HOMEWORK FOR PARENTS: CONTINUING EDUCATION AT HOME
What do you consider to be parents’ role in education? Getting parents involved in school and having them take part in their child’s learning at home isn’t always easy. Parents lead busy lives, and they’re often exhausted by the time they get home. The last thing many of them want to do is help their child with a complicated math worksheet or some other homework assignment. However, parental involvement in education is essential to children’s learning and success.
So, how do you get parents involved, especially with continuing their child’s education at home? It’s all about empowering parents and giving them simple tips and strategies they can use to help their child learn. Here are three tips and strategies you can use to help get parents teaching at home:
Come Up with Strategies that Are Powerful, Easy, and Universal – As Laura Beaver and Jill Nolen, developers of TAG You’re It!, discuss in their article “Spanning Classrooms to Living Rooms with Parent Engagement,” parental involvement in education must be powerful, easy, and universal. Make sure the strategies you give parents are based on research and easy for parents to apply at home. Remember that the strategies you choose should support or strengthen parents’ ability to help with homework.
Encourage Less Screen Time and More Creative Play – Instead of sitting children in front of a screen, encourage parents to sing, make art, play music, and pretend with their children. This is a great way for parents to incorporate learning at home while having fun with their children (and without the pressure of finishing a worksheet). Read “Finding Ways to Get Parents Involved in the Classroom” for more information about facilitating home-based creative play.
Provide Parents with Activity Cards and Brochures to Utilize at Home – Do parents want to know how to help their child with spelling, math, or reading? Send home activity cards and/or brochures with tips to make sure they have the tools they need. Themed kits, such as our Back-to-Back Learning Kits, can also help parents teach their child a variety of skills at home.
