Parents, Prepare To Get Involved

By Common Sense MIKE & GENIE RYAN For the Journal

August used to be prime time for vacations. Now it seems to be prime time for going back to school. It’s hard to believe.

But regardless of whether they like it, parents will still spend this weekend preparing their kids to hit the books. School begins this week, and there will not be any August vacations here.

We can debate the wisdom of starting school this early forever, and we can all debate whether schools today are doing a good job, but there is no debate about the importance of schools and education in our children’s future.

So, even if it seems like the middle of summer, it’s back to school for our kids.

For our children, we wish them a successful school year. Although school should be fun (to an extent), we hope the kids are continually being told that it’s serious business. Even our very youngest should know that the teacher is the “boss” and that school work is a requirement, not an option.

Once those requirements are completed, they can play, relax and participate in extracurricular activities. Play, relaxation and outside activities should also be requirements, but that’s easier because they are obviously more popular than school work.

Rio Rancho finally has decent facilities — and even some great facilities. We have teachers who care, and our children have the opportunity to receive a great education. We hope teachers not only give our children the chance to learn all they need but also push them to achieve and to be the best.

It’s not easy for teachers, but we would rather hear about them being too tough or giving too much homework than we would about how nice they are.

Parents, when it comes down to it, your children’s success in school is all about you.

Your children need to know you’re involved with every step of their education, and you need to be on top of what they’re doing. What are they doing in their classes? What homework is due in the short term and the long term? What did they have for lunch? Who are their friends?

Talk, talk, talk. It’s amazing how often our son told us what was going on just because there were no distractions. At the dinner table or in the car, sometimes there wasn’t much else to do but visit. Worked for us.

There’s a lot of good stuff going on in today’s schools. Many teachers do a fantastic job of having interesting classes and imparting an amazing amount of knowledge. It won’t do your child any good, however, unless you support the teachers and expect your child to do the same.

Parents also aren’t in this to win popularity contests.

Children’s complaints are not to be taken too seriously. “Too much homework” — No such thing. “I won’t ever need to know this” — Oh, well. “Why do I have to go to school?” — Because I said so. And so forth.

Private schools and homeschooling are increasingly more popular, with some good reasons. Too few students are graduating. Too many students opt for sandbox classes, rather than the ones that will truly prepare them for their futures. Some kids fly under the radar, and parents and schools don’t even realize they are not learning until it’s too late.

Public schools offer a great education, but not every student receives that education. Don’t let your child fly under the radar. Make sure they get a great education. Stay on top of what they’re doing, and don’t be afraid to say no.

Common Sense appears each week in the Sunday Rio Rancho Journal. Contact the authors, Mike and Genie Ryan by e-mail at ryan@abqjournal.com.

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.