I don't know how the "Social and Emotional" is to take place. The teacher's and parent's organized time takes place between about 7:30 am to about 5:00 pm for a great majority. Then there are the parents that go to work nights or swing shifts. So how are the teachers and parents going together. If its an organized activity then the students spend less time in school,school is dismissed for the meetings to take place. The loss of school time for the student may result in lower scores on school's "academic year progress" which in turn may result is both teachers and administrators being replaced by the state.

The parents must realize that the school offers their children an opportunity to live a better life (make more money) and be able to appreciate the fine arts.

Maybe it would help if the school did a survey of students who did well in school and their income vs their parents income. If the survey shows the students income is higher than parent incomes the attitude of the students maybe affected.

The main goal of Calvary Christian Academy is to create a more fuller partnership with parents and teachers by restructuring the school week to give parents a more prominent role in education their children. On Mon, Wed, and Fri trained/professional teachers will provide quality instruction of course objectives. On Tues & Thurs students will work at home with their parents receiving differentiated, one-to-one instruction of teacher directed activities. (www.calvarychristiancary.org)

In this way, our school endeavors to leverage the best of 2 methods of schooling--homeschooling and traditional schooling--to create a learning environment that is nurturing and challenging, and that enables the child to develop mentally, emotionally, and spiritually at their own pace.

To ensure the child's successful accomplishment of course objectives, both teachers and parents will receive training that will enable them to interact with students in the most effective ways.

This August, we will open to students in K-5th grade; and while we are receiving a great deal of interest in our unique educational program, we are having a difficult time meeting our enrollment figures. The two main barriers we face: many families with a stay-at-home parent struggle to meet our tuition requirements, and families who can afford the tuition have both parents working full time.

In general, we've received a great deal of encouragement from parents and educators because both believe parents need a greater role in a child's education.

T. Berry Brazelton has been an icon for me for as long as I can remember. While raising my babies 30 years ago, I turned to his book regularly. Listening to him now, while I work as a kindergarten teacher, reminds me of why I liked him so much. He is down to earth, connected with the needs of the child, and listening to what parents and teachers say - or try to say. Often I feel pressed by the academics, administration, and parents alike. If you send your child to school already reading and writing, you want the instruction to continue. If you send your child without the knowledge of letters, sounds, counting, experience with books, how to sit and listen for a few minutes - you are looking for the kindergarten you and your parents had. Having parents as partners as he describes means lots of allies working together for the benefit of all. I like the sound of that. Unfortunately, parent involvement in the classroom experience is dying off. Where I used to have 5 helpers a week with a waiting list, I now had 1 helper for an hour and a half on Friday mornings and even she left work for that time to help out..

I worked with T. Berry Brazelton many years back organizing Parent Action in Arizona. It was supposed give parents a voice in Washington. It was a wonderful concept and meeting with Dr. Brazelton was a highlight for me. I have always remembered his warmth towards everyone he spoke to and his genuine interest in their well being. I am happy to see he still has his sincere concern for children and their parents. I agree that we need to share the joys and successes of our students with their parents, but it seems too often that parents have little time to share with teachers. I do believe that the greatest gift we could give our children is to slow down and take the time to listen and share.

I too believe the greatest gift we can give our kids is to slow down, take time and be present to them, to be mindful of every precious moments with them, listen to them without giving them lecture but with sincere interest. Every parent I have ever asked "what do you really want most for your child?" has always included the word happy or happiness somewhere in their answer. When I ask "are you truly happy and satisfied with your life?" many times the answer is 'NO." My question then is how do you expect your children to be happy when you, their model, is not? I think parents need to really understand that we are the "engineers" of our kids emotional wellbeing and we need to model the traits we wish to see in our kids. We need to be involved with their teachers and do all we can to let our kids know we are here for them in these rapidly changing and challenging times. If our children's happiness takes priority, we need to make it our priority to model it for them. I heard a wonderful quote I want to share, but I can't recall the author - "As parents, rather that prioritize our schedules we must learn to schedule our priorities" which I took as make the time to just BE with your kids. They are worth every moment!
My kids are in public school (a 4th grader and a 7th grader) and I was shocked to hear and see how few parents are willing to take the time to volunteer in their kids classroom. I am a single dad, but I take the time because my kids are worth the tiny effort it takes to show them I care, and I care about all of their classmates too, and their teachers, that's why I am there.

I encourage all parents to take a more active role in their kids education, both academically and in character building and not leave it solely up to the school, or chance. Moms and dads are bar none the biggest factors in their kids future, and though kids make up only a percentage of our population, the represent 100% of our collective future so we need to do all we can to ensure they are given the tools to navigate through some of the most difficult times in history and more importantly, be by their side.

Patrick
www.KidsCanDoAnything.com