The Effects Parental Involvement in the Elementary School

The effect of parental involvement in the growth as well as development is widely accepted as enormous. Nevertheless, its beneficial achievement at the academic perspective for children is still a debatable issue. Significant to the debate is a specific definition, of parental involvement, besides it is of great importance to assess which factors have major impacts on the child’s elementary school performance. This paper concerns itself with the various aspects of parental involvement and teacher link on the level of a child’s performance at the elementary school level.

            One of the factors that are considered to impact on the performance level is low self-esteem. A majority of people have a conception that self-esteem is a very important thing (Roy F, 2003, pg 138). It is usually not very easy and at times very impossible for persons to stay unfazed and indifferent to information that has a bearing on their self-esteem. This information may include; being told that they are incompetent, less attractive, and untrustworthy or that they are lovable (Roy F, 2003, pg 117). Instances of either decreases or increases in the level of self-esteem have resulting strong emotional reactions. Besides, the fluctuations in the level of self-esteem often coincide with either major successes as well as failures that an individual has encountered during his or her lifetime.

            There is a generally agreed principle that subjective encounters may develop within an individual the impression that self esteem rises with continuous progress in terms of awards garnered, problems solved and gains acceptance within the setting of a social group and in other instances fall with a corresponding level in failures. Generally, self-esteem can be defined as the amount of value people place on themselves. So parents would evaluate themselves in this manner, as self-esteem is the evaluative component of self-knowledge about one’s self. Low self-esteem thus can generally be defined as the unfavorable definition a parent in this respect would attach to him/herself. Thus, parents who are well too aware of their inadequacies may to an extent be not enthusiastic about promoting their children’s level of knowledge in school.

            In certain instances such basic things as follow ups to school work as well as other aspects as relates to a child’s education may be met with a lot of resistance or objection. This is in part due to the parent’s irresponsible nature on the basis of information obtained on the grounds that they have not achieved much and as such is not competent enough to involve themselves in the child’s elementary education affairs. Some parents might not find it very necessary to invest in the education of their due to the perception that they are failures and are not likely to help their children.

            It is generally viewed that early prevention is the single most effective way of enhancing good behavior within children. The early prevention programs often encompass good parenting skills that include; nurturance of healthy pregnancies, to prohibit the fatal alcohol syndrome, school programs that help to nurture intellectual skills within the child as well as interventions from the family to enhance positive socialization encounters while instilling the positive aspects of school going and good performance.

            The initial socialization agent for a child is normally the family; as such parents do model the behaviors of their children that may be either antisocial or pro-social within the society. The pro-social as well as the social aspects of life have a great influence on the level of a child’s interaction, concentration as well as participation at the school environment. The two factors, pro-social & antisocial behavior, either of which independently serves as an indicator toward good performance as well as positive attitude toward schoolwork. When there is inadequacy in parenting skill the child is likely to develop antisocial behavior at an early stage which may hinder his or her learning abilities when interacting with the teachers as well as peers and at the same time limit his or her level of participation.

 Parents equally are well placed to reward and at the same level punish a child’s behavior (Andre D.A & Bonta J. 2006. pg 28). Longitudinal research of children have consistently indicated that parents who rarely express warmth, and who fail to monitor as well as appropriately administer discipline to their children end up with a high probability of raising delinquents (Andre D.A & Bonta J. 2006. pg 63). Thus inadequate parenting sills have a great impact on the pathway taken by children and as such negative interventions will only cultivate a sense of negativity within the child as well as negative relationships which will in effect affect the interpersonal relationships between the child with peers and teachers at school and thereby hinder the smooth learning process.

The other factors that influence elementary school performance is school related which involves the teacher’s perception and attitude towards families as well as school and teacher expectation (Kristen M.K 2006. pg 151). Thus the perception by a teacher to the effect that a parent is either disinterested or is not able to aid in a child’s schooling process would definitely in most instances result negatively.

In certain instances the teacher may pay little or no attention to the educational needs on the student, the teacher may also at times have the preformed opinion of not being so much in helping the child since according to him or her there is no basis for it as the parent is equally unconcerned as such no need for him/she to do so. When parents begin to understand the structure of the school and information as relates to schooling of their children then an understanding as well as corporation will begin to be fostered between the two. The parents would thus become very positive toward elements that help promote their child’s educational development. Such issues as homework among many others would also be attended to as do parent days. With active participation by parents would help their children through resources and visits to school.

