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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Don't Give Up Your Kids To The System, The School System That Is!


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As my two kids were having a private conversation I heard, "Give up your kids?" in an incredulous tone from my 6 year old daughter. That started me to thinking of how many people unknowingly give up their kids to an educational system that may or may not work for them.

As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure that your children get everything they need. Not just the bare necessities of food, shelter, and clothing but the more meaningful attributes that they will take with them for the remainder of their lives. These include love, first and foremost, security, and yes, education.

So why do so many parents enroll their children in school and expect the system to do the rest? Have we not learned that the system fails at least as many as it helps? The scary truth is that in order for your children to be successful in obtaining a good education, YOU will have to delve deep and determine what a good education is and help them get it.

How? Many people have read or been told that children do better when parents are a part of their school lives. I concur. However, that doesn't mean that you must spend hours completing his math project so that he will get a good grade. While assisting with homework will help your child do better in school, there is another way that studies prove increases his achievement. Simply be a presence in his school. Go to the parent-teacher conferences, PTO nights, plays, and games. But more than that, help out around the school in various ways. Maybe you can donate some items for art, beautify the school grounds, assist a teacher by running some copies, answer the office phone, etc. The list is endless. Ask school personnel what you can do to help if you are unsure where to start.

What if you work?

You don't have to be in the school everyday or even every week for that matter. You can take a couple to four hours per semester to volunteer at your child's school during the day. Altogether, that's ONE day you will miss work for an entire year, and it's for a far better cause than watching a ball game! Imagine if 100 parents per school committed to spend 4 hours per semester in their children's schools. That's 400 hours, or 57 days per semester (based on a 7 hour school day) of extra, free workers in our schools, and 100 extra bodies making sure that our kids are safe!

For more strategies to help your child achieve in math, go to http://HelpYourChildAchieveInMath.com for a 38 page book.

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