Investing in your child’s education: It’s cheaper than you think

Investing in your child’s education doesn’t always mean starting a college tuition fund or opening a CD in your 10-year-old’s name in hopes it will multiply before you get your college acceptance letter. There are ways other than financial aid that may be more beneficial to your child’s education and won’t break your bank account. The following five suggestions may very well give a greater return on your child’s educational investment, especially if established early in their educational career:

First: homework. There are differing opinions among teachers regarding the amount and type of homework they should provide. However, most teachers agree that when a parent is involved in some way in a student’s homework completion, that student has a greater chance of success. Whether or not a child has someone to help him with his homework each night is a great indication of whether he will understand the material. The fact is simple: even the best teachers must teach an entire group of students at once, while a parent can work one-on-one with the child. This is a very important factor. Teachers will jump through hoops just to set aside a few minutes a day to teach a smaller group of students. Student learning increases dramatically when teachers have fewer students, so the more one-on-one time you have with your child at home, the more your child will learn. Every minute you can take to read or practice or review with them one-on-one will do wonders for your education.

Second: Respect and support your child’s teacher. When I was a child, parents and teachers were on the same page. Somehow this has changed where the student and parents are often opposed to the teacher. This has horrible repercussions for the child’s ability to learn. Working together always works better than working individually. If a parent says a disrespectful or disapproving word at the dinner table the night before, a student is much more likely to discredit much of what the teacher says the next day. By openly showing that he does not support the teacher’s decisions, he is teaching his son that it is okay for him to do the same in the classroom. If a student does not respect her teacher, learning becomes much more difficult.

Third: Use technology wisely. Technology plays an increasingly important role in education today. However, it can also be a huge distraction. Set priorities and rules for technology in your home. This may sound like common sense, but common sense isn’t always that common, and technology is having a negative effect on the education of many students. For example, spending hours and hours on a gaming system before starting homework late at night makes homework much less effective. Children become less involved in homework and completing it becomes a battle with parents rather than a learning routine established early in the evening. On the positive side, teach your child how to use technology to enrich and enhance their learning through the use of online resources and materials.

Fourth: Get involved in the classroom. This advice is intended primarily for parents of elementary-age children. Many teachers appreciate parent volunteers. The time you spend in your child’s classroom is invaluable! It will help you better understand the events and situations that occur in the classroom and in your child’s life. It will help you understand different procedures and systems in the environment where they spend most of their day so you can better help them with any issues that come up socially or academically. It also helps to show your child that you value her learning and take the time when you can support him and her teacher.

Fifth: Contact the teacher. This is an underused tool in education. Parents and teachers alike work toward the same goal of helping the same child learn. Communication is essential! Teachers could use your tips on how to help your child when he’s having trouble with something going on at home. Similarly, parents could use a teacher’s help when students are struggling academically. When parents and teachers work as a team, the child can feel the support network around her and the workloads of both adults are lightened. When communicating, a teacher knows that he is involved and appreciates and respects the work he does for his child. They will include you in more information when they know you are interested. Communication is essential for parents and teachers to work as a team to help the child succeed.

If you can establish these five basic principles in your child’s experience from the beginning, then their chances of a higher education will increase significantly before they begin to think about college. No matter how big a child’s college fund is, if they don’t have a foundation of respect and value for education, it will be that much harder for them to succeed.