There is research work done to assess the impact of poverty and social economic status on the cognitive performance at the early childhood stage with the most prominent being on IQ scores. (Smith et al, Pg 46). It has been established that the level of family income together with the poverty status were great predators on IQ scores. According to Duncan & Brooks-Gunn (1997. Pg 230), there is growing evidence that family income effects on IQ are found to be non linear. According to their research work persistent poverty within a family was consistently identified a more severe impact than transitory poverty for pre-school children’s cognitive development.

At the academic achievement level most poor children as well as children of low social-economic status averagely perform less significantly than their non-poor counterparts. There is also growing evidence that resources within the home setting like computers, books, and trips among others have had a great bearing on children’s growth, academically, especially during the summer, when the children are out of school (Entwisle et al). In their view, the researcher found that families of low socio-economic status are less likely to afford the numerous academic and non academic resources required to enhance a continued child cognitive growth during the summer break duration. According to Heyns (1978. Pg 133), children of low socio-economic status lost a lot of ground during the summer vacation than these of high socio-economic status, who had an improved and continued development in academic skills.

Various theories as relates to non economic of educational attainment have put forward arguments suggesting that the level of income of a family has a very positive impact on the level of school performance as well as other outcomes on a child. The income level effect is not just about what it is able to purchase for the child, but mainly for what represents to the child. The income is one of the resources that a parent is able to invest in their children. The other focal point and a driving principle in the non-economic theories is the status provided by the parent as a role model.

Within the labor market earnings, parent who have greater commanding in these areas are seen as a definition of success by their children as well as the society as a whole than parents who have a less market earnings or those parents that depend on the states welfare support to live. The children of greater labor marketing earnings parents are perceived by their children as great motivators as most children would want to emulate them and as such driven toward achievement, which subsequently results in better and greater level of performance at the school level by their children.

Generally parents of low socio-economic status are less likely to afford to have their children in the good or prestigious schools with good resources. More over, differences in rates between the social classes are also seen as very strong indicator risk factor for chronic child delinquency. Even though the pre-school programs that are seen as an intervention by the low socio-economic status families does at a holistic level over the long term restore the cognitive as well as academic competence in comparison to those that are exhibited among the non poor children within the general American population. Albeit the level of income as well as the social-economic status is greatly connected to the social-emotional functioning of children, when they are compared to their children’s cognitive development’s as well as level of two factors have a great impact on the performance level at school (Dubow & Ippolito, 1994. Pg 76).

Homework

            Previous studies have indicated that when children do their homework, it can effectively contribute to their developing of a sense of responsibility as well as good study habits within themselves (Warton, 2001. Pg 93). In addition, homework aid programs are able to act as protective factor against a downward spiral trend of the academic poor performance by school going children usually witnessed among at risk groups within the population (Tucker et al 1995. Pg 287).

            The homework completion help develop a good attitude towards homework, positive students participation in class work and other school related activities, it also helps to build the self image. To an extent the parents attitude in reference to the student which overly means an improved attention which would likely result in improved performance. Even though some studies like (Cosden et al, 2001. Pg 47), among others have suggested that the effect of homework have no major effect on immediate outcome at the elementary grade level, other studies show that doing homework does cultivate sense of responsibility within the child as well as good study habits.

            When pupils complete homework and hand them over in time there is usually a greater feeling about themselves and they begin to develop a more positive attitude towards school in general and in particular their academic as the urge for achievement increases. This may result in better level of engagement by the students, parents as well as teachers in the whole education process. In essence when students do homework there is usually an instant positive feedback from both the teacher and their parents and the chance to participate in enrichment activities as well as long run good reaction from both parents and teachers. The change and positive attitude from the part of the parent as well as an increased positive attitude towards the student all may offer reinforcement for a desired child behavior as well as attitudinal changes within the student.

Student achievement

            There have been research carried out on motivation in relation to academic achievement; most of these have laid its focus on specific forms of achievement objectives: tasks goals as well as ability goals. In addition to this there has been research on social goals too. Within the students mind there may be a wide variety of reasons as per their perception on why they should try to succeed socially and in particular academically. For instance a child may have a self belief that the main aim of having to perform well in class work is to illustrate how smart he or she is, or at another level, a student may perceive academic success as representing them with a chance to learn new and exciting things while at the same time acquiring information.

In view of this wide range of options, there are a number of particular social aims which students may be convinced to be substantial reasons to engage themselves in academic work both at home and in school. In one instance, a student may see it that it is in order for him or her to try to be successful so as to become a productive member in the family and within the society as a whole, this would be termed as a social welfare goal. In this case, the child is mindful of his or her future welfare socially.

