The importance of parental involvement as an accelerating and motivating factor in their children’s education is a worldwide-accepted fact. This research project provides an in depth explanation along with specific reasons, the importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s education. It also discusses the parenting techniques, their types and their consequences if neglected. It also describes the ways to measure the outcome of the positive parental involvement. Furthermore, it mentions the teachers involvement and the difficulties faced by the teachers in getting parents involved in their children’s (this is further supported by the examples of two teachers who with their deliberate efforts won the parents over to devote their maximum attention towards their children), single-parent involvement, children’s own efforts to improve their academic levels and joint home-school based interventions. A detailed analysis of the different main ideas is given, based on the findings from other research surveys and projects.

INTRODUCTION:

Parental involvement can be seen to fall into three types: 1) Behavioral, 2) Intellectual and 3) Personal. The research explores the effect of multi-dimensional participation of parents and the resulting progress of children in their studies when different parental resources were dedicated to them. Actively participating parents help their children in their academic development by going to schools and participating in open houses. By keenly observing the behavior of their children they can rightly judge the kind of behavior or the allocation of resources required by their children. Such caring parents can also motivate teachers to become more attentive towards a particular student, thus maintaining the cycle of parent-teacher involvement. Encourage Building up cognitive and perception abilities in a child are a major concern in the upbringing of the child. The way the parents involve their children in cognitive learning is by exposing them to different cognitively stimulating activities and materials such as books, electronic media and current events at home. This helps the child to practice all sorts of language comprehending skills at the school. The results show a remarkably positive behavior at the school and with peers. Read the rest of this entry »

Aggression in young children is a common problem that is quite natural and normal, but most parents feel alone and embarrassed when dealing with it. There are lots of ideas and options for taking positive constructive action to improve the situation, but the results are not quickly obvious, since it involves young children who lack maturity and self-control skills.

WHAT TYPE OF PROBLEM IS IT?  Part of the problem belongs to the Child, because the child is angry, and part of the problem belongs to the Parent, because the child is expressing the anger aggressively, which is a safety issue. While the problem is mostly a Parent problem, the parent’s goal is for the child to eventually become mature enough to resolve similar emotions appropriately in the future.

WHY? Prior to the end of the transitional phase, around age four and five, children are still in the process learning to manage their bodily functions and impulses. Children who have high levels of testosterone (primarily but not exclusively boys and “tomboy” girls) often have difficulty managing their anger energy. Since they experience a strong chemical change when they are angry, they experience their anger not only as an emotion but as a source of energy they can’t bottle. The energy must come out somehow, so our job as parents is to help it come out in constructive ways, rather than destructive ways.

Ideally, we want children to learn how to manage their own anger and do so in a mature, responsible way. When children are young and inexperienced, it can be difficult to teach them how to manage their anger constructively. Read the rest of this entry »

Your Children Excel in Studies

September 18th, 2008 by admin

Children who do good in studies enjoy more advantages than others. Hence its very important to help your children maintain good academic record. Here are 10 ways to help your children excel in studies:

1. Give Them A Good Start

Young children are learning machines. They learn faster than adults. You can give your children, especially if they are below five years of age, a good start in education by using these simple techniques…

a) Read aloud stories from books. This helps to develop reading and imagination skill in children.

b) Talk a lot with your children. This helps to develop language skill.

c) Put on music for young children. Teach them to sing simple songs. Research is showing that music is not only good for overall health, but it is good for brainpower too! Read the rest of this entry »

The importance of parental involvement as an accelerating and motivating factor in their children’s education is a worldwide-accepted fact. This research project provides an in depth explanation along with specific reasons, the importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s education. It also discusses the parenting techniques, their types and their consequences if neglected. It also describes the ways to measure the outcome of the positive parental involvement. Furthermore, it mentions the teachers involvement and the difficulties faced by the teachers in getting parents involved in their children’s (this is further supported by the examples of two teachers who with their deliberate efforts won the parents over to devote their maximum attention towards their children), single-parent involvement, children’s own efforts to improve their academic levels and joint home-school based interventions. A detailed analysis of the different main ideas is given, based on the findings from other research surveys and projects. Read the rest of this entry »

A successful school attitude is built on confidence. Parents want to treat mistakes as opportunities to learn and encourage children to ask questions. Otherwise, children may lack confidence because they view asking questions or making mistakes as signs of weakness, rather than strengths that will help them learn more.

Some children feel insecure about trusting their own judgment and abilities because they depend too much on other people for direction and approval. Parents want to avoid only saying, “Good job.” Instead, describe what made it “good” and point out any effort or improvement the child showed. This helps children know what to do next time and not need constant approval from others.

Parents also should avoid paying children for good grades or giving stickers for success. They usually discourage children or they might work in the short run, but won’t teach self-motivation.

