When we look at the academic standing of a student, we must also observe the amount of family support that he or she experiences at home and how that results in an overall increase in his or her motivation to do well in school. Success is often dependent on the encouragement of others to achieve an individual’s full potential and keep pushing forward towards higher expectations of his or herself. Even though children despise the age-old family dinner question, “What did you learn at school today?” the fact that someone takes the time to wonder how a student’s education is progressing promotes further advancement than if a parent was to not ask at all. The simple question about a child’s involvement in school can go a long way.
As minority advancement in the education system continues to decline, we cannot help but wonder how much parents and other family members are at fault. Building a strong support system is imperative for students to maintain good grades, because although the main goal of getting an education is to better his or her future, it is an added incentive to know that his or her dedication has made a loved one proud. If parents took that extra step to ask their children about how their schoolwork is going and set aside time to help them understand the material, I wonder if the current standings of minority students in education would drastically improve. A prevention research group, who focused on family involvement in education, concluded, “In pursuit of this goal, one of the most powerful but also one of the most neglected supports for children’s learning and development is family involvement both in and out of school. As our review of the research will show, there are over 40 years of steadily accumulating evidence that family involvement is one of the strongest predictors of children’s school success, and that families play pivotal roles in their children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development from birth through adolescence.”
Personally, I will never forget the nights that my aunt helped me review my elementary school vocabulary to make sure I would ace every quiz and spell each word correctly. She even put forth an added effort of encouraging me to practice my penmanship on lined paper and she is the reason why my handwriting is as legible as it is today. Thanks Auntie Jean! An hour out of the day can make a complete difference because I still practice those same review skills that I know will help me academically. If every child had this influencing factor of a caring family member, comprehension of material and academic test scores would change in a positive direction.
I agree completely with everything you said in this blog. I strongly think that family plays the biggest role in my academic achievement. When they are behind me 100 percent, pushing me to succeed and do the best I can, I feel like I can accomplish anything. Their support is everything I need. When you feel like giving up on something, having your family pushing you to keep trying really gives you the drive and determination needed to not give up. My mom helped me on homework through 8th grade. It was like I had a personal tutor all the time. She would push me and challenge me to think about things in a way that I probably wouldn't have. She would sit there with me as I did my homework and wouldn't let me give up. I feel like she is the reason that I have the drive and determination to succeed that I have today. If people would just help their children by standing behind them and helping them with their schoolwork even for 30 minutes a day, I think more and more kids would have the drive to achieve more things. Everyone loves the feeling of seeing a loved one so happy after you have achieved something you didn't think possible. It is the best feeling.
ReplyDeleteI agree, feeling support from loved ones is one of the greatest achievements of all time. I also agree with the fact that support from family members greatly improves success in school. When I was in elementary school, I didn’t understand the importance of getting a 100 on my spelling test or getting an A+ on my cursive worksheet, but I understood that my parents would be very proud of that good grade and post it on the refrigerator for months. I would get the “special plate” at dinner if I received an outstanding grade, and the recognition for my hard work was so appreciated. At a young age, the motivation to learn for the sake of gaining knowledge is not yet concrete, so it’s crucial that parents push us to succeed, so that the character trait of perseverance is present throughout our entire lives. I understand the fact that if a family doesn’t stress the importance of excellence in school, a student may have misconstrued ideas of what’s acceptable in terms of school work. To help this problem, I think it would be awesome if the government set up “big buddy” systems in every school in the nation. High school and middle school kids could get paired with elementary school students and the older kids could talk with the younger ones about school work and encourage them to succeed in their homework. I know in my school, that system was in place, but the school didn’t really follow up with it. I think a greater stress should be placed on the importance of encouragement and minorities and students around the country would benefit from such a program.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well that having a family support is important to success. I personally didn’t have strong parental influence driving me, but the influence was there. My drive came from incentives to do well and a desire not to let down my parents. I knew what was expected of me and any less than what was expected would mean sure disappointment. I know disappointment is not bad, I know that my parents would still love me at the end of the day, but when your parents have placed so much praise and faith in you, hoping that you would be successful, it’s hard to not feel the pressure to make them proud. I’ve seen how people act when their parents don’t care about how they do academically. Some parents adopt an attitude that they’ll allow their children to make their own mistakes in school and this undoubtedly leads to a nonchalant approach to school. Many of my friends have this nonchalant attitude and I can’t help but feel that they don’t care because they were never shown to care. If I asked them if their parents would be mad when, not if, they bring home F’s they reply with a casual nah it’s cool.
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