More than half a million American teens belong to gangs.
               3 million American children are abused each year.
             1 in 5 is poor.
             1 in 7 has no health insurance.
               1 in 8 is born to a teenage mother.
             1 in 8 never finishes high school.
             1 in 9 between the ages of 12 and 15 is the victim of a crime.
             1 in 610 will be killed by a gun before reaching the age of 20.

Considering all these and the many other societal problems, is it any wonder that we cannot expect schools to "solve" our problems or in some way "fix" our children so that they can be successful?  Simple times and simple solutions have long since passed and what we have now are complex problems and very few answers.  One thing we know for sure, parents make a difference.  A good difference, a bad difference  - but each child's life is impacted by how (or if) a parent is involved in the child's educational experiences.

How can parents be involved?

• Be there to set a nightly routine and keep it.

• Be there to go through backpacks, look for notes from school, review graded papers, and organize homework.

• Be there to look over assigned work, participate in projects, and help with research.

• Be there when the school doors open - open houses, parent-teacher conferences, special events, fundraisers.

• Be there when your child needs an advocate.

• Be there when your child's TEACHER needs an advocate - be fair, as most teachers are not issued magic wands.

• Be there when bedtime comes and see to it that your child gets the rest that he or she needs - every night.

• Be there to say NO when sports or other extracurricular events interfere with your child's learning.

• Be there to set an example of how learning improves life.  Be a learner yourself.

• Be there to always expect your child's BEST work - accept nothing less.

• Be there to show how HARD work, not luck, equals success.

• Be there to talk OFTEN about college, trade school, or other advanced learning opportunities.  DO NOT talk of them as OPTIONAL, but as EXPECTED. 

• Be there as you model RESPECT for teachers, principals, schools, and other students.  YOUR attitude becomes your child's attitude - they learn love, or they learn hate, but they learn it from YOU.

What types of things can parents do to help their children learn to read and write?

• Talk to your child.  Talk to them some more.  Keep talking. 

• Ask questions about everything and encourage your child to RETELL experiences.  Example:  "Tell Daddy what we did today."  "Let's call Grandma and you can tell her about what you saw today."

• Make SURE your child knows the nursery rhymes and fairy tales.  Say them at home, in the car, at the lake, in the backyard, hiking, walking, and on family trips.  Repetition and memorization are ESSENTIAL for early reading success. 

• Sing.  Loud and often.  Sing with the radio, tapes, from memory, or otherwise.  Singing is language with a smile.  Doesn't matter if you are singing "The Wheels on the Bus," songs from church, country music songs, or if you are rockin' with the oldies.  What matters is that you and your child have positive experiences with language that help build oral fluency. 

• Read.  Read some more.  Have books, magazines, newspapers in the home.  Let your child have choice in what he or she reads.  We read what we love; as we grow our tastes grow.  Tolerate the comic books and books about horses (or whatever); it is just a phase that leads to more discriminating taste in literature. 

• Read TO and WITH your child.  Every day.  Make it as essential a task as bathing and eating and it will become just as natural. 

• Have REAL discussions with your child about the books/stories they are reading.

• Play word games.  Crossword puzzles, circle-a-word, hink-pinks, Merriam Webster Word Game of the Day, anagrams, vocabulary games, rhyming words, and knock-knock jokes are all good examples.

• Encourage your child to write letters to family, friends, their favorite authors, organizations, sports clubs, and so forth.  The Internet provides lists of SAFE places for which children may write letters, as do publications that are available at the public library. 

• Participate with your child in joint scrapbooking projects that document summer vacations, trips, building projects, hobbies, collections, or family.  Photos, writings, labels and storytelling are all involved in creating a scrapbook.  This does not have to be an expensive venture - a spiral notebook (preferably with unlined paper), some glue, photos (or images cut from magazines) and markers would make a great project. 

• Make going to the library a special treat.  Check out books for YOURSELF, and let your child see you do so.  If you don't your child may think that books and reading are for "kids" and not value them.  Show that YOU value reading by DOING it.  There is no substitute for this and no excuses are accepted.

  • Example of excuses with replies:

I like the symbol of the wagon.  I imagine a barefoot child walking down a dirt road pulling the wagon behind him.  If we look at that walk as a trip through life, what things would we want the child to be able to collect and put into his wagon on his way down the road of life?

Things every child should have in his/her wagon:

    1.  A family.  It might be a traditional family of a mother and father, it might be a single-parent household, a grandparent, or a foster family.  Everyone needs people who care for them and provide them shelter from the world.

