| Parents
want to do what’s best for their children. Sometimes
the best thing you can do is focus on yourself.
Some parents are looking for ways to involve
their children in the broader community to teach them social
concerns, responsibility, and to give them a sense of belonging
to a larger group.
Many of the articles we found contained gentle
reminders to parents that children learn by example, therefore
parents need to be modeling the aspects of community they
want their children to emulate. Repeated studies have shown
the importance of parents being involved in their children’s
education.
Parent-Parent Approach Turns
School Around - The Action Alliance for Children is an example of how a parent organization was formed
and caused dramatic changes to a school that had some
of the lowest test scores in California. The organization
first targeted absenteeism by phoning or visiting the
home of a child who is absent from school. In its first
year, absences dropped by 1/3. By the end of the second
year, absenteeism had been cut in half.
50
Ways Parents Can Help Schools - This is a list of concrete suggestions for ways parents
can become involved in their child’s school.
Help Children Succeed in School
- A comprehensive list of suggestions of ways parents can
help their children.
Become
Involved in Schools - “Increased involvement of parents and families is
often cited as one of the most important ways to improve
public schools.” In this article, several authors
comment on the importance of the parent-teacher relationship.
At the end of the document is a list of “action
options” – concrete suggestions for educators
and for parents on ways to connect and help each other.
Help Your Child Develop Good Character - This article provides a helpful list for parents to read
over. Since children learn by example, it is a reminder
for parents to model good behaviour and positive interactions
within our families and communities.
What
to do: How to Build Social Capital - “Social capital is built through hundreds of little
and big actions we take every day.” Here is a list
of small and big actions that people can try in order
to build community, get involved and help friends and
strangers. The suggestions are all fairly simple to implement,
(e.g. volunteer at the library, sing in a choir, etc.)
and provide good ways for people to become more engaged
in their communities.
Identity
& Adolescents: How Adults Can Help - This article describes why model children suddenly, around
age 15, can begin to engage in defiant and self-destructive
behaviours. The author lists several things parents can
do from early on to assist their children to develop strong
identities, which then helps them through the teen-age
transition to adulthood.
UNICEF - Unicef is the UN’s arm that deals specifically with
issues of concern for children. Their site
is a goldmine of information on the lives of children
around the world.
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