At another level a child (pupil) may see it that in order for him or her to bring on levels of honor to his or her family the one surest way to exploit us through academic achievement. This would be defined within the context of social solidarity goal. In this sense would make him or her strive toward better grades and hard work academically so that the status and profile of the family may be raised. Thus, he or she will be offering a solidarity support to the entire family which also bettering performance at school and enhancing learning process.

Another social goal would be that of approval, at this instance, the pupil may perform well in order to seek better approval from the family, teachers as well as their peers and such the aim would be to perform better to attain this goal. The various perceptions by the students for striving toward achievement academically can able viewed as goals that the pupils pursue in success scenarios, and as such these various goals may affect students’ cognitions, behaviors as well as motivation in so many ways.

For instance, when students perform better in academic work and as such achieve higher grades the feeling would be that of enthusiasm. In most cases, they would feel more receptive toward the teacher and the academic work. It has been established through research work and the results demonstrate that parental involvement is directly linked to the level of performance when parents are more involved in the school work of their children, it was found tat the grades got better (Williams H.J 2005. Pg 140). The standard test scores as well as teacher ratings have also been seen to soar in cases where parents are more involved in the elementary schooling of their children.

When parents get more involved and their expectations, too rises and so part of the social goals of the child would be so satisfy this goals while at the same time having better performance at school academic wise. Parents are also able to invest more with improved performance or not their child’s educational development, this would mean more resources to help advance their study skills. When parents maintain the wonders of childhood discovery, enthusiasm as well as inquisitiveness alive, they are in fact nourishing as well as participating in the happiness of learning within the kids. Their cognitive skills are bettered when parental and material support toward achieving this fete.

With improved study skills the pupils are able to participate, concentrate as well as perform better in academic work. When parents get involved in the academic work of their children, they develop the interest aid would evaluate the things as well as resources that would better the study skills of the children. An environment at home that is created by the family which will enable learning is very essential to achievement more than even income or the socio-economic status of the family as whole (Henderson & Berla 2007. Pg 131). When parents read out loud to their children the ability as well as the chance of reading success by the child is enhanced.

During the 1994 College Board review it was established that achievement as related to reading is greatly dependent on the home’s environment learning activities that Math or Science (Henderson & Berla 1997. Pg 52) with an increased level of parental involvement in children’s performance, the kids are able to achieve better grades and at the same time stay for longer hours in school with an increased level of concentration and participation. It is also argued that those parents with the habit of reading their children before they get to school increase their reading skills success.

When parents purchase reading materials and at the same time involving themselves in discussion about the books as well as stories that the children read also encourage reading achievement which in turn supports the achievement o the elementary pupil. Additionally, when parents and children regularly engage in discussion focusing on school, there is a general agreement that their performance level of the children would be boosted (Aston& McLanahan, 1991. Pg 36,37).

According to (Aston& McLanahan, 1991. Pg 47), there are three types of involvement that a parent would adopt at home to help advance at a consistent level the student’s level of achievement, they include; an active organization as well as effectively monitoring the child’s time, aiding the pupils in their home work as well as engaging in discussions that pertains to school issues both academic and non-curricular. When parents play the key role of parent, teacher, supporters, advocates as well as decision makers the child’s learning abilities are greatly increased they in effect become better achievers at least academically. Overall, pupils feel motivated when their parents are greatly involved in their educational affairs. When programs are designed and students are group at specialized ones there is great encouragement on the part of the pupil as they begin to appreciate their deeds.

Numerous research works have demonstrated that parental involvement has a greater potential to enhance the pupils behavior (Billi & Demo 1997. Pg 177). During the elementary school going age most children generally begin to be autonomous than was characterized during their early childhood life. In the process they learn and develop relationships with a greater number of people such as teachers as well as peers. Equally they start to become more competent in various domains. It is however, very important for the parents to play their parenting roles well, encourage school-home relationships as well as responsibility for learning, this in effect would mean a greater a parental involvement. For instance, parenting that is perceived to be warm and as well aided by various social networks enhances a child’s social skills as well as appropriate classroom behaviors.

At the elementary school stage years, every child generally undergoes a significant developmental change within him/her. In effect their reasoning ability advances and begins to be more logical; the children’s attention equally changes and becomes even more adaptable to the various environmental and situational surrounding. Similarly their perspective taking also grows to become a little bit sophisticated than before and their reading as well as math skill flourishes. With the children getting to formal schooling they begin to spend less time at home with their family and a lot of time at school. During the elementary school period a child begins to integrate knowledge from various interactions. Involving peers, teachers as well as families so as to help them contrast their social identities centered on the child’s understanding of what they perceive to be favorable to them. That is they begin to appreciate and recognize the things they are best at and the ones they cannot perform with much success. Thus, at this time family involvement process become very essential for elementary school age children’s developmental as well as learning skills (Dubow, E. F. & Ippolito, M.F. 1994. Pg 228).

