Joy in your Child’s Education

Dr. Khalid Brown

I have recently come across a social media personality who goes by the name ”Burnt out Teachers”.  If you have not seen her, she does little skits of true stories that she encountered while working in the school system that caused her to be burnt out and quit teaching.   I soon shared some of her videos with many of my friends and former co-workers who worked in the schools with me.  As we all had a good laugh  we all had the same reaction “This is pretty accurate”.  We see this trend more and more recently, with articles citing teacher shortages across the country.  There are many reasons that contribute to this.  One of the main reasons, in my opinion, is an erosion of parent/school relationship.

In my 15+ years of working in education, among all kinds of families, and all types of difficulties, the most important factor in the education of children is the involvement of the parents.

In an article titled “  What You Miss After Your Child Learns to Read” by Clare Ansberry in the Wall Street Journal, looked at the reading patterns of parents to their children at bedtime.  The article looked at parents of children 6 to 17, where she states that by age 9, 1 out of 4 parents stopped reading to their children, as the parents thought their child can read on their own.  However, 8 in 10 children ages 6 to 17 said they loved or liked being read aloud to because it is a special time together with their parents. Among children ages 6 to 11, 40% wished their parents would continue.

The importance of books in the home was further shown in a 2014 study published in the sociology journal Social Forces.  Which states that:

“After G.N.P., the quantity of books in one’s home was the most important predictor of reading performance. The greatest effect was seen in libraries of about 100 books, which resulted in approximately 1.5 extra years of grade-level reading performance. (Diminishing returns kick in at about 500 books, which is the equivalent of about 2.2 extra years of education.)”.

So why bring up these articles? How are you training up your child? How engaged are you in their education (if not homeschooling)? Just the act of reading to your child and having a library has great benefits to your child.  That when the parents are involve in their child’s learning, that the order and variables that contribute to a successful child are in place for them to learn best.  I am not talking about homeschool vs private/public school, but with whatever form of education you choose for you child that you are involved.

What does this mean?  In Proverbs 22:6 it says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

So as your child starts out this school year, I would like to challenge you to see yourself as the expert. Not the teacher in the school, not the administrator, but you, the parent(s) charged in raising that child.   God gave you your child and as a result you are the expert on your child and being the expert, your child will respond the best to learning when you are involved.    

So why write this on a blog post on a psychologist website? Parenting isn’t easy, just as we have ups and downs as adults, children have ups and down and as a parent you try to navigate those times as best you can.  Just as school is a tool to help you education your child, the support of a therapist can be a useful tool to help navigate those times as well, for you and your child.  Utilizing different tools can provide support and help so that you can raise up your child in the way they should go in a Joyful and fruitful way. 

References:

Evans, M.D.R, Kelley, J & Sikora, J. 2014 “ Scholarly Culture and Academic Performance in 42 Nations” Social Forces, Volume 92, Issue 4, June 2014, Pages 1573–1605

Ansberry, C. 2016 “What You Miss After Your Child Learns to Read”, Wall Street Journal