starts at home, while creating the essential bond between the child and the parent, which would be later a milestone in establishing a successful learning experience to the child. The best way to prepare the child for life and interactions outside of home and at school is by building a healthy secure attachment bond with him. Attachment theorists defined secure attachment as: “an enduring affective bond characterized by a tendency to seek and maintain proximity to a specific person, particularly when under stress” (Ashik, 2016). Current research in the area of attachment theory uncovered the fact that this unique relationship, the attachment bond, is a key factor in developing your infant’s social, emotional, intellectual and physical well-being. In addition, if the child feels safe, loved and secured they will be able to create great school experience.  Tell stories Storytelling as one form of parental involvement in education, can offer children a relaxed and pleasant learning atmosphere, help them to understand and remember better, besides, storytelling is an effective approach to keep children’s interest and attention longer. Also, for children to be competent in literacy, we need to build their oral language skills in preparation for reading and writing, and storytelling is one way that Parents can choose to use to help achieve that.  Home-reading and Homework It is very important for parents to read to their children as it helps in supporting their literacy learning. It was not a surprise to find that the frequency of reading to children at a young age has a direct effect on their schooling, and Reading to children at school-age every day has a significant positive effect on their reading skills and cognitive skills (i.e., language and literacy, numeracy and cognition) later in life. This can highlight the important role for parents in the development and educational performance of their children though parental reading to children at home and making books always available at hand. School-based techniques On the other hand, School-based techniques is another approach that allows parents to get involved in their child’s education, and to directly collaborate with the school to make sure the child is getting the best out of his educational experience. This can be simply done by parents frequently communicating with teachers to follow up their child’s performance. Also attending parent’s meeting regularly can guarantee that parents are always updated with the child’s progress at school. Volunteering in school is also a great idea for parents to get involved with their children, like for instance applying to be a homeroom parent, volunteering in any activities held at the school like book fairs or baking activities and in addition to that, joining other parents' groups to be updated with any news feeds and news at the school is always helpful. Conclusion In conclusion, the parental role in the education process is a key factor in children's success, while at the same time it is found to be an asset to the parents too, as their role can enhance their parenting techniques and raise their awareness to their child’s emotional or intellectual needs. Children learn best through their everyday experiences with the people they love and trust, and when the learning is fun and with this said, it then becomes undeniable that the parental role in education serves as modeling base for learning over the course of a child’s life. Reference 1. Sapungan, G. and Sapungan, R. (2014). Parental Involvement in Child's Education: Importance, Barriers and Benefits. Asian Journal of Management Sciences & Education, 3(2), pp.42-48. 2. Ntekane, Abie. (2018). PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION. 10.13140/RG.2.2.36330.21440. 3. Ashik, F. (2016, December 7). Oman parenting: A teacher for life. 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