Parental Involvement

Growing up with two working parents, each with two jobs, certainly had its negative impacts on me. It was nearly impossible for my busy parents to take off of work for every back to school night, orientation, and teacher conference. Forget about accompanying me on field trips. Bills had to be paid and our family needed to eat.

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I was working full time when my son was attending kindergarten and my daughter was only two months old. Immediately after work, I had to beat traffic so I wouldn't be late picking up my kids from the babysitter's house and after school care. Otherwise, I would be charged ridiculous late fees. Then, I had to cook dinner. By late evening, I was too exhausted to even think about attending a PTA meeting for crying out loud. I experienced mixed feelings of guilt and annoyance when the teachers begged for volunteers. My work schedule simply did not permit me to come in during the school day. Even worse, I started getting notes that my son was misbehaving in class. I could definitely empathize with my parents at this point. At the same time I knew that I had to figure out some way to get myself more involved with my son's academic life or he would negatively be impacted as well.


No doubt, many of us as parents face all kinds of barriers that prevent us from being involved. However, we have to make the effort, no matter how difficult.

• First, it is important to maintain some sort of relationship with your child's teachers. Let the teachers know that you can be contacted if they have any questions or issues. Don't worry about bugging them, it is better than not contacting them at all. The teachers will know that you care about your child and will contact you if there are any concerns.

• Make yourself visible to the teachers, school staff, as well as other parents and students. It can be difficult to attend back to school nights or orientations, but by being visible will show that you care about your child and his or her achievement. If your work schedule doesn't allow you to take off during these events, find out about other early morning or after school activities that you can get involved in. There may be fundraisers that take place in the evening or on weekends. Attending these events keeps you in the know and is great for networking with other parents.
  

• Continue to keep in contact with teachers. If your schedule prevents you from attending a parent-teacher conference, send the teacher an email, write a note, or even call the teacher explaining your circumstances. The teacher will try to work something out and may adjust their schedule to accommodate yours.
  

• Set aside a specific time at home to help your child with homework. Yes, this can be difficult if you are working in the evenings. However, try to work with your child's schedule so you can be there to help at least a few times a week. If the child needs help with a specific assignment and you are unable to help them for whatever reason, then find out what resources the school may have. Sometimes there are tutoring programs in the school, or the teacher may have time during the week to help students with their homework. Schools are aware that parents cannot help their child with every assignment and naturally don't want their students to fail. Many schools have scheduled in class times that focus on homework help. The weekend may also be an opportune time to go over any questions on homework that the child may have. And once again, if the child needs more help than you can provide, call, send a note, or email the teacher and let them know the circumstance. The teacher will more than likely help you find a solution since they also want your child to succeed.
  

Remember that our kids grow up so fast. The time that we invest in our kids now will greatly benefit them in the long run.

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