Obama’s Call for Parent Involvement

Since President Barack Obama assumed office two months ago, he's put forth an ambitious political agenda. High on his list: Improving education and urging parents to do their part.

As the president told a joint session of Congress last month, "There is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent-teacher conferences or help with the homework or turn off the TV, put away the video games, read to their child. Responsibility for our children's education must begin at home."

This is a vital message — one that is at the core of the GreatSchools mission — and we're proud to be spreading it. Today we're telling the more than 1 million parents who subscribe to our newsletters about where the $115 billion in stimulus funding for education will go, how to read with their child and the top 10 things they can do now to heed the president's call of parent involvement. Here are some of the articles we're highlighting for our readers:

• Stimulus Bill Offers Schools Much-Needed Relief
• How to Read With Your Child
• Manage Your Child's Screen Time
• What Makes a Great Parent?

I'm interested in hearing from you. What do you think of the education allocations in the stimulus package? How should parents step up their involvement in their child's education?

Comments

[Donald Moore on March 21, 2009 at 03:33 PM]

Much is said about reading to your child. I learned this from my father, who did not have a BA in Education or any other degree. This is what he did for me and why I went into Kinder reading at a 1.5 grade level. I did this for my son and he was at the same level.

This is something that parents have done for YEARS that has worked.

D. Moore
Caldwell, ID

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[Danielle on April 08, 2009 at 01:47 PM]

It's a breath of fresh air to hear the words "parent involvement". I am an ex-elementary school teacher who has ventured out of the classroom and started a business called WeeTeachIt. Our goal was to model strategies and the use of motivation tools to reinforce what children were learning at school. We began by holding these parent workshops (focusing on building phonemic awareness and comprehension) at several schools in Austin, Texas. The attending parents gave positive feedback about the sessions and expressed how surprised they were at finding out what they really did not know about reinforcing reading development. I think, at times, we teachers take for granted that parents will "just know HOW TO" do the list of suggestions and tips we share with them. And, after holding the parent workshops, I found that even parents didn't really know what they didn't know. There is something about actually watching a teacher teach, then allowing parents to practice that same skill at the workshop, then at home with their children. Unfortunately, we had to halt the parent workshops for the time being because the school's budget is not very big and the sessions could not continue to be funded. It's frustrating, but I hope to figure out a way to begin the parent workshops again. I think the most frustrating thing for me (being an ex-teacher) is that we all know how important parent involvement is, we all complain about some parents not being involved enough in their children's learning, but yet creating budgets that support meaningful ways to get parents involved that is directly linked to their children's academic learning seems to be on the back burner. Isn't that contradictory?

[Angel on April 23, 2009 at 10:54 PM]

I think parents should realize there is no one-size-fits-all approach to public schools. School choice is a necessity--whether it's the focus of math or art or social justice--or even if it's the school's philosophy for homework, parental involvement, etc.

In school districts where phenomenal schools are literally a ten-minute drive from terrible ones, parents have to be given choices, and parents have to demand better opportunities.

As for the stimulus money, raising class size, cutting services, and hoping for the best isn't going to cut it. We've worked for years to bring people back to public schools and now we're going to be losing an entire generation of new teachers AND scaring off another generation of families from the possibilities of public schools.

[Viola on May 07, 2009 at 04:12 PM]

Parental Involvement is definitely a topic that should be talked about more, because a child's education does begin at home. From birth, environmental influences play a major role in the development of a child's personality. Children tend to mimic what they see (i.e. if a mother raises her voice to get her point across, a child will tend to do the same, or if a father out of rage, throws things on the floor, a child will tend to do the same); therefore, if a parent is constantly seen watching television or gossiping on the phone with friends, then we cannot expect a child to take his educational studies seriously. Parents have to set the example for their children and that entails, sacrificing many of their pleasures, reading self-help books, and continously striving to improve their education. Creating a positive learning environment at home nurtures a child's enthusiasm for school.

[Parenting Workshops on June 15, 2009 at 12:20 AM]

Thanks for the great comment, From a child’s point of view, there are advantages and disadvantages to having a teacher as a parent. The time off over holidays and summer vacations certainly provides plenty of options for family activities. However, that additional time at home also means plenty of opportunities for learning and character development. In our household, Dad was the teacher, and he had three sons. So this meant plenty of sports and outdoor adventures. This also meant that we were given a chance.

[Nancy Bentz on June 21, 2009 at 04:25 AM]

From a teacher's perspective, we must have parent support to gain a child's potential. Reading at home is essential. Your comments are right on!

[NY Citizen on September 04, 2009 at 07:48 PM]

We as parents don't need Obama preaching from his ivory tower about how we should raise our children! The U.S. presidency isn't a monarchy, it's supposed to be an elected position designed to serve the people not patronize or worse, insult their judgment.

Obama is just concerned with his performance and making headlines since he thinks that the presidency is about the "bling, bling" as the ignorant pop culture calls it.