Enhancing your child’s Education

Now that the country is promising to re-open at some point, I felt compelled to share a few insights on how to ensure that your children get the most out of their educational experience and that we as parents also fulfil our purpose.

I know it has been difficult as some have had to home-school while at the same time working from home, but we must realise that the children still need to be nurtured and before you know it they will be all grown-up and will not need you as much anymore. As the saying goes, the days are long but the years are short, when it comes to having children. Before you know it they will have flown the nest.

Appearance

When my son was younger, on one occasion, he had been having a tantrum in the morning and was refusing to wear his school uniform correctly. I gave up and ended up just sending him to school that way. I then met one of my friends, whose son was in the same class as my son, in the playground after dropping my son off and was just sharing with her what had happened that morning. My friend then advised me that if your child goes to school looking smart and taken care of by the parents, the school teachers will also give the child more attention. She had observed this bias when she was a teaching assistant.

Most of the children who just looked uncared for at home, the teachers seem to have a bit of bias and did not exactly pay attention to them. I guess this bias is unconscious given that even us parents tend to be drawn towards other people with an appealing appearance. So I realised that we need to ensure that in order to help our children get the attention they deserve, we must by all means try to alleviate this bias and ensure our children are at an advantage.

So then I realised that as parents we will be giving the teachers extra work by not pulling our weight in educating our children.

Listening to the children

Looking back now, this bias is not only applicable to the appearance of your child at school, it would also apply to the attention you pay to your child’s needs at home. If they are heard at home, they will also know how to express themselves to the adults at school.

Tell me about your day, as opposed to how was your day encourages more detailed conversation

Make time to be mindful when talking to your children. Try not to be distracted by other things such as mobile phones or TV on a daily basis. I found that when I asked my children how their day went at school, all they would say was that their day had been fine. On the other hand if we ask our children to tell us about their day, we get more detail on what they enjoyed at school or anything they did not particularly like.

Communication and engaging with the school

I realise that some schools only communicate via letters and also via e-mail. If as parents we do not pay attention to those letters and e-mails, we may miss important information and our children may end up missing out at school. They might go to school without the right equipment required for the day and this also just shows that parents are not paying attention to their children’s education. Read the school letters and have a system of recording on a family planner calendar all the school events. Also explore the school website for any upcoming events.

Furthermore, if you have any issues to discuss with the school, put it in writing. Either put pen to paper, or email the teacher or head teacher depending on who you want to address. This ensures that you have records of the communication and it will be easier to follow up. You could also request a meeting to discuss any concerns.

Ensure you attend Parent-teacher meetings

Ensure that you attend the parents evenings and ask the teachers if there is any way that you can help your child at home. Remember they are the professionals. However. they may not be able to apply all the learning strategies which are specific to your child, and this where your input as a parent counts.

Parent-teacher meetings get you to talk to the teacher about your child to help you also engage in your child’s education

For instance, in my last parent-teacher meeting, I enquired how I could help my little one to be more effective in all activities. I was informed that she struggled with using scissors as her little hands seemed weak compared to those of her peers. For me at home scissors were always a ‘no no’ as we felt she was too young and would cut herself and also end up defacing the soft furnishings in the home. So then I realised that as parents we will be giving the teachers extra work by not pulling our weight in educating our children.

Playdough helps to strengthen little hands

The teacher then also explained that we could get her to play with playdough as this was no longer allowed in the school in order to prevent the spread of Covid19. To make this even more fun we started making our own playdough at home and my little one really enjoys this activity.

We must remember that the teachers have at least 20 children to take care of, but you only have your own children to take care of. So if there are any other needs that are identified by the teacher, they can also be met by you as parents.

If there are any other needs that are identified by the teacher, they can also be met by you as parents.

Keep yourself informed about the school curriculum

When my older daughter was about to sit her GCSEs, she came home with a consent letter attend a seminar about aiming for a ‘C’ in mathematics. Knowing my daughter and how clever she is, I knew that this was not going to be what she should aim for. I also knew she had the ability to focus, especially if the she put her mind to it. We decided there and then that she would get extra lessons. As I mentioned before, the teachers are the professionals, and they will use the resources that are available within the school. These resources may not always be the best for your child as children learn in different ways.

Carry out your own research to find ways to help your child

Carry out your own research and find out if there are other ways that you can help your child. Even if they are in high school they will still need your help. My daughter passed her mathematics with a B and I am glad that I had read that consent letter and realised that my husband and I had to do some extra work as parents.

Supply your children’s needs

When my older daughter was in university I realised that I could not just leave her to it. There was an episode of EastEnders in which a girl was being used by her so-called boyfriend to sleep with his friends. This so-called boyfriend was getting paid for it and the girl did not even know that the boyfriend was being paid. This episode made me realise that children are still vulnerable even when they appear to be headstrong teenagers.

When my older daughter started university, she moved away from home and I soon realised that anything was possible as she lived 3 hours away. The most that we could do as parents was to ensure that she was comfortable. We made sure that financially we had to provide for her even if she was getting maintenance loans. It has made me realise that I had to actually be there for my children no matter what age because someone else is going to take that role and they will exploit them.

Help children with their homework

The obvious one which I am sure most parents do is to help your children with their homework. Even if it means just checking that it is done if it is a subject that is not familiar to you. Also provide your children with the equipment and a quiet environment for them to be able to concentrate.

Provide your children with the equipment and a quiet environment for them to be able to concentrate.

This can either be ensuring that they have a desk in their room or that if you have a home office, they can work in there to do their homework. If you cannot provide a separate space and they have to do their work in the family living space, you can also switch of the TV and any other gadgets when they are doing their homework and encourage the rest of the family to be mindful and let them concentrate.

Are there any other ways we can be more engaged with our children’s education? Please feel free to share them in the comments section. Also do not forget to subscribe so that you do not miss out on any blogs we publish in the future.