Lacking education may be as deadly as being a current rather than former smoker
A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Denver, New York University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill estimates the number of deaths that can be linked to differences in education, and finds that variation in the risk of death across education levels has widened considerably. Read more about it here and here.
Your focus on your child's education directly results in longer life for your child.
Your focus on your child's education directly results in longer life for your child.
The Difference that Volunteering at School makes on your Child's Education
Dr. Joyce Epstein of John Hopkins University, a highly regarded educator, who has performed extensive work on the effect of parental involvement says, “The nation’s schools must improve education for all children, but schools cannot do this alone. More will be accomplished if schools, families, and communities work together to promote successful students.” This is especially important when kids mature into adolescence.
Dr. Epstein also list 6 steps for parental involvement
Simple reasons. Dr. Epstein’s work also showed the following
Dr. Epstein also list 6 steps for parental involvement
- PARENTING: Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. At the same time, assist schools in understanding families.
- COMMUNICATING: Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.
- VOLUNTEERING: Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs.
- LEARNING AT HOME: Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-linked activities and decisions.
- DECISION MAKING: Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.
- COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY: Coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community.
Simple reasons. Dr. Epstein’s work also showed the following
- Most students at all levels whether elementary, middle or high want their families to be more knowledgeable partners about schooling and more importantly are also willing to take active roles in assisting communications between home and school. (ref Epstein, 1995, Phi Delta Kappa, 76(9), p703)
- When parents come to school regularly, it reinforces the view in the child’s mind that school and home are connected and that school is an integral part of the whole family’s life. (ref. Steinberg L, Beyond the Classroom - Why school reform has failed and What parents need to do, 1997)
How does Volunteering Translate into Real Benefits for your Child's Education
Taking Dr. Epstein's work a little further, and adding data from other research, we find, when parents are involved in their children's school, the children:
a. Pass their classes.
b. Earn better grades and score higher on tests. (as much as 30% higher).
c. Attend school regularly.
Ever wondered how that scientific truth adds up, each year you volunteer. Say you are a non-volunteer parent, whose child learns 30% less than what the volunteer parent’s child learns. For those not mathematically inclined, this means your child learnt about a third less each year. Mathematically your child is at 70% of a volunteer parent’s child i.e. 100% minus 30%.
A little more math. Let us do some calculation to see the difference it makes over 5 years of not-volunteering. 70% is the same as 0.7 (70% is the same as 70 / 100) in one year. This becomes 0.7 * 0.7 = 0.49 over 2 years i.e. 49% learning compared to a volunteers parent's child. Over 5 years = 0.7*0.7*0.7*0.7*0.7 = 0.1681 or 16.8% learning compared to a volunteer parent's child.
So the volunteer parent’s child learns 100% and your child has now fallen back by 100-16.8 = 83.2% (if your child learns at 80% rate it is a fall back of 67% over 5 years and at 90% rate it is a fall back of 41%). Early and consistent involvement of parent is key to children's education.
Endsum: The more you volunteer, the more engaged you are with the child's teachers and the school and the higher the child’s grades go.
As a side topic, NYU researcher and study author Kate Schwartz found that community service makes students feel more connected to a cause bigger than themselves and to others. This also translated into an increase in GPA's. This was especially true in the transition from elementary school to middle school which is associated with a decline in student grades.
a. Pass their classes.
b. Earn better grades and score higher on tests. (as much as 30% higher).
c. Attend school regularly.
Ever wondered how that scientific truth adds up, each year you volunteer. Say you are a non-volunteer parent, whose child learns 30% less than what the volunteer parent’s child learns. For those not mathematically inclined, this means your child learnt about a third less each year. Mathematically your child is at 70% of a volunteer parent’s child i.e. 100% minus 30%.
A little more math. Let us do some calculation to see the difference it makes over 5 years of not-volunteering. 70% is the same as 0.7 (70% is the same as 70 / 100) in one year. This becomes 0.7 * 0.7 = 0.49 over 2 years i.e. 49% learning compared to a volunteers parent's child. Over 5 years = 0.7*0.7*0.7*0.7*0.7 = 0.1681 or 16.8% learning compared to a volunteer parent's child.
So the volunteer parent’s child learns 100% and your child has now fallen back by 100-16.8 = 83.2% (if your child learns at 80% rate it is a fall back of 67% over 5 years and at 90% rate it is a fall back of 41%). Early and consistent involvement of parent is key to children's education.
Endsum: The more you volunteer, the more engaged you are with the child's teachers and the school and the higher the child’s grades go.
As a side topic, NYU researcher and study author Kate Schwartz found that community service makes students feel more connected to a cause bigger than themselves and to others. This also translated into an increase in GPA's. This was especially true in the transition from elementary school to middle school which is associated with a decline in student grades.
