Imagine that you have five minutes of a parent’s time to talk about student success. What would you say – what would you do to make a difference in their child’s learning ? I’m in the process of writing a document to speak to parents, please give me your advice. All too often they don’t know what to do to help.
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For those parents who speak a language other than English: Please do everything you can to keep, nurture, use and cherish your home language. When your children have started learning about the world in your home language and are also learning English, they need to keep learning their home language and do much of their learning IN that language so they can have a stronger transition to English in school. Read books, tell stories, sing songs, play and converse in your home language with your children. It will help them succeed and keep your family strong. And for families that speak only English: Every child can benefit from learning a new language. Research has shown that bilingual people have educational and economic advantages. We should all be helping children grow up bilingual!
Discuss his strengths and interests and how reading up on those subjects of interest to him can improve his reading skills, vocabulary and knowledge about that subject.
Practice parent mindfulness.
Every day, for five minutes, look at what your child does, listen to what your child says, and notice how your child is feeling. Do not criticize, praise or make suggestions. Be present, silent and curious. In short order you will see your child in a new light, your child’s own light. You wil become your child’s sword arm and you will know what every time. This is how your child eventually aquires his or her own sword arm.
Go the the website for the “Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture”. Watch the trailer. Look for a screening near you. Heck, organize a screening. It’s a documentary film by a parent, Vicki Abeles, for parents, educators and anyone with an empathetic heart about the staggering increases in homework kids get and the resulting sleep deprivation, sedentary lifestyle and depression – even suicide – among kids who pick up on the pressure to ‘excel’, ’succeed’, ‘achieve’ and ‘win’. This is the other side of the ‘achievement gap’. This is the ‘achievement trap’. http://www.racetonowhere.com
At the beginning of every school year, I am called upon to speak to the Prep parents about becoming involved in the school. I always conclude with the: “the most important thing you can do for your child is to read to him/her every night until s/he begins to read for themselves, then the most important thing is to sit with them and listen to them reading.”
I look forward to reading further comments.