Parent Involvement in Education

Should parents be more involved in their child's education? Researchers say that they should, and I agree. Parents should become involved in their child's education at the earliest point possible because the earlier they start, the more powerful the effects will be on the child. The best thing a parent can do for their child's education is to help them learn additional materials at home or to assist them with their school work. There are also many other types of parental involvement. Children who read for their parents and have books read to them by parents excel in reading and writing. There had been a general pattern observed by researchers of parents who are involved with their child's education. The parents tend to follow a family oriented routine daily, they make sure their children have supervised care when they are out of the house, and they also don't set unrealistic goals for their children.

Looking at a child's education, you can tell if their parents are involved or not because there is such a drastic difference. When parents are involved a child has a lower risk of using drugs and alcohol, they are less likely to become involved in violent behavior, they have a better attendance record, and their test scores are higher. Students who have their parents involved in their education are also much more likely to graduate.

After viewing the research that has been done on parental involvement it is very evident to me that it does have an effect on the child's education. If parents are not involved in their child's education, it seems to me that the child may see this as a sign that their parent doesn't care about them. I can also see a child thinking, "well if my parents care about my education, why should I," and then dropping out of school. When I was younger and my parents used to come into my school to see all my work and say how proud they were I remember the feeling really great about myself and wanting to continue in school so I could create more great work. As a teacher I really hope I can witness this happen between my students and their parents and if I don't see it, I definitely will help as much as I can to get the parents more involved in their child's education.

Why choose to become a teacher?

While researching for this blog entry I was having trouble finding a website that had reasons that I have not seen before. When I came upon the website listed below, I was thrilled to see some fresh ideas. Why do so many people want to become teachers? People who love challenges might find teaching to be a good job. Not every student will learn easily and I know there are some people who find it very hard to give up on something. If these people came across a student that had trouble learning, I know that they would not stop helping these kids until they understood. The success from the students understanding something is another reason people teach. I know that when I see that I have helped a student figure something out and they are so happy about it, that makes me happy. Teaching a certain subject also is an incentive for people to teach because teaching something is the best way to learn it and for people interested in learning a lot, this would be the way to do it.

One thing I have never heard before and was kind of surprised by was that people teach to stay younger. I assumed that teaching would wear you down faster but I guess some people think that if you are surrounded by youth, you in turn will stay young, or at least feel young. Being a teacher also lets you be creative in many different ways. The final reason why someone might teach is that is matches your family life. If you teach, it matches your families schedule, so vacations and holidays can be more easily planned. In this article there were also some answers that I have seen before like having a fun time with children, having an influence on someone's future, job security, and having summers off. I think that there are many good reasons to become a teacher and as long as it does not negatively affect the students than, bring on the teachers, we need them!

Hi everyone!

My name is Anne, I'm 20 (almost 21) and I'm from Cohasset, MA. I go to Webster University in St. Louis, MO where my major is education. This past fall I spent a semester studying in Vienna and traveled to many other parts of Europe and I cannot wait to go back. I love to sing, cook, read, watching movies/tv, and hanging out with my friends and family. Although I love school and learning what I can about teaching, I can't wait to get a job after graduation and start teaching! I look forward to getting to know all of you!