Your Child's Education

If I have not already stated in previous posts, I am an educator. I used to teach full-time, but with the birth of my second child, husband deploying, and subsequent development of my Chron's Disease, I have since become a stay-at-home mom. Even though being a mom, wife, and homemaker is my primary job now, I still miss teaching.

My oldest child is in Kindergarten this year and has struggled herself with building her sight word knowledge and her number knowledge. As a parent, I wonder what my child is learning in the classroom, and as a teacher, I wonder how I can help her with the areas she struggles with.

Most children in America today have some sort of struggle during the year with their education. As a parent, your job is to be aware of what your child is learning and where they are struggling in their studies. In my experience as a teacher, many of my parents had no desire to help their children in their schooling once they left the school and they struggled, passing the grade by the skin of their teeth. I hope that you readers out there take the advice I am going to give from the point of view of a parent and a teacher.

If your student is struggling in school:

1. What subject are they lacking in and why?

2. What can I do as a parent at home to help my child learn what they are supposed to learn this year at school?

3. What type of learner is my child? (Are they audial- learn by hearing, verbal- learn by speaking, or kinisthetic- learn by doing?)- This information helps you as a parent and the teacher work within their best learning modality. Most students learn with 2 or more modalities. (My daughter has struggled this year because she is primarily an audial learner- imagine trying to teacher her numbers when she does not learn visually!)

4. Be proactive not reactive. Try to be in constant contact (I suggest monthly) with your student's teacher just to make sure you are on the same page with them. The teacher should be sending home weekly or biweekly work that has been corrected so that you can see what your child has been working on and what they are not completing successfully.

5. If your student has learning issues, what modifications are being made for your child and are they working?

6. If your student is on medication for ADD/ADHD, is it effective while they are in school? (ie. are they alert and paying attention or are they lethargic and unable to do any of their work in a timely manner?)

Keep in mind that your student's teacher sees your child more than you do, so constant communication is imperative to ensure that your student succeeds and grows during the school year. Remember this rule when it comes to your child's education: You are their greatest champion in the educational system. If you don't care, they won't care, and their teachers will not care. I have seen too many children thrown to the wayside in the educational system because of parents not taking an interest in their child's education. I hope that we as American moms can bring about a change in the thinking that school is not a babysitter, it is a place for our children to learn HOW to do things; but it is our job as parents to continue to foster what they have learned at school when they come home.

If you have any concerns or specific questions about how to help your child in their schooling or if you need help with quality questions to ask the teacher during a conference, feel free to ask in the comments section and I will respond. I would love to hear any and all thoughts on education and what you feel may be lacking in today's educational system. Our children are our future and we, as their parents, must ensure that they are help up to the highest standards, and then pushed some more. There is so much that children are capable of and I find it sad that many of them do not live up to their potential. I want to change that way of thinking!