With great parental involvement, a child is able to socially develop thereby enhancing his or her social behaviors. Primarily the first socialization agent of any child is usually the family. For any elementary school going child, other than the outside world interaction between them and their teachers as well as their peers, it’s their parents who help to mould their social behaviors to conform to the societal norms. A child is able to develop either a pro-social or antisocial norms depending on the level of engagement by his or her parents as well as the adequacy of parenting skills offered in the process to nurture the growing child. Thus, when parents get involved in their children’s affair in a way that would help them develop a positive attitude toward academic and school as a whole the child is likely to develop a keen interest in what they do.

When children receive adequate parenting the chances are that they normally develop high pro-social behavior. In effect their parents would also help them and enhance the learned behavior. For instance, when the parents engage their children in discussions bordering on school and academics the children are likely to be motivated and feel that actually their parents and everyone around them cares, similarly they would develop the feeling that going to school and working hard to produce good performance is actually a god thin. In addition, when parents read out loudly to their kids at home about their favorite stories or when they pay keen attention to the stories their kids tell the children would develop the feeling that education is really a good thing. The pro-social behavior learned through good parenting skills that encompasses great parental involvement would result in good indicators to improved school performance as well as a positive attitude toward academic work.

With great parental involvement at a child’s elementary school the child’s adaptation at school is likely to be well fast and at least smooth. Children, whose parents drop them to school, are highly likely to adapt to the school environment. When parents talk to their elementary school going kids, they would be able to do a kind of orientation to their kids. The parents can explain to their children to help them understand the structure of the school, what is expected of them at school as well as the kind of people they are likely to meet at school. The parents would also be able to share with the children their school daily experiences and relate them to the everyday encounters so that the kids can begin to understand what to expect at the school.

With proper parental guidance as well as good involvement the child may be able to know what the teachers, academics and at times peers expect of them. All these factors will enable the kid to be more comfortable with his or her school environment. When parents share some of the reading stories with the children, the chances are the children would be able to memorize some of the readings made previously and kids being ready to learn might also want to share some of what they have learned with their peers as well as teachers at school, this would too help them adaptation at school and eventually help them adapt well perform well.

For instances, if a child comes back home and shares the bad experiences of the day at school with parents, it is possible for the parents to reverse any negative notion that the child may have held previously about school, teachers any other such issue that is academic Dubow, E. F. & Ippolito, M.F. 1994. Pg 168). Consequently, with good achievements that the parents have helped to their children to develop it is possible for the kids to have an improved school attendance. For example the level of truancy would definitely be minimized if parents were able to monitor the progress of their children in school.

Similarly if parents were to drop their kids at school every morning, chances are no child would be a truant as this would ensure that the children attend school on a daily basis unless under special circumstances where the parents would have prior knowledge. Equally when parents become more mindful of their children and attend such special days at school like parents day they are likely to learn more about their children’s attendance record which will make them stringent steps to limit their freetime. Besides, If a parent were to occasionally drop at school and check on their children without prior notice a child would find it hard to miss going to school as they would not be sure when their parents are likely to come to school due to unpredictable yet normal visits by the parents Dubow, E. F. & Ippolito, M.F. 1994. Pg 205). With more encouragement to school will surely improve that in effect would have a great bearing on the overall performance like improved grades for the child.

With better-learned or acquired social skills the interaction between the pupils and the teacher as well as the pupil peers would obviously be boosted. The general improvement on the social behavior among the elementary school going kids would foster a good interpersonal relationship between teachers and their pupils. For instance, no teacher is happy about truant kids that mean with good monitoring on the progress of a child a well as other aspects the child would easily be receptive to the child. The child equally would not be very wary of the teacher. He or she would not see the teacher as a stranger but someone out to help him or her, but of course these are attributes that can only be projected by the parent to their kids. When a parent is fully involved in a child’s educational development the results would most likely result in better performance at school and this would be very impressive for their teachers.

