How do you support your child’s learning at home? Do you go over his or her homework? Ask probing questions? Communicate regularly with the teacher?
Children are surrounded, every day, by opportunities to ask parents questions about our world. Every day we can create and an opportunity for children to understand on a deeper level. Learning is not an activity confined to the classroom.
What happens at home matters.
When you take an active role in your child’s learning, you become more than a cheerleader. You become an active participant, supporting and challenging your child throughout the academic journey.
The Northwest Education Association (NWEA) agrees. They recognize the importance of at-home support, noting, “One of the most powerful allies of an educator is an informed parent who understands their child’s academic needs and is in a position to reinforce what happens in the classroom.”
As a parent, your support is key to instilling confidence in and a love of learning.
The benefits of at-home support:
Not convinced? A 2002 report, synthesized the research of 51 independent studies about parent involvement. The findings? Children with parents who extended the learning experience to home performed better. These students had higher grades, better attendance, and even more refined social skills[1].
When building critical thinking skills, the at-home support you provide makes a huge difference. You’re reinforcing the fact that learning happens every day, everywhere. You’re building your child’s confidence, encouraging them to ask deep questions about the world they live in.
How to support your child at home:
As a parent, you’re probably busy. You likely have any number of irons in the fire, and adding one more task to your to-do list can seem intimidating.
Luckily, there are several simple ways to work with your child. These techniques will help you build a culture of learning at home, and won’t take too much time from your day.
1. Keep lines of communication open
The best way to stay on top of what your child is learning? Ask. Keep lines of communication between yourself, your child, and your child’s teacher open. As a result, it becomes much easier to incorporate learning activities into your daily life.
Regular communication also opens the door to new resources. For example, your child’s teacher can shed light on MAP scores or standardized tests results. They can add context to the results and help you figure out what your child needs most.
2. Practice, practice, practice
Take small moments to build upon the concepts your child learns in school. Incorporate games and puzzles, designed to test critical thinking skills, into your day-to-day routine. Let your child know returning home doesn’t signal the end of the learning experience. It continues throughout every portion of the day.
3. Encourage Inquiry
Ask questions. Question everything about the world around you, and encourage your child to do the same. Nurture that seemingly never-ending “Why?” that indicates a deep-seeded need to understand.
Children often mimic what they see, so don’t be afraid to ask questions yourself. And, when your child inevitably asks a question to which you don’t have the answer, undertake the journey of exploration together. Find the answers, and from those answers develop new questions.
Your child’s success hinges on their love of learning
As soon as learning becomes a tedious chore, it becomes a challenge. Working with your child, embracing the sheer joy of inquiry and understanding. In the end, you are teaching them that learning is fun – and that’s the most important lesson of all.
[1] Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools.
