Education in the Home

Parents have so much to consider and to think about as they raise their children. One  important decision involves how their children are educated. Yes, the schools we choose play an important part of their education process, but without the educational process in the home, the school and it’s teachers are stifled.

I want to address the importance of this by sharing experiences from a teacher.  My sister in law is a teacher at an elementary school in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has been taught how to teach and the importance of teaching in  many different settings.  She also knows how important education is and the impact that it can have on the student.

My sister in law has told me that while she teaches and observes her students she is able to notice the differences between the children who are taught in the home and the children that are mainly taught at school. Behavior toward others, respect, self-discipline, and attitude are either a part of each child, or they are not.  It all depends on the home and that homes environment.

The pressure on a teacher and the time involved in a child’s education is huge!! But when they are trying to teach what the parents should have taught their children in the home it slows down the academic process for everyone in the classroom.

Understandably,  children expect their teachers to be a reliable source for learning.  Shouldn’t they enjoy that same reliability from their parents?

Research that has been done that underscores the value of parental guidance in the home. In “Parent’s Perceptions of Involvement in Children’s Education: Findings from a Qualitative Study of Public Housing Residents”  by Jamie Rae Yoder and Amy Lopez it says:

Parental involvement in children’s education has been shown to be associated with academic achievement and positive development (Fan and Chen 2001). Parental involvement is related to academic outcomes such as higher grades in science (VanVoorhis 2003), effects in reading scores (Sui-Chu and Willms 1996), and is positively associated with increases in standardized test scores (Griffith 1996; Jeynes 2005a). Active parental involvement is also a protective factor for school engagement among both elementary and secondary students, where youth excel when parents are frequently involved in their education (Jeynes 2005c; Gutman and Midgley 1999).

No matter what stage of life, positive teaching/learning in the home is one of the most important things that can ever happen in the life of a child. It is crucial to the way they will live their lives. Even the small things we do and teach can impact the life of a child. We, as parents must be involved in their learning.

We should never underestimate the power of our example.  They listen to and watch everything that we do…Even when we don’t think they are engaged or listening.  Their minds and attitudes and values are like little sponges that soak up the environment around them. In the home is where our children can learn values, morals and respect for others. Their education in school will add on to what our children have learned in the home, making them well rounded and able to move their little lives toward being happy, successful, and a positive roll model for others. So much of this process lies squarely on the shoulders of US–their parents!

In The role of parents in children’s school life: Student Motivation and Socio-emotional Functioning it says:

Researchers agree that parental involvement significantly contributes to academic attainment and takes different forms both at school (e.g., attending school events, volunteering at school, parent–teacher communication) and at home (e.g., helping with homework, sharing beliefs about the value of education, provision of emotional support; Fan & Chen, 2001; Gonzalez-DeHass, Willems, & Doan Holbein, 2005; Hill & Tyson, 2009; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997; Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2001; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008; Pomerantz & Moorman, 2010; Pomerantz, Moorman, & Litwack, 2007; Spera, 2005).

Teaching in our homes has to be a priority.

As parents we should be asking our children what they are learning in school. When they understand that we truly care about them and their learning experience, our children will thrive! Our priorities become their priorities.  So we must choose our priorities carefully.