Academic Success Flourishes On Parent/Teacher Partnerships

I know it sounds humorous, but 'Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a world where parents and teachers had great respect for each other, and worked together as teams with one solitary goal in mind:      AT ALL COST, EDUCATE THE CHILDREN!'  

Back then, before children entered what once was known as HeadStart, for 4 year olds, parents prided themselves on teaching their children character traits, good manners, respecting elders, helping others, hand-eye coordination (mainly writing, folding, cutting, and coloring), as well as occupational standards, such as, their children being potty trained, knowing how to dress themselves (buttons and zippers), knowing their full names (even being able to spell it), singing their alphabets, counting (by single numerals, by two's, and by five's), knowing their address and parents' names, knowing their birthdate, shapes, colors, patterns, sorting, and please don't forget 'tying their shoe laces'!  WOW!

We live in a totally different world now, and the mindset for many parents, and grandparents, is that children are too young, at age four, to learn all of that information.  Even though, they can learn: every song (profanity and all), dance choreography (appropriate and inappropriate), how to master video games, how to google illegal and immoral websites. Many are exposed to drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, domestic violence, etc., but for some unknown reason, many parents believe, children, at age four, cannot learn the things needed to advance them academically.

Before the pandemic hit the world, many parents had little respect for teachers.  Some parents were passive and just left academic decisions, about their child's education, to the teachers and school staff.  Others blamed teachers when their children didn't do well in school, misbehaved, and were sent to the office, or just plainly refused to cooperate with their child's teacher at all.  Unfortunately, all of those scenarios are harmful to the academic achievement of the child.  Some parents didn't know their elementary child's teacher's name this year, or any information about their child's assessments, struggles, progress, or achievements.

Years ago, a friend of mine was sitting on her sofa, reading the local newspaper.  Her 6 year old daughter (1st grader) was sitting opposite her and was mumbling softly.  Finally the mother, lowered the newspaper and asked her daughter, 'What are you doing'?  The daughter gently replied, 'I'm reading mama'.  The mother shockingly responded, 'I didn't know you could read.'

What's wrong with this story?  

Parents are still a child's first teacher!  No one replaces the parents, nor do they replace the parents' responsibilities in teaching, training, and supporting the learning process.  My friend should have known if her child could read or not, because she should have been participating in the academic process and progress.  However, she was leaving everything that dealt with education, in the hands of the schools and teachers.

Unfortunately, that is an injustice to children.

During the pandemic, when children had to be homeschooled, so to speak, many of those same parents who were passive or non-supportive of the teachers, had a change of heart: a paradigm shift.  One parent wrote that he couldn't believe how difficult it was to teach one child.  He couldn't imagine teaching a classroom full of children.  Another parent stated that she could no longer be passive, even though she had known her child had some undiagnosed issues.  Those issues became surreal when her child was at home in virtual school everyday.

I've even had many parents comment on how difficult it is to teach their own child, or discipline their child, and let's not mention establishing and maintaining a daily school routine.  These parents were also totally exhausted at the end of the school day, just trying to monitor their child during instructional time.

What about when children struggled with the content and the parent had no idea of how to help or what to do?  Some parents were in tears, because they couldn't assist their children.  As a parenting coach, I found myself going above and beyond my coaching services to assist parents. My educational background allowed me to tutor parents on how to be creative in using practical resources to teach and practice concepts that allowed their child to progress academically.

Headlines during this school year could have been:  Frustration Sets In For Many Parents, Students, and Teachers!    No one was prepared for what our hospitals, nursing homes, or even educational system would have to work through.

Thank goodness, there are blue skies after the storm!  The positive impact between parents and teachers has been outstanding in the midst of such a horrific time in our lives.  After a year under the clutches of the pandemic, many parents and teachers, overall, have finally begun to partner together for the sake of educating the children.  Sacrifices on both sides had to be made to get children what they needed, whether in traditional or virtual settings. Statistically, most educators accept that active involvement of parents in their children's education improves children's development and their academic success, tremendously. For sure, this year has had it's ups and downs, but the downs are much fewer when parents and teachers are working together!

Therefore, now that everyone is realizing teaching can be difficult and most teachers go above and beyond to provide children with quality instruction, a shift has occurred and the parent/teacher partnership is building significantly.  This can only promote a more positive experience for our children during this unusual time in all of our lives.

Most parents and teachers believe our children are our most valuable assets in this life, and they truly are. Then, how much more importantly is it for us to rally together and provide our children with the highest quality educational experiences possible.

Parent/Teacher Partnerships are always absolutely critical in the academic success of our children!  Let's continue this movement and    AT ALL COST, EDUCATE THE CHILDREN!

by Frazelma Lynn
Your Personal Parenting Coach
Founder of FTP: Frazelma Teaching Parents