William Penn

Parental Involvement Ideas

• Keep a fairly regular schedule for meals, play and work time. Set a regular bedtime. Children thrive on orderliness. When a child is used to a routine at home, she can adapt to classroom rules more easily.
• Spend time every day talking with your child about his interests, hobbies and friends. Children learn language at home, and spoken language provides children the foundation for better reading and writing. As children grow older, they need daily conversations as a way to develop values, test ideas and share their thoughts.
• Give your child responsibilities at home. These responsibilities might include keeping the bedroom tidy; sharing responsibility for a pet; doing at least one thing daily for the good of the whole family, such as washing dishes, picking up the living room or washing the car.
• Set limits on how much television your child can watch. At a minimum, turn off the television during study time. Consider making a rule that there will be no television until all schoolwork is finished.
• Display your child's schoolwork. Many families use the refrigerator door for this purpose. Others install a bulletin board on the child's bedroom door. Let your child know that you are proud of what she accomplishes in school.
• Read to or with your children daily. Studies show this is the single most important thing parents can do to help their children achieve.
• Find ways to help your children feel important. One study by the National Family Institute found the average parent spends 14.5 minutes a day communicating with each child. Of that time, 12.5 minutes are devoted to parental criticism or correction.
• Encourage your child to take part in extracurricular activities. After school drama, music, athletics, community service projects and other clubs or school-sponsored activities give kids a chance to try new skills and receive recognition for a job well done.