Parental involvement in children's education and school success

Parenting knowledge and skills are naturally acquired through ethnic, culture, kinship and friendship ties as well as from other available resources. Parents need to share their concerns and views on their children in order to create an opportunity for exploring solutions and sharing resources. Parents involvement in their children education assist them accurately assess their development comparing them to other of the same age. They are also better placed to have realistic expectations for their children's behavior and look into ways to effectively communicate those expectations (The Childrens Trust, 2010).

Communication between the Home and School

Development of a strong and a positive relationship between parents and the teachers is critical as it foresters regular communication. Communication between the parents and teachers is beneficial to the child's success at school. According to Christenson, Rounds, and Gorney, (1992), effective family and school communication contributes to improvements in students academic performance. Many parents have busy schedules and achieving an effective parents and school-based support requiers a commitment. One way of doing this is getting involved in the parent teacher interviews as a concerted school-based system, which is an important step in creating a favorable home and school communication.

Supporting Student Learning at Home

It is important to support learning at home. Learning at home include helping with homework and home tutoring among other activities. Studies show that the longer parents stay actively involved in their children's education, the more chance they have in improving their performance (foundation, 2007, p. 1). A study done by Gerardo Lopez (2001), observed the important role parenting played in supporting home learning. Due to poverty in many immigrant communities because of migrant work issues, many of their students struggle in school but are considered successful in academics as well as other ways. The involvement of their parents in home learning was pivotal in furthering their education.

Involvement in Decision Making and Advocacy

Many parents today realize the ultimate importance of involving in their children's school issues. Parents as advocates need to make sure that they attend as many school activities such as open house, back to school festivals, special performances and others. Parents need to know the schools visitor policy, observe their children's work on display boards, and join the parents Teachers Organization.

Collaboration with the Community

Children's social, economic, family as well as academic needs must be met for them to successfully stay in school; they need the support of the community. The community can support their schools through volunteering programs and funding activities. Other activities that the communities can get involved in are school to work programs, drug prevention as well as parental involvement programs. Schargel and Smink (2001), claim that some of the benefits of community service collaboration are, improved academic performance and decrease in school drop out rate. In addition, they acknowledge the fact that it increases awareness a bout the at risk youth issues, initiating communication among opinion leaders and representatives at the communit level and is a demonstration of how to solidify public and private sector relationships. ( p. 202).