To succeed in school, children need two crucial skills: organizational skills to get their materials home and back to school and time management skills so they complete their work. Read the rest of this entry »

Children are innocent beings at the tender age. This means that they are still very young to comprehend the different aspects of life. It is therefore the task of parents to properly guide their children in their everyday life so that they can become better adults in the future. Everyone can tell you, health is really crucial. So, it is significant to teach your children how to live a healthy lifestyle right from the beginning.

Feeding children with solids from the start can be considered as a disadvantage. When children get used to eating solids, then you might notice processed meals and fast foods as well becoming part of their diets. This can seriously affect the health of children. Fast foods, in no means offer the right nutrients that children need. Even for adults, fast foods represent a disadvantage if consumed regularly. They contain too much fat and can eventually lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. So, teach your children to stay away from fast food as much as possible.

Moreover, cooking at home can really be a fine idea. Doing this will keep your children away from processed or easy food. When cooking at home, make it a fun exercise. Let your children help you in the process of cooking. For instance, if you prepare a homemade pizza let your children help you with the cooking procedures. Pizzas can be fun and healthy for children if cooked at home. The preparation time is not much, so children will not be bored while waiting for the food to cook. Read the rest of this entry »

Impacts of Television on Children

September 11th, 2008 by admin

Television has become a significant social phenomenon in Pakistan. There is no doubt that television has a great influence on children from a very early age itself and it will affect children’s cognitive and social development. The role that Television plays in socializing children is very great. Television can be educational and beneficial, but their negative aspect, such as the amount of aggressive and violent activity it displays daily, is causing grave concern to parents and educators around the world, especially in Pakistan. Whether and how we will manage to control the harmful effects of television and harness its potential for the good of children is a subject of ongoing debate.

Though not yet investigated empirically, TV viewing is, generally believed to generate social forces of undeniable influence in Pakistan. With more than 1.5 million sets in use and about seven hours of daily transmission, the number of viewers is now estimated to be over 12 million. These statistics may be modest by international standard but these are not insignificant in a country where’ the rate of literacy and per capita income are still very low.

Children do not generally become consistent viewers until they are about 3 years old. Even then they do not watch the set constantly because their span of attention is very short. Os they get easily distracted. Now-a-days the working parents are so busy; they don’t have enough time spend with their kids. Read the rest of this entry »

Child understand what’s on TV?

September 9th, 2008 by admin

Examining children’s comprehension of TV programs is no easy task, but here’s what the research that’s been done so far has revealed:

* When television content is not understandable to children, they pay less attention to it. Likewise, the proportion of time that children look directly at the television screen increases during the preschool years.
* Children as young as two years old were found to have established beliefs about specific brands that were promoted by television advertising and parental behavior.
* One-year-olds avoided an object after they watched an actress react negatively to it on video, suggesting that infants can apply emotional reactions seen on television to guide their own behavior.

Children and Music Education

September 9th, 2008 by admin

Do you KNOW why Music Education is important? Do you understand how it can put your child above the rest of the class?Well let me tell you the good news….Music lessons in childhood and particularly before the age of 7 can have a lasting effect on a child’s development.

Here are some facts and figures:

1. Students in high-quality school music programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the school or school district.

2. Students in top-quality music programs scored 22% better in English and 20% better in math than students in deficient music programs.

3. Students in top-quality instrumental programs scored 19% higher in English than students in schools without a music program. Read the rest of this entry »

Child abuse is a public health crisis in the United States. Its prevalence and annual incidence in the population have reached epidemic proportions. Child abuse is also a multifaceted phenomenon: By definition it encompasses physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional maltreatment, each of which has a somewhat different set of underlying causes. These diverse types of abuse are by no means mutually exclusive, nor are they found only in certain population groups. While one type of abuse may predominate in a given population group, incidents involving different types of abuse cut across all groups.

Child abuse hurts. The after effects, which are well documented, are devastating. Abused children suffer a wide range of emotional, developmental and physical problems, both acute and chronic. Some children die. These problems often precipitate such social ills as teenage runaways, adolescent prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse, academic failure and school truancy, and juvenile delinquency.

Child abuse is costly, both in terms of human suffering, and in terms of the financial costs that must be borne by society to remedy the social and psychological maladies emanating from child maltreatment. The case for working to prevent child abuse before it occurs is clear. Prevention spares the hurt and can save lives and money.

Child abuse and neglect is a complex phenomenon that encompasses such individual factors as a parent’s lack of understanding of child development, and environmental factors like poverty. To be successful, child abuse prevention efforts must ultimately take into account the various causes — both personal and societal — that play a role in the evolution of this problem.

A comprehensive approach to combatting the problem would entail a public awareness campaign that educates the community about the magnitude of the problem, explores healthy attitudes toward parenting, and delineates positive methods of parenting. Key preventive and intervention services would be instituted to ensure that all new parents get off to a good start; that all parents under stress have access to crisis and support services; that all victims can obtain the therapeutic assistance necessary to break the cycle of abuse; and that all children have the guidance and information they need to learn how to protect themselves from abuse. Read the rest of this entry »