E SCHOOL BENEFITS

In view of all attributes about the children with parents who are greatly involved in their educational progress and in particular at the elementary level as well as the other aspects of the children’s own achievement, there are numerous benefits a school is likely to get. The benefits would be to the various positive aspects of good parental involvement either directly or indirectly. For instance the school’s reputation within the community is likely to better a good parental involvement. When parents get involved in their children’s educational development it is highly likely that the would be a chain reaction of positive things to draw from this for example with the pupils performing better at school most parents would hold the school in high opinion and would definitely want their kids to always be in that school. The overall effects in the whole school for better parental involvement would results in an overall good school performance which would definitely raise the ratings of the school by the community the people (parents) would be very willing to support the school in terms of resources as well as morally. Parents who are greatly involved in their children’s educational growth as well as success would always be willing to go that extra mile to invest in their children’s educational development. For instance, the parent might be able to offer donations like books trophies for good performance on the part of students as well as teachers. This in effect would be a big moral boost for the teachers as well as the pupils who will always be striving for better success parents who are well involved in the education matters of their kids as of times would sit such boards like parent –teacher organizations (association). It is in these boards where some of the major decisions are made concerning the development of school. This in effect would help in the development of the children’s educational needs. Additionally when such funds are available within the community most communities would be working to allocate funds to their preferred schools.

            In every society there are policy makers who happen to have a majority of parents as their heads. When policy makers are drafting session papers that would ensure funding to schools, it is possible for them to consider the schools. However all this is only possible when parents are well involved in the educational development of their children, since then will they understand what the schools require. The community is also able to role in leaders who are mindful about the educational needs of the whole society, which will result in better facilities at the school. Good schools normally attract good teachers, which are made possible by better involvement by parents. The schools heads as well as policy makers and educational officers are most likely to favor schools with good performance in their budgets

            When the ratings of the school go high the community support goes up it is always as a result of good performance, however the people who usually relieve the most credit are the teachers. The morale of the teachers would rise when the children’s performance gets better.

            In addition when they feel that the work they are doing is appreciated by everyone in the community and most importantly held view that subjective encounters normally develop the impression within an individual that self esteem goes up with continuous progress in terms of awards or success he or she is able to acquire in his or her lifetime. Additionally self-esteem is termed as the amount value an individual attaches to him/herself. This attachments results majority from the achievements they are able to acquire. These teachers would have high self-esteem when their children perform better and the parents are able to appreciate the great work the teachers do at school. All this is partly achievable when there are enough parents involved in the learning process. The teachers in this case would view the work the pupils as well as the parents are doing as being part of their initiative which would amount to high self-esteem for the concerned teachers.

            When the morale as well as self-esteem of the respective teachers go up they would be encouraged to offer more in terms of learning and the results would be enormous as well as the most likely results would be child’s performance going up too. The parent will greatly be of the view that it is the teachers who have done the good work. In instances where may be children would hold divergent opinion about a particular teacher for example some children may go home and narrate to their parents how bad a teacher is, it is highly likely that the perception will not hold for along as the parents would still believe in the hard work the teachers have put in on the performance on the child. The parents in the above case would be seen as very supportive of the teacher and at the same time parents would talk highly of the teachers who are in charge of their kids’ classes.

            According to Windle, M. et al, 1986 (Pg 107), the other effects of increased parental involvement in the elementary school would be that of increased support to the school materially or morally. When parents participate in the educational development they would always make positive contribution towards the child’s development. With an increased parental support the kids are able to complete their home work buy the necessary reading material that is needed for the child’s educational success. The parental support would enable the child to be in an academically conducive environment. A parent is likely to invest more in the child’s educational need if they understand what a child requires. The parent would thus be able to create our enabling environment for his or her child if they are well involved in the school affairs of their kids. Through such practices like reading out loud to their kids engaging them in discussions and other academic complimentary education would help boost the proficiency level of education of the child. When kids are given home a parent who is really mindful and very involved in the education of a child is able to ask questions about the progress of the child, ensure that assignments given are completed and where there are difficulties they would be able to help their kids to handle them. This would mean the performance level as also likely to get better.

            When teachers notice the high level of involvement and concern as well as appreciation the parents give to their work the satisfactions of what they do will certainly be on the rise as they would notice that what they are doing is not in vain. The level of communication among the parties involved is also likely to go up. Parents and teachers would have a lot of respect for each other on the roles they play would have a lot respect for each other on the roles they play respectively and the community as a whole ass the pupils and teachers level of communication betters due to good understanding.

