Category Archives: Parents' Role in Education (See Also Education Blog)

Picture Books that Adults Will Love, Too!

Reading is an important skill. Parents who want to raise an avid reader need to take the time to read lots of stories to their children. It is also a good idea to let your child see you reading. Children often imitate the behaviors they see their parent’s doing. Check out some of these children’s books that adults will love, too! Reading books with your child can be a rewarding experience. It is a nice way to spend time together and share a hobby that you both enjoy. Things can become a bit maddening, however, when a child insists upon … Continue reading →

What Really Happens in the Classroom?

My 7-year-old and I play a little game on the ride home from school each day called “High Low.” After we clear the madness that is the school’s parking lot we take turns telling each other one high point and one low point of our respective days. A couple of weeks before Christmas my daughter shared a “high” of crafting Christmas cards for her teacher’s 20-something-year-old unmarried daughter who couldn’t make it home to Wisconsin for the holidays. I didn’t get all the details, but I from what I gathered, the teacher’s daughter had to remain in Texas for some … Continue reading →

Moms Rock at Tech Stuff

For all you tech-savvy moms, who have spent hundreds of hours retrieving lost computer files, installing programs to protect your children from online predators and creating spreadsheets to organize your kid’s lives, your hard work is finally being validated. A new study shows that good ol’mom is the most computer literate member in the family. Go MOM! Call it a gender thing, because the study also found that more than 94 percent of girls are computers proficient, compared to 88 percent of boys. The research conducted by Britain’s University of Hertfordshire included 4,600 children ages six to 14 and aimed … Continue reading →

Parents Making the Most of Obama Inauguration

Are you keeping your kids home from school tomorrow? TV journalist Linda Ellerbee, along with a handful or other renown child psychologists, are encouraging parents around the nation to keep their kids home from school tomorrow in order to make Inauguration Day a family affair. Regardless of your party affiliation, these childhood “experts” say President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing in as our country’s first African-American president is a historic moment that should be witnessed and discussed as a family. Basically, Ellerbee and crew maintain that learning should begin at home and parents should make the most of tomorrow’s historic events. So … Continue reading →

Will You Be Taking Your Kids to the Polls on Election Day?

The stodgy suit wearing, watch checking, business exec who plans to vote on his lunch break might prefer you leave your squirmy little ones at home on November 4th, but countless voter advocacy groups are hoping parents across the nation will bring their children with them to the polls on Election Day. Several groups are going out of their way to make it easy for parents with children to get out and vote by providing free transportation to polling places and kid-friendly distractions inside. Because of the massive attention given to this year’s election, parents are being warned that parking … Continue reading →

Is it Ever Too Late to Teach Things?

We have all heard that it is never too late to learn new things, but as a parent, you might be wondering if it is ever too late to TEACH our children things. I think that many of us feel as though there is a limited window for certain things and if we do not get in there and teach those lessons; our children will never learn them. For example, if we do not start piano lessons at the age of four, does that mean the child will never learn piano? It might be reassuring to realize that we probably … Continue reading →

Encourage Kids to Ask Questions

When a child hits the age of two and starts asking questions non-stop, many parents would rather the child ask a few LESS questions. As our children get older, however, they may not get encouragement to ask questions and it might actually be that they are discouraged and shamed into stopping to ask questions (whether at school, home, church, etc.) As parents, we can create an open environment and support and encourage our children to continue to be inquisitive and curious and to ask those questions. Children will ask questions naturally if there is an environment that welcomes them and … Continue reading →

Preparing the Very Shy Child for School

The last thing you may want to do here in the middle of summer is think about school, but if you have a child who is very shy and/or timid, you might be worrying a bit about how to introduce him or her to another school year. If this will be your child’s first foray into the world of school, it can be tough knowing how he or she will react and knowing what you can do to make the transition smoother. Even if your child has been in a school for a while, if he or she is very … Continue reading →

When You Move, Make Sure Kids Know Where They Live

I was standing in line with a group of people the other day and for some reason, we started chatting about moving and relocating. One of the women shared that the last time they moved, she totally forgot about teaching her children about their new address and phone number until she realized that they were giving out their old one to new acquaintances. After spending so much time teaching them their former address and phone number, she totally overlooked making sure they knew the new one! Moving is stressful and there are so many practical details that sometimes the most … Continue reading →