Parental Involvement on Academic Performance of Pupils

Introduction

The participation of any parent in the child’s learning and education has turned out to be a key determinant in influencing the progress and intellectual development of the child. Some parents put little or no effort in understanding the importance of daily monitoring of this critical aspect of growth in a child. Proper communication between the teaching staff and the parent plays a vital role in informing and enlightening the parents on the progress of their children. Increased parent involvement also ensures improved behavior, increased motivation and positive attitude from the pupils which are essential factors that better the learning process. The following paper analyzes the type of communication that is most effective, whether it makes a difference in parental belief about play as well as what kinds of play are most effective and easily explained.

Most effective type of communication

Effective communication between the teaching staff and the parents ensure that the progress of the children is well monitored and any arising issues are addressed at an early stage before they become a problem in the future. Communication also enables the teaching staff to share the day to day activities to help the parents to understand the different learning concepts that can be applied at school and at home to foster better learning. A good example is the play-based learning.

Get Help With Your Essay

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
Find out more about our Essay Writing Service

Communication between teaching staff and parents can be categorized into two; one-way communication and two-way communication. One-way communication involves the sending of the message to a receiver with no expected feedback which provides the advantage of being quick, cheap and straightforward. However, it offers no opportunity for clarification or to correct any inaccuracies which may result in frustrations on the side of the receiver. This communication is mostly associated with the downward channel mode of communication and authoritarian leadership. Examples include school newsletters, videos, and podcast from the teachers. Two-way communication offers the receiver an opportunity to ask questions and to provide feedback. This mode of