Are You REALLY Homeschooling Your Child?

If you’re not helping during school closures, you’re destroying your child’s education.

Educators everywhere took immediate action once school closures were announced several weeks ago.

School leaders made sure that students and their families had immediate access to food. Community leaders joined school officials by organizing donation campaigns so that all students received devices to support on-line learning. School districts have worked to ensure that each student has access to the technology that they need. Once internet providers began offering free and low cost service to low-income and other qualifying families on a temporary basis, school personnel helped many parents connect with these companies. Schools developed resource packets for students so that their education was not interrupted. Teachers designed and have continued to provide students with quality on-line learning experiences to ensure the continuity of instructional services. Educators have maintained very open lines of communications with parents and family members about all aspects of the learning process. Parents have also received guidance and recommendations so that their children will remain engaged in their overall education at home.

In order students to participate in live virtual lessons provided by teachers so that they complete performance tasks and assessments independently, parents and other involved family members have needed to remain engaged.

For families, this simply means that you must:

• take the time to pay attention to any information that the school provides about your child’s education at home
• follow recommendation that teachers provide to make the at home learning experience meaningful
• realize that communications two-way and school staff will answer your questions
• create a learning space in the home free of distractions
• remind your child that education is considered highly important within your home
• develop a daily learning schedule to make sure that your child actively participates in their assigned educational activities
• supervise your child’s involvement to make sure they remain focused and interact with their teachers
• provide help when your child needs it
• reach out to your child’s teacher or principal for assistance when you need it
• reward your child for being a diligent learner at home
• maintain high academic expectations for your child and hold him or her accountable for completing their school related obligations everyday.

It’s Time to be Honest

My professional mission is to

Ignite Family Engagement in Education.

In doing so, I must speak my truth about issues that positively impact or hinder the level of family engagement in education as well as those that interfere with or contribute to the educational process.

My truth follows.

All parents and family members who assume a role supervising children within a home are extremely stressed, frightened, anxious, and busy at this during the very difficult time. All of us have been impacted by all of our current global conditions in one way or another. However, the education of your child continues to be very important.

It is your responsibility to actively participate in your child’s learning experience at home. It is also your responsibility to make sure that your child is an active participant in their learning at home.

If your child’s time is totally unstructured and it has been a free for all within your household where anything goes while social distancing at home,

you are wrong.

If you have been sitting by idly and self-absorbed in your life without holding your child accountable for their learning,

you are not being a good parent.

If you sincerely believe that the educational system needs to exclusively figure things out as it relates to school these days,

your opinion is very shameful.

If you ignore all of the communications from your child’s school and simply do not care about your child’s education,

you have been negatively impacting your child.

If you refuse to supervise your child’s learning

their school could potentially become classified an under performing school because your child will join other students who are far behind.

Parents who have allowed their child to have poor or absolutely no attendance while being educated at home are causing them to become very far behind academically. Children impacted by lazy, unconcerned, absent parents will not be ready for the instructional material that will be provided at their next grade level. These students will have gaps in their learning because they are missing the development of critical skills that are currently being taught. Ultimately, these students will perform below their grade level.

For the parents and family members who have not been homeschooling their children,

it’s time for you to get out of bed, turn off the devices, music, and television, stop posting on your social media outlets, and get off of your bottom. Help educate your child.

I invite you to join me by uniting together to create change in this area. Be sure to sign up to be on my email list at [email protected] to receive a periodic copy of my newsletter and specific information about advancing the

Ignite Family Engagement Movement.

Here’s my golden ticket that helps me accomplish my mission.

Dr. Deborah M. Vereen is a retired Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher, School Principal, Director of Pupil Personnel Services, Assistant to the Superintendent for Family and Community Engagement, and Professor of Multicultural education. Her website is www.Drdeborahmvereen.com and she is dedicating the rest of her life to serving as a Family Engagement Influencer.