Parenthood is a duty that never ends. As working parents, with increased responsibilities and less time being spent at home, it is essential to come up with an organized plan which benefits your child’s studies too. The role of parents or their mere involvement can have a significant positive impact on a child’s academic performance. It is very difficult for parents to balance work and spending enough time with their children to support their education.
Nowadays, more employers are offering greater flexibility to working parents so they can support their child’s educational activities. However, planning and effectively making use of the limited amount of time is important to be able to manage the overwhelming demands. Here are a few tips on how you can successfully balance your career as well as support your child succeed in their educational needs.
Plan and Organize your time better:
If you are a working parent, you are basically a superhero. You consistently have multiple tasks to perform at the same time. You have to juggle between your children, the household, your job, spouse, childcare arrangements and so much more. Despite your packed schedule, you have to be organized and super efficient to take care of your child’s education.
Instead of telling your boss that you will be out of the office tomorrow afternoon, explain that you will be leaving the office tomorrow afternoon for two hours for a parent-teacher meeting. Know the educational needs of your loved ones and prioritize. Most companies and bosses when informed ahead of time the reason for an absence are often understanding.
Finding one hour a day to sit down with them sounds hard but it does not have to be. You know your schedule and if you can not find that hour, it is time to re-prioritize your activities. For example, if you cook every night you can find simpler ways to prepare dinner and/or do meal preps including possibly cooking large quantities over the weekend. What’s better than having dinner ready in 15 minutes when all you have to do is heat the food up?! If you have other work or chores you need to get done, do part of it in the evening and part in the morning. You can even have your children wake up a little earlier in the morning to meet instead of in the evening. The key is also to keep the same time. Choose a time and stick to it.
Make “family study hall” a habit:
The family is the primary environment children grow up in – regardless of the multiple forms that a family might take. Both high quality educational facilities and social/living environments play an important role in providing children with learning opportunities and the chance to succeed in society and in life.
Sit with your child along with your family members during their homework time, When the kitchen timer rings, dine with them and enjoy downtime or a relaxing activity like watching a favorite TV program together as a family. This routine may not be easy, and keep in mind you do not have to do that every night, but it is important to spend time outside of just helping them with homework.
Collaborate with teachers and educators:
For working parents, the relationship with their child’s teachers is very unclear. The way in which schools communicate and interact with parents affects the quality of a parent’s involvement at home and with their child’s learning mechanism. Parents also benefit from being involved in their child’s education through exclusive ideas from school about how to help and support their children.
It also helps them understand more about the school’s academic programs. This is where communication tools come in handy. There are apps like the reading comprehension app WhizRead which not only help your child learn but also connects you as the parent with your child’s teacher so that you are kept informed about your child’s academic progress in a quick and easy way.
A Willing Attitude:
You have to stay determined, positive, and enthusiastic even when you feel the odds are stacked against you. It is essential to fully engage yourselves in your child’s education since parental involvement is a more significant factor in a child’s academic performance than the qualities of the school itself. There are going to be more challenging days than others. Find something that de-stresses you so that when those moments do come, you can utilize them to de-stress.
Oversee What your Child is Doing In School:
School is one of the environments that help in the growth of your child. It paves the way for them to become competent and responsible adults capable of managing the complex world. Get in touch with teachers since they are the best source to understand clearly what your child is doing in school. A quick phone call can go a long way. You can not always show up and meet in person but you can call, connect with them through parent/teacher apps, and/or email them. A clear understanding of your child’s classroom activities will help you help them. Identify your child’s areas of strength and weakness both from an academic as well from a social-emotional standpoint. Identify if your child’s academic areas of weakness are around speech, reading, comprehension, following instructions, remembering and applying Math facts among other things. Similarly, on the social-emotional aspect, understand if your child, has difficulty in making and keeping friends, is communicating and sharing with them, seems withdrawn under certain circumstances, is respectful to others etc.
Make Use of Technology
It has been mentioned briefly already about using technology to help and that is because there are a lot of ways in which technology can be a very useful medium for children to improve their learning abilities and for you to communicate with them and their teachers. Parents can use these platforms to make their children independent learners, track their progress, enhance their studying abilities, and more.
There are a lot of apps available in the market, both paid and free. For instance, WhizRead is a reading comprehension iPad app that combines the power of multisensory tools and natural language processing techniques to offer your children a more personalized and engaging learning experience. Working parents can make use of these tools to ensure that their children thrive in this modern education system.
In closing, parenting school-age children and being actively involved in their education can be difficult. Just because you have not been able to find the time does not make you a bad parent. It is a struggle to find the balance. Try condensing the time for other activities you do outside of work. If you have multiple kids, sit down with all of them at the same time. Get creative because we all want what is best for our children and to be involved.