The Importance of Family Involvement in Education

Our family plays a great role in every aspect of our life. Starting from our personal to professional life, the involvement of the family gives us the strength to fight and survive any situation. Our academic success depends largely upon the family environment. It was just day before yesterday that I saw my neighbor Mr. Batra scolding his six year old child for not getting high grades in the exam. Both Mr. and Mrs. Batra are working parents and they couldn’t manage ample time for their six year old child Kunal. For a number of days I saw Kunal sitting in the bench of his lawn with a pale face.

It seemed that he wanted some time with his parents which he wasn’t getting enough of. This missing support had affected his academics also. Even the research works proved that children, who have the involvement of their family in their education, get higher grades and good marks, attend the schools more regularly, demonstrate more positive attitude and behaviors and are more likely enroll in higher studies. In modern day world, schools also give stress on the involvement of the family and the parents in the developmental process of the children. That is why regular seminars, conferences and discussion sessions are conducted by the schools so that the parents can also monitor the growth of their kids.

There are different ways through which families can be involved in the developmentmental process of the children. Some of the ways are briefly discussed below:-

• The start of a healthy relation always begins with a smooth communication. So always try to develop a two way communication bridge where both you and your children can get a chance to be involved in the discussion
• The next step you can do is to ask the child about their school whenever you get a chance. You can also arrange for small get together for the kids where you can meet the parents of your child’s peers
• Whenever you get time, try to contact to your child’s school teachers. This will help you in getting a constant feedback about your child’s perfect in the school
• Our life grandparents also play a very important role. Kids find in them the love and compassion of a friend and the guiding force of a father or mother. The bedtime stories told by the grand moms are of great benefit to the growing child
• Build on what works well. Begin the school-family partnership by identifying, with families, the strengths, interests, and needs of families, students, and school staff, and design strategies that respond to identified strengths, interests, and needs
• Recognize that effective parent involvement takes many forms that may not necessarily require parents' presence at a workshop, meeting, or school. The emphasis should be on parents helping children learn, and this can happen in schools, homes, or elsewhere in a community.

Talk directly to your children, especially your teenagers, about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and the values you want them to have. Set a good example. And listen to what your children have to say.