            PARENTAL BENEFITS

When the children are doing well at school and the entire community appraisal of the good work that goes at a particular school there are various benefits that can be associated with parents. That is a parent who is well involved in the elementary school affairs of his or her child will always benefit in one way or another. For instance, when a parent takes his or her time to understand the structure of a school the way the school is to run  and what value the school offers to his or her child and sees the good results it is also to give the parent would develop a positive altitude toward the school.

            With the direct involvement by a parent in the school affairs as concerns a child, a parent is able to in one way or another would invest and take keen interest in the progress of the child. When there is a great progress in the child’s academic work, every parent would always be proud of the work, the teachers and the school as a whole. With an improved attitude towards the performance of a school in general the parents would be partially meeting the obligation of good parenting as well as enhancing better performance of the school and would do all that is practicable to ensure the school continues to produce good performance and ensure that they equip their kids with the necessary materials to help meet their basic as well as complementally learning needs.

            Schools that produce good Results and better academic objectives of children are likely to have the respective parents of the pupils seeing with confidence (Tucker, C. M. et al 1995. Pg 51, 64). The parents would become more confident about the school’s ability to further the educational needs of their children. Equally the level of self-confidence as well as self-esteem would often rise in terms of how well their parenting skills have born great fruit. For instance when or parent pays much attention to the child’s education by getting involved in the complementary learning process which would result in better school performance by the child. The parent would thus feel elated by the success of the child. Socially, the level of self –esteem is often bond to go up when something positive or rewarding happens in an individual’s life. When for instance a school is rated as a top performance and a parent has his or her child at the said school, the parent would be very happy to be associated with the school and will not shy away from talking about the school. The community would also seem to be very rewarding and the chance of teachers recognizing the work done by the parents would be high which only serves to raise the level of confidence of the parents. The parents wanting to associate themselves with the level of success and other achievement by the child would do a lot in ensuring the child as well as the school always produces good results. Every parent would be happy and in most cases associate the good performance as well as improved behavior to their good parenting skills good monitoring by the parents and many other social skills. The resulting effect associated with this kind of thought would be that of enhance self clean as well as high confidence level on the part of parenting abilities.

            When parents visit their children at school and interact frequently with teachers a level of understanding that would often result in mutual respect is bound to result. The aspect of proper understanding between the parents and the teachers as well as the school and the children, for instance with increased parental involvement they begin to learn and understand the various roles that they ought to play in a child’s educational development. Subsequently the child needs in order to have good and better education. With the parents getting more and more involved in the going on at school, the parent is able to explain to the teachers what problems if any their children have (Tucker, C. M. et al 1995. Pg 82).

            Additionally, the parents are likely to explain to the children what is required of them at school. In view of all these steps taken by the parent there can only be one common outcome; that of effective communication between the schoolteachers and the children. The teachers in this case begin to understand what the child is like for instance a child who has shown a lot of interests in narratives and way be music might be easily helped to nurture the kind of talent she has and any other child with a special talent the parent has noted can be effectively be helped to exploit it. With this type of information at a teachers or the whole administrations disposal it is highly likely that the teacher and child interpersonal relationship would be good as the school would begin to the things the child are keen on that are productive.

            The child is also able to communicate their needs and at the same time respect the school laws and regulation with better social skills the behavior of the child would nurture by a concerned parent toward a pro-social one. This would ease the way in which the teachers and the children communicate. The parents that are involved in their children’s educational development and may not have attained high level of education might also find it noble to further their educations. This may be partially to become better people in life, it may also be attributed to the fact that they would want their children not to outdo them at least education wise (Windle, M. et al, 1986 Pg 93).

            Another factor would be out of their desire and opportunities that they would see as they interact with the educationists. Similarly another point would be that of trying to understand their children better they are likely to register for short courses that would help them understand the psychology of a child as well as other needs of child. This would help boost the level of education of the parent as a result of the literature review in the process of learning what the child needs. The readings that the parent is able to review with the child as well as the homework aid to the child only help the parent to have a better basic understanding of various issues in life. The parent is also able to invest in the child’s learning at home.

            In addition, parents who would regularly enquire about a child’s progress would most like elicit equal enthusiasm if not concern from their teachers

Conclusion

The effect of parental involvement in the growth as well as development is widely accepted as enormous. The benefits that can be derived from full parental involvement in the elementary as well as the entire education system of a child are numerous and can not be downplayed. They encompass such issues that concern even the parent too. When teachers know that parents do care about the child it often translates to a perceived appreciation. The school and the society stand to benefit at least at a social level with better learned social skills by the child. In essence for a better society, coherent and focused community to be a reality charity then must start from home and it cannot be in any better way than parental involvement in a child’s life which must include education.

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