Just because your own school experience may not have been good does not mean that your child's can't be good. Don't avoid schools, classrooms or meeting your child's teacher because you did not graduate or because of language barriers. Teachers respect parents' sincere goal to see children achieve beyond what they have been able to do. So do children, who from an early age see their parents as advocates who set educational goals for them.
Parent involvement is linked to school readiness. Studies at the Harvard Family Research Project have demonstrated that kindergarten-age children whose parents read to them scored higher on general levels of reading knowledge and comprehension skills. Engage your children in conversation when shopping or making dinner, as this increases a child's vocabulary. Ask open-ended questions. Instead of "Did you learn something at school today?" ask "What did you learn today at school that you did not know before?"
Even if your work hours are long, go into the school near the beginning of the year to meet the teacher. Put a face to your name. Explain your home situation or work situation. If there is no place for your child to study at home, ask the teacher for ideas. If you work long hours, don't be afraid to ask if there are early study halls or after-school study groups that could surround your son or daughter with a safe study environment. Ask about early or late meeting times for parent-teacher conferences and commit to making the appointments.
Seeing that your child gets to school safely is the first step in being visible. Often schools are the safe haven in dangerous neighborhoods, so walking them to school or partnering with other parents to form a rotating parent chaperon schedule to get the children to school is a safety issue. Not everyone can volunteer in the school library or accompany the class on field trips. Perhaps you can provide cookies, help collect things for a recycling project or take a few hours on a free day to help paint the sets for the class skit. Showing up to see your child perform not just for sports events, but for the class projects or concerts directly relates to his academic success.
Even if you can't be there to monitor homework, try to establish a routine for completion of studies. Identify a study place in your home, even if it's sitting on a stool with the books on a box. If there is no place at home, then look for a safe place, such as a church group, a neighbor's kitchen table or after school study groups run by retired volunteers. When you arrive home or before bedtime, check your child's work and ask him to tell you about it. Even if he has reached Algebra II and you haven't a clue what the work entails, asking will demonstrate the value you place on education.
Children who see their parents trying learn to keep trying themselves. Not giving up on your kids can sometimes include being watchful for a child falling behind or dealing with an unidentified learning problem. Class sizes are growing but if you are looking at homework, you may see a problem before the teacher does. Don't be afraid to ask the instructor and the school for help discovering the source of a problem. Time goes by fast and just a few months of delay can put the student far behind. Always ask in writing so that there is a record of your request.