Category Archives: Education

Five Easy Ways for a Busy Parent to Get More Involved in Their Kid’s Education

Posted on by

Did you know that one of the number one complaints from our teachers and educators nowadays is parental involvement or better non-involvement? Many parents seem to think that the school should teach their children, manage them when they are there and that they as parents do not need to be involved or put any effort in the education of their children. So if you want to change this and get more involved in your children’s education, here are five easy ways to do so.

One of the easiest ways to get involved in your child’s education is by being interested in his school day. Ask your child how school was or if anything interesting happened today and when your child answers, listen. Just asking will not help, you have to listen to what they say and respond to their needs. It is very important to ask everyday and to be consistent in asking and listening. When you ask your children about their school day and about their homework, it will signal to them that school is important to you and therefore should be important to them. Asking them about their school day and about their homework will also send a clear message that you expect them to learn and study.

A second easy way to get involved in your child’s education is to check their homework. Not only check, but also assist with the homework and help your child to study for exams. When you check your child’s homework everyday, it will ensure that your child does the homework and also that your child knows that studying and doing the homework are an important part of their education. Some days your child might be in a crabby mood or just plain does not want to do the homework. Give the child some free time, but insist on the completion of the homework by the end of the night or the weekend or some other arbitrary deadline before the next class. Set that time period as a deadline for homework completion and infrequently remind the child of it.

Almost as easy as the first two ways to get involved is the parent teacher contact. Keep up to date on your child’s progress in school; do not just wait for the teacher to send you information home. Frequently get in contact with your child’s teachers and find out about your child’s progress, behavior and anything that relates to school. There are many different ways you can talk to your child’s teacher, meet him after class at school, set up an appointment, set up a parent teacher conference, participate in conferences set by the school, call your teacher or even send the teacher a letter. Teachers like to hear from parents. The teacher knows that parental involvement is one essential key for student’s success in school. Teachers do not have the same influence on children as their parents do.

Did you know that getting involved in your child’s education also means to vote in school board elections? Yes, voting for whom you think will do best for the school can improve the environment your child learns and studies in. This is actually a very easy way to be involved in your child’s education; you have to make a checkmark on the voting ballot and are already helping.

Lastly, there are also setting guidelines, milestones and rules for your child. Be involved by not letting your child stay up late on school days, by limiting the time they watch TV and instead encouraging them to read a book, do their homework or study. While you set rules and guidelines for children to follow, make sure that you are a good example of what you preach. Don’t turn the TV on, after you have told your child not to watch TV, but to read a book. Get a book out yourself, or while he or she is doing homework, catch up on paperwork such as bills.

Could ‘Hands On’ Certification Be The Education Route For Many?

Posted on by

It has been one of the biggest debates for awhile. Is certification a good alternative to a University education? And can it indeed be just as worthy and valued? A few Harvard scholars of education believe that alternative education to University could be the path to prosperity.

Outlined in their booklet ‘Path to Prosperity’ is the undoubting fact that with so many young people going to University, the University education system has been somewhat devalued compared to prior decades. With so many young people swarming about on campus, it has also meant that the education system has had to adapt to numbers, which has meant for most graduates a massive skills gap between them and an employed individual. This for many has meant that they have been unable to find work or have settled for minimum wage white-collar posts.

Besides these problems, the Harvard scholars bring up the matter that simply University education does not suit everyone, nor can it serve all in the long term. We can then see from this opinion that a more varied education system is needed with training that fits to everyone’s needs, including academic and practical training.

Although we do have vocational training in the UK, it is still rather limited and has been cut since the recession. In the US, vocational training does not currently exist, but the Harvard scholars are suggesting the vocational approach which was adopted by Europe originally. If America is to expand vocational training, enabling many young people to get appropriate posts, it may be time for us in Europe to think about how we can improve and expand our vocational education system, so that more young people can get the skills necessary to start in employment.

It would offer many benefits, including a more fitting and practical education for many, where they can learn skills that can help them compete on the competitive job market. Although it would mean a decrease in University applicants, it would lower the number of young people in debt who simply cannot afford to pay their debt off. It would also open up different and more varied routes to jobs, proving perhaps an education that is more wholesome.

Providing a more varied education could help solve ‘skill gap’ issues, but nevertheless there is still the issue of rising unemployment, particularly between the ages of 16-25. It will not solve the problems of the recession, but it could help many young people gain employment as well as fill up that skills gap in the future.