The correlation between parental involvement and children’s success at school has been proven through much research from myriad organizations and independent research. The family as the pillar of a child’s well-being is critical in their mental and physical health and it plays a critical role in the performance and achievement of the child at school.
Parents volunteering at their children’s schools and having a good parent-teacher relationship has been proven to increase children’s success at school and having more meaningful relationships with their peers.
Parents’ involvement cannot stop at volunteering, attending after-school activities, or parent-teacher meetings. They can be more involved during the summer months when learning is not a top priority for many students.
Math
According to a Harvard article about loss learning during the summer months, they found that children lose an average of 2.6 months of math learning during the summer. Teachers have to spend the first weeks of the new school year teaching what was lost during the summer months, giving up a lot of time of class time. Parents involvement in this aspect cannot only counteract the lost learning but can help their children get ahead. Making math games, or including math learning during the summer months in small quantities cannot only help your child retain the math learned the previous year but can encourage him to keep learning.
If you don’t know where to start or feel intimidated teaching math to your child begin by assessing your child’s math competency and the topics where they may need more help. Giving them a math assessment test at home can give you an idea of whether they are progressing or are stuck in a particular subject. The summer months are the perfect time to bring them up to date in math.
Follow this link to a free math assessment for your child. https://www.sonlight.com/uploads/saxon_middle_placement.pdf
Reading
Wondering if your child is reading at their grade level? Reading is an important part of the child’s education. It will be necessary when reading or learning about other subject areas as well. If they do not read well, they will not understand the math question or the social study question because of their inability to read or comprehend the most basic English words.
There are many tests out there that can assess your child’s ability to read. If you have one that you prefer, give it to your child and assess his reading level. If you would like a different test, you can follow this link to a reading proficiency test for your child. http://www.nrrf.org/reading-competency-test/
Visit the library to check out books that might inspire them to read more. Math games are abundant online and can make learning fun for your child. Your children are very proficient at using electronic devices, insist they learn something first and then play.
“Making progress is the expectation of parents and the community,” That is the stated sentence from the Ohio Department of Education report card resources page, and preparing your child during the summer months to have an extraordinary year at school and keep progressing well can begin at home.