Education must begin at home

Editorial by Wilmington Star-News, August 24, 2015.

Good morning, parents of school-age children. If all went as planned, your children are back in school and your family is on its way to what we hope will be a great school year. The area’s public schools are back in session and most private and church-sponsored schools are starting this week if they haven’t already.

We can’t think of any more important duty to our future than the work of great teachers and proactive parents. And make no mistake, it takes both. Despite the constant drumbeat of criticism, students with parents seriously involved in their education very likely will do well.

We suspect one of the biggest problems for our schools is that too many parents – sometimes for legitimate reasons – are not involved enough. Schools are not meant to be education factories where we insert children into kindergarten and then wait for an educated teenager to emerge.

Education is a long process and requires a tremendous amount of work and commitment from parents as well as teachers.

That’s not to say there are not bad schools and bad teachers. And they should not be given a free pass.

We think, however, that when students are not performing at their best, it’s a failure of the wider education system, not just the school. And by the wider education system we mean schools, parents and the larger community.

What if we were to take the schools and teachers we have and instead of focusing only on what’s wrong with them, we focus also on what parents need to be doing at home, not only to have their children prepared to learn each day, but also to supplement the classroom?

What if there were lesson plans not only for the classroom, but also for home? And we don’t mean just traditional homework. We mean a more structured period at home each day with very specific expectations of both students and parents. Part of that time could include reviewing that day’s classroom work, along with extra challenge work and ongoing projects. Sort of a mini home school.

Schools should give parents specific instructions on what they can be doing at home. Encourage parents to, if at all possible, set up an area for school work. At school, libraries, after-school programs and colleges, students have designated work areas. Setting up a mini-classroom space at home helps students, especially younger ones, know that when they are in that space it’s time to go into school mode.

Creating a dedicated learning space, no matter how small, is an outward sign to children and adults alike that the family takes education very seriously. It might be obvious to some parents already, but we bet there are plenty who need tips and encouragement.

Of course, we know there are homes where that will be difficult, if not practically impossible. Ironically, those are the children that need the home support the most. That’s where we need churches, community groups and other organizations to step in with after-school programs. Not basketball and games, but intensive study and tutoring time.

While this type of intense home involvement will, for a variety of reasons, not happen for some students, we feel like the expectations at least must be explicitly made, and parents should be asked to sign a covenant agreeing to do their part in their child’s education.

If the parent or guardian is not able to make the commitment – and there are some who can’t or won’t --- then perhaps a school social worker or another resource person can ensure there is someone that will. It could be a family member, a mentor in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, or a tutor at an afterschool program. There must be a responsible and proactive adult involved in their education.

Lofty ideas like these require money, and that is why it is so critical that the General Assembly maintain adequate funding and investment in our schools, and not put them on a bare-bones budget.

These are big expectations for families as school starts, but we truly feel that our schools and our students will not meet their fullest potential until the at-home piece of their education is fulfilled.

We challenge every parent, grandparent, church member, rec-league coach, civic group – the list goes on – to make the non-classroom piece of the education puzzle a top priority.

Without that support in place, we will fail our children.

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