Parental Involvement Secret: Why trying to teach your child is the wrong thing to do.

Your involvement in your child’s education has been shown to lead to, among other things, greater success for your child, better grades, higher test scores, and fewer instances of violent behaviour. All good stuff right?

But many parents believe that being involved in their child’s education means that they need to teach their child. For instance, I have worked with parents who have told me how they spend hours every night teaching their children how to do math problems, or how to spell correctly.

Well, I don’t mean to shock you, but teaching your child may be counterproductive. As a teacher I worked closely with children and their parents and I found that when parents were trying to teach their children two things happened.

First, children often become confused about how to do their work.

I remember one boy who said that he could do long multiplication because he had been taught how to do it by his father, however, when he came to do it in school and found that the teacher used a different method he became so confused that he gave up trying. It took a long time to sort out what the problem was and even longer to help him understand why he was confused.

Secondly, by thinking that the only way to get involved in your child’s education is by teaching him or her you are missing the many other learning opportunities that only you can provide.

You have a very special role to play in helping your child learn and when you spend your time and effort teaching your child you may be ignoring all the other, more important ways, you can become involved in your child’s education. Your child may be missing out.

I am all for you getting involved with your child’s learning. And I know that you are trying to do the best for your child when you try to teach them. But I also know, from hard experience, that if you ignore the other important ways you can be involved in your child’s education you may not be helping your child become the successful learner you want him to be.

In working with parents like you I have found that, by following a few simple guidelines, parents can help children learn in ways that are less time consuming, easier and much, much, more effective.

By taking just a few moments and considering the kind of learning opportunities you, and you alone, can offer your child your involvement in your child’s education will become much more effective and your child will succeed!

Check out my free report for more information on mistakes that I see parents making.