Improving Children’s Achievement Through Parental Involvement

The dismal performance of the schoolchildren in the recent achievement tests bring to the fore the nagging questions: who is to blame? what can be done to improve academic performance?

Who is to blame? Many sectors would automatically point their fingers at the educators, teachers and the government. The educators are blamed for designing a curriculum which may not be fully responsive to the needs of the schoolchildren while many teachers are criticized for lack of competence and inadequate educational preparation. On the other hand, the government gets most of the blame for its perceived lack of commitment to support public education as reflected in its meager budgetary allocation. With a burgeoning fiscal deficit, education appears to be relegated to the bottom of the ladder.

Is there anything that Filipino families can do? Absolutely, yes! Parents can get actively involved in the education of their own children. Lack of parental involvement is a key factor in the children’s low achievement level. Parents themselves have a lot to answer for the lamentable situation, exacerbated by the technological advances that, while immensely useful in enhancing the economic pursuit and contributing much for the enjoyment of life, have also diverted the attention of children in their quest for basic education.

While it is true that the teacher’s main responsibility is to facilitate the education of the schoolchildren, teaching is not an exclusive function of schools. Parents are their child’s first and most influential teachers. They play an active part in their children’s learning experience.

Many studies indicate that active parental involvement serves to enhance children’s self-esteem and motivation to learn. Children whose parents were actively involved in their children’s education were observed to perform better in school than those children without parental involvement.

Early childhood is a very special time of life. It is a time when the child starts to develop his own personality and form his habits. Parents, therefore, play a critical role of guiding their children since they are vulnerable and impressionable. Most young children are not yet capable of discriminating right from wrong. How then can parents assist their children become literate and improve their academic performance?

One of the many things that parents can do to achieve these goals is for them to get actively involved in the education of their children. For instance, parents can regulate habitual television viewing of their children. Several scientific research studies have been undertaken to determine the effects of television on children. According to researchers, there are more negative effects of habitual television viewing on young children than there are positive ones.

Researchers have concluded that habitual television viewing affects both reading ability and attentiveness of children. They have observed that the decrease in both is associated with the frequency of television viewing. Likewise, they have concluded that when children watch television, they are not reading. They noted that children who spend more time watching television tend to be less attentive and develop reading difficulties. Children’s inattentiveness, according to researchers, may be partly attributed to the “quick, slick, snappy format of television”.

Studies likewise indicate that a child watching television expects to see new images and pictures, and hear sounds every few seconds. When this does not happen in the classroom, the child tends to be restless and look for “new, faster-paced stimuli”.