    2.  At least one friend.  Someone who makes you laugh and lets you cry.

    3.  Nourishment.  Enough good food to keep your healthy and enough cake and ice cream to  let you celebrate.

    4.  Shelter.  From the rain, snow, and sleet.  A safe place that keeps the world out when you need to recover, regroup, or regenerate.

    5.  Literacy.  To be able to read is to be in charge of your destiny.  To be able to write is to effect the destiny of others.

    6.   The ability to share everything in his wagon with those who don't have a wagon at all, or with those whose wagons were stolen, or with those who can't fill their own wagon, or with those who have filled their wagons with useless things.

It is important to fill your wagon with the big stuff first, for if you fill it with the little stuff, there won't ever be a way to get the big stuff in.  ~pwp

Cameron and Granddaddy
 

1.  The reader and child (children) should find a comfortable, cozy place to sit and cuddle together.  There should be space for turning pages and a clear view of the pictures in the book for both reader and child.

2.  The child or the reader may select the book.  The book should be short, have parts that use the same words over and over again, and have pretty pictures.

3.  Before beginning to read, reader and child should discuss the pictures, the title, the author, and any special features of the book.

4.  Together the reader and child should make predictions about the story if it's the first time to read it.  If the story is not a new one, they might mention what they look forward to reading about.

5.  The reader should point to the pictures, run a finger under the line of print while reading it, and ask the child questions about what is happening in the story.

6.  Sometimes the reader may point out certain letters that begin words.

7.  If there is a repeated part, the reader should ask the child to "read" along because this part is already familiar.

8.  At the end of the story, the reader and child may discuss how they liked the book, the best parts, if they want to read it again, and what made the book interesting and fun to read.

9.  Have fun!  One of the greatest messages we send our children when we read with
     them is that READING IS PLEASURE.

1.  Choose a board book with thick pages.

2.  Read a book which rhymes or has repeated parts.

3.  Look at the cover together.  Talk about it.

4.  Say the names of familiar objects and ask the child to point to them.

5.  Say:

        "Let's look at the book to find out what will happen."

6.  Read the book aloud.

7.  Ask the child to point to things in the picture.

8.  Ask the child to say some words with you.

9.  Let the child hold the book and point to things as you read the book again.

10.  Show excitement as you read the book.  Have fun!

1.  Choose a book that rhymes or repeats the same words and phrases.

2.  Ask the child or say to the child:

        "What do  you think this book will be about?"

        "Let's look at the picture on the cover."

        "Does this book make you think of any other book or story?"

        "Let's read the book to find out what happens."

        "Will you turn the pages for me?"

3.  Read part of the book.

4.  Stop and ask a question or say something about what has happened so far in the story.

5.  Ask questions that begin with How, Why, or What.

6.  Continue through the book in this way.

7.  When you are finished reading, ask the child:

        "Did you like this book?  Why?"

        "What was your favorite part?"

        "Do you want to hear it again?"

8.  Provide extension activities with books the child enjoys:

        a.  Let the child pretend to read to you by pointing to the pictures and telling what is happening.

        b.  Read the story to your child again and pause to let the child say words he or she knows in the story.

        c.  Let the child draw a picture that tells part of the story.

        d.  Let the child act out parts of the story.

9.  Always try to end a reading time with the child wanting more and the promise of another
     reading time together very soon!

• Simple Things You Can Do to Help All Children Read Well
  http://www.ed.gov/pubs/SimpleThings/
• 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
  http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61
• Songs for Learning
  http://www.kididdles.com/mouseum/learning.html
• Candlelight Stories
  http://www.candlelightstories.com/Stories.asp
• Judy and David's Website - songs, poems, stories, activities
  http://judyanddavid.com/
• Assignment R. E. A. D:  Parents Reading Tips : http://markusjmcduffin.tripod.com/parents_tips.htm
• Home-School Links (US government materials free to download K-3):  http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CompactforReading/index.html
• Reading Rockets:  Launching Young Readers:  http://www.readingrockets.org/
• Developing Reading Skills in Young Children (further reading for parents):
  http://www.kidsource.com/schwab/developing.reading.skills.html
• Parent Reading Tips:  http://www.rtsd26.org/Reading/HaasWeb_files/page0002.htm

 Thoughts to Ponder ...

 NOTE:  Text in white added by Dr. Pam Petty. 

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

     - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Suggested Reading:
Hughs, Ina.  A Prayer for Children.  William Morrow and Co., New York, 1995.

ISBN  0-688-14034-3