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General Education Advice for Parents - Their Future Is In Your HandsApr 18 '06 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Ask about homework. Help with homework, but don't do homework for them. Keep in close contact with your child's school. Attend Conferences. Don't be afraid to ask for extra help. Let me start by saying that every child is different. Each will have different needs. They will each learn in their own way, at their own pace. Some will learn better on their own by sitting down with their books and studying. Others will learn better by listening to lectures. Others will need hands on experiences to learn the material. Still others will need one on one help to learn the material. I know each of these types of children as a parent, as a former tutor, and as a volunteer in our school system. I have worked with all types of children and encountered many learning styles through the years. One of the best pieces of advice any parent can take is to stay as involved in your child's education as possible. Depending on the child, this may be as simple as attending conferences and being available to help your child with homework. On the other hand, it may be as complicated as calling your child's school on a regular basis to follow up on your child’s progress. Keep in close contact with your child's school. If the school does not contact you, you should contact them. Make sure you know how your child is doing before it is too late. I made the mistake of assuming that my son's school would contact me if there were a problem. They did not. At the end of the marking period, he was failing several classes because he had not turned in nearly half of his homework assignments. His test grades in some of his classes were poor, indicating that he did not know the material either. Yet they had given me no warning. Throughout the marking period, I had routinely asked him about his homework as usual. He seemed to have very little, but assured me that he had gotten it done in class. I had no reason to doubt him. Not one of his seven teachers bothered to contact me. At Parent Teacher Conferences, I asked all seven teachers to please send home weekly progress reports, or at the very least call me if this behavior did not improve. Every teacher told me they would, but not one did. The next marking period had very similar results. Although I was even more diligent about his homework and despite his protests I kept insisting that I knew that he did have homework and hadn't gotten it done, there were still many homework assignments that never managed to be turned in. Still, not one teacher called or sent home any form of message to me. I regret that I did not contact them sooner however; I feel that when teachers see this type of pattern they should at least try to contact parents to let them know. Additionally, if you feel that your child is having too much trouble in school and may need extra help, don't be afraid to ask. There is often extra help available for children who need it. I put it off for much to long, and now I feel that my son has suffered for it. At the last conferences, I asked my son’s math teacher about the possibility that he may have a learning disability. I told him that my son did not understand the work and was having a lot of difficulty in the class. His teacher was rather rude with me and simply told me that my son didn’t turn in enough work for him to know. His response was that kids who don’t understand are the ones with their hands up. They are the ones who are always asking questions and trying to learn. My response… not always. I had a teacher in high school who explained things in such a way that I could not understand them. I failed algebra because I could not understand. I did not ask him for further explanation because every time I did, it only made matters worse. My son is not stupid, but he does not understand what this teacher is explaining. By the time I finished talking to this teacher, I realized that this teacher was not understanding what I was explaining either. I then went to the principal’s office and continued my discussion with him instead. My son is now getting extra help for his math classes during his lunch period, and also has a tutor available after school one day each week. He is still having a lot of difficulty but he knows that we are all working together to help him. Special Education is also an option for children who qualify. If you feel your child needs extra help, don't be afraid to ask. The school is required to provide testing if you request it, so if you feel that it is necessary, don't hesitate to ask for it. Remember, it is your child's future.  |
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