Parents_as_Their_Child's_First_Teacher

Parents as Their Child’s First Teacher Kevin E. Miller Jr. Axia College of University of Phoenix Child development scholars are vigorous that good parenting is imperative. From the earliest preschool years, the way parents instill and educate their children is critical to their children’s development throughout life. A child’s education does not start when they enter Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten, it begins at home with you being the teacher. What children learn during the first few years can shape their social, emotional, moral, and intellectual development throughout their life. Informing teaching at home has a crucial impact on a child’s development. Parents are their children’s first teachers as children see and learn what their parents teach them. Since learning starts at home, parents must give their children the necessary basics before the children enter school if the children are to succeed. Children are learning important lessons in their homes well before they enter school from their parents. They’re learning literacy skills, social skills, emotional skills, and moral values and attitudes. There are concerns that not enough parents realize how important they are as their children’s first teachers. Although parents do not need to think of themselves as professional educators, they should realize how influential they are as their child’s first teacher. Schools cannot compare to the formative influence of the home. The early years can be an excellent time for children to learn and for mothers and fathers to establish healthy parenting habits. As children get older do not despair. The preschool years are not your only chance. Rather than focusing on a timeline, focus on creating the best learning environment for your child at every age. Tailor experiences and your parenting style to the child’s individual personality and maturity level so that he or she can get the most out of every stage of childhood. Parents do not need to be expert educators to help their children learn. Parents can do many simple things every day to create learning experiences. Often naturally occurring events can become valuable teaching tools. Plus parents can create many other learning activities with awareness and effort. Children learn the most from everyday events such as playing, eating, getting dressed, and helping around the house. A parent’s job is not to be an instructor but to provide love and support as children go about their everyday activities. One way parents can promote natural learning is to provide a stimulating home environment. When children have many things to do, see, touch, taste, and play with, they have more opportunities for varied learning experiences. Literacy develops through naturally occurring events in the home. By age three or four, most children can understand and use the language spoken around them. The prime time for acquiring language is from about six months to thirty-six months. During this time, the brain is extremely active and able to pick up language skills quickly. One of the best ways parents can encourage language development is to read aloud to their children. A child’s language skill is directly related to the amount of time parents spent with the child reading picture books. [pic] Read as long as the child’s attention lasts, this very important to your child’s literary development. This activity lets the child know that words are made up of sounds; that conversation is made up of words. In fact, reading aloud to children is the single most important activity for teaching language skills and for ensuring that children will become good readers. Simply talking to children is another good way to help them learn and develop literacy. When a parent is actually talking their child during infancy is a good indicator of later language competency. Speech that a child hears from a television or from a nearby conversation is no substitute for parents talking to their child face to face. Many simple everyday occurrences are extremely important to your child’s development. Never underestimate the value of even 15 minutes of quality time spent with your child. Take the time to plan out a schedule or timeline to spend quality time with your child to teach them the basic needs they need to develop before entering school. 8am-9am: Breakfast 9am-9:30am: Talk, play and read to your child 10am-4pm: whatever needs to be done at home and outside of home 5pm: Dinner and family time 8pm: Bath time 9pm: Bed time (read a bedtime story to your child; specifically their favorite book) Some parents believe their child learns social skills from peers and that they contribute little more than genes toward personality and behavior. In actuality, parenting plays a vital role in a child’s social adjustment outside the home. To help children learn social skills, best parenting is needed, not just okay parenting. An important part of your best parenting is to adjust your parenting style to best meet each child’s needs. Carefully observe each of your child’s individual personality, strengths, and weaknesses. When a parent knows their child intimately, they can provide the level of behavior control, discipline style, and degree of freedom that works best for that child, all while showing love and support. Children also learn to understand and express emotions from their parents. As infants, children turn to their parents for emotional support when they feel pained or distressed. After the infant stage, children begin to notice hoe their parents handle their own emotions. Parents become emotional role models, teaching children about emotions by example. Children learn from their parents, for example, how to react to different events, when certain emotions are appropriate, what to call their emotions, and how to respond to the emotions of others. Preschool children need parental support to learn healthy emotional regulation. Parents should openly discuss emotions to raise children to be aware and understand others’ emotions. Once the child enters school this does not mean stop teaching while they are at home. Stay involved in your child’s education once they enter school. Ask how their day at school went and listen. Learn how to communicate with your child or children and actually listen when they have something to say. By asking what happen at school, you are imparting the message that school is important and that their studies is something they should take seriously. Help your child with their homework and turn it into a bonding activity. By doing this activity it can become something your child even looks forward to. Participate in school activities. Be a part of PTA, attend an in-class presentation or awards ceremony. These are such things which are important for them at their age. Be firm about rules regarding school. When you say that the rule is no TV while they are doing their homework, do not break your own rule by watching television yourself. Set the time of when they are supposed to do their homework and study and always be there while they are getting ready for school. This will allow you to be more involved with your children’s education. The early years of a child’s life are extremely important. Therefore, parents jobs of preparing their children for school starts the day they are born. There are many simple things parents can do to help ensure their children enter school with basic skills necessary to begin learning including teaching them how to hold a pencil, identify shapes and colors, and interact with teachers. I challenge parents to get involved with their children to prepare them for a lifetime of learning, by considering these everyday activities: Read to your child, household activities, neighborhood walks, grocery shopping, and car activities. These simple activities will have profound impact on your child’s development and help prepare them to succeed in school. Remember, what you do during the early years to support your children’s mental and physical growth will have a lasting impact on their lives. References Cordry, S., & Wilson, J. (2004). Increasing parental involvement with their children’s education. Education, 125(1) 56-62. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from EBSCOhost database. Grande, M., & Downing, J.A. (2004). Increasing parent participation and knowledge. Intervention in School & Clinic, 40(2) 120-126. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from EBSCOhost database. Han, S., & Begawan, B.S. (2007). Learning starts from home, place of first learning. The Brunei Times. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http:www.bt.com Hogan Smith, K. (2004). Raising Motivated Kids. Library Journal, 129(11) 90-92. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from EBSCOhost database.