Success in Education
Now that we are officially parents of a preschooler, we are even more interested in what it takes for a child to have a successful educational experience. It's been a priority ever since we started talking about having kids, but now that we are there, it's even more important.
In this months Reader's Digest, there is an article on raising A+ students. According to the article, "Dozens of studies have shown that the most consistent indicators of student achievement -- more than income or social status -- are the home environment and parental involvement. "
This just reinforces to us the important role that we will play in our boys education. So how are we going to do it? Certainly things will adapt over the years, but here is how we have started...
1. When we moved to South Carolina, the most critical criteria in finding a house was school performance. I heavily researched each level of school. The most important factors to me were percentage of students going on to college, availability of honors or AP courses (or an IB program), SAT scores, strong extra-curricular activities, and foreign languages beyond Spanish and French. Based on these criteria, we determined what was to us the best high school in the area. We also had several elementary schools come highly recommended. Numerous people told us this one particular elementary school was "the one everyone is talking about". So we concentrated our home search in these areas, and found a house that will feed to our first choice in elementary, middle, and high schools. Perhaps we could have gotten a bigger house elsewhere. Or been closer to downtown. Or the mountains. But we put our boys education first.
2. Our expectation is that our boys will go to college immediately following high school. Even at this young age, we talk about "when they go to college". I remember growing up that it was always assumed that you went to college. (About 95% of my high school went immediately to college.) Just as you moved from elementary to junior high, and then from junior high to senior high, you also move from senior high to college.
3. We display our college diplomas prominently in our house. They are reminders to us of our accomplishments, and reminders to our boys of the importance of education.
4. We engage in a lot of educational play. Our playroom is decorated with the alphabet and numbers 1-10. Just like in a preschool classroom. Even when we are working with blocks, or playing with cars, we take the opportunity to practice counting. At bedtime, Michael always has me sing the ABC song, both verbally and using sign language. It reminds me of when I was a kid -- my parents used to have me practice my multiplication tables at bedtime!
5. We definitely pay a lot of attention to the media we expose our children to. VeggieTales are big, with their positive lessons. There are a couple regular movies that we allow. We do not let the boys sit around all day watching tv. And definitely no video games!
6. We plan to be involved at the schools. Participating in PTA. Volunteering. Going to teacher conferences. Supervising homework (but definitely not doing it for them!).
7. Of course our boys work will be their work! I remember when I was in junior high. We had a science fair. It was very obvious which students had help from their parents. My parents had me do my own work. I came up with the project, did it myself, and presented it myself. Even though I didn't get a high grade like the kids who had parental help, it was MY work. My lower grade was actually much more valuable than their higher grades. Frankly, if parents want to do science fair projects, they should go back to school themselves. Supervising is fine. Beyond that is cheating. Cheating is unacceptable.
I probably sound like quite a rigid parent at this point. But this is not a whole lot different than how my parents raised their three kids. We all did very well. We all have advanced degrees from major universities. We have all had very successful careers. We all stayed out of trouble.
Growing up, I remember report card time well. If I got a B, my father would always say, "Good. If you work a little harder, maybe you will get an A." It always drove me nuts. But you know what? Dad was communicating what he thought I was capable of accomplishing. And when I worked hard, he was right. That certainly beats being satisfied with goofing off and getting C's. If all you expect of your children are C's, you're going to raise C kids.
So what are your tips for raising A+ kids?
In this months Reader's Digest, there is an article on raising A+ students. According to the article, "Dozens of studies have shown that the most consistent indicators of student achievement -- more than income or social status -- are the home environment and parental involvement. "
This just reinforces to us the important role that we will play in our boys education. So how are we going to do it? Certainly things will adapt over the years, but here is how we have started...
1. When we moved to South Carolina, the most critical criteria in finding a house was school performance. I heavily researched each level of school. The most important factors to me were percentage of students going on to college, availability of honors or AP courses (or an IB program), SAT scores, strong extra-curricular activities, and foreign languages beyond Spanish and French. Based on these criteria, we determined what was to us the best high school in the area. We also had several elementary schools come highly recommended. Numerous people told us this one particular elementary school was "the one everyone is talking about". So we concentrated our home search in these areas, and found a house that will feed to our first choice in elementary, middle, and high schools. Perhaps we could have gotten a bigger house elsewhere. Or been closer to downtown. Or the mountains. But we put our boys education first.
2. Our expectation is that our boys will go to college immediately following high school. Even at this young age, we talk about "when they go to college". I remember growing up that it was always assumed that you went to college. (About 95% of my high school went immediately to college.) Just as you moved from elementary to junior high, and then from junior high to senior high, you also move from senior high to college.
3. We display our college diplomas prominently in our house. They are reminders to us of our accomplishments, and reminders to our boys of the importance of education.
4. We engage in a lot of educational play. Our playroom is decorated with the alphabet and numbers 1-10. Just like in a preschool classroom. Even when we are working with blocks, or playing with cars, we take the opportunity to practice counting. At bedtime, Michael always has me sing the ABC song, both verbally and using sign language. It reminds me of when I was a kid -- my parents used to have me practice my multiplication tables at bedtime!
5. We definitely pay a lot of attention to the media we expose our children to. VeggieTales are big, with their positive lessons. There are a couple regular movies that we allow. We do not let the boys sit around all day watching tv. And definitely no video games!
6. We plan to be involved at the schools. Participating in PTA. Volunteering. Going to teacher conferences. Supervising homework (but definitely not doing it for them!).
7. Of course our boys work will be their work! I remember when I was in junior high. We had a science fair. It was very obvious which students had help from their parents. My parents had me do my own work. I came up with the project, did it myself, and presented it myself. Even though I didn't get a high grade like the kids who had parental help, it was MY work. My lower grade was actually much more valuable than their higher grades. Frankly, if parents want to do science fair projects, they should go back to school themselves. Supervising is fine. Beyond that is cheating. Cheating is unacceptable.
I probably sound like quite a rigid parent at this point. But this is not a whole lot different than how my parents raised their three kids. We all did very well. We all have advanced degrees from major universities. We have all had very successful careers. We all stayed out of trouble.
Growing up, I remember report card time well. If I got a B, my father would always say, "Good. If you work a little harder, maybe you will get an A." It always drove me nuts. But you know what? Dad was communicating what he thought I was capable of accomplishing. And when I worked hard, he was right. That certainly beats being satisfied with goofing off and getting C's. If all you expect of your children are C's, you're going to raise C kids.
So what are your tips for raising A+ kids?
posted by Susan | 9:44 AM
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