Parents as Partners in Child’s Success

PARENTS ARE THE FIRST TEACHERS, GUIDES AND FRIENDS OF A CHILD.

Parents are the first teachers, guides and friends of a child. Undoubtedly, bringing up a child by inculcating all the desirable values is not an easy task. Besides taking care of a child’s needs, parents must provide a peaceful, congenial and cosy atmosphere to their child at home which is conducive to learning. Research shows that parental involvement in a child’s life and learning process has a positive effect on their personalities and academic performance. Let us find out how.

• Parental support can help a child take up extra-curricular activities or pursue hobbies.
• A happy and cooperative environment can prevent a child from indulging in drugs and violence even if they are frustrated with their learning progress. Being sensitive to the needs of a child will prompt the child to open up to the parents in case of a difficult situation. Understanding the child’s abilities and shortfalls can reduce stress in their life.
• Besides obtaining good marks, a well-supported child also tends to start thinking about his/her career from an early age.

Being updated with the latest technology is imperative for today’s parents. This not only helps to keep a tab on the child’s activities, but it can also help them engage with their child for better learning outcomes. For instance, they could use technology-based educational games to connect with their kids. Besides satiating a child’s curiosity for science and technology development, such games provide a means to busy parents to get involved in their child’s day-to-day life.

Parent-Teacher Partnership
Parents should make it a point to attend parent-teacher meetings to understand their child’s performance and progress. However, these meetings should not be the only point of interaction between the parent and the teachers. Teachers should also make efforts to involve parents in their child’s education by sending monthly reports. They must keep a record of every child including academic performance and participation in activities, their weaknesses, strengths etc.

Teachers often find it difficult to deal with parents who are either over-involved or not involved at all in their child’s education. In both the cases, parents need counselling to make them aware of their roles. Just as underwatering and overwatering are both dangerous to a plant, under-involvement and over-involvement of parents in a child’s education can be detrimental to the child’s happiness. Blaming teachers for their wards’ poor performance also negatively affects the latters’ growth and development. Instead, parents should work hand-in-hand with teachers to harness their wards’ potential. Every child is born with qualities which require nourishment and a favourable environment to blossom. So a collaborative approach will definitely benefit the child.

Finally, parents should understand that not all learning is limited to the classroom. Be it inculcating soft skills such as communication and etiquette, or life skills such as critical thinking, there is a lot that a child learns from his/her parents at home. Hence, being a parent is a huge responsibility. However, instead of fretting over it, parents should take it easy and learn to deal with one challenge at a time. They should also be open about taking help from teachers and help their child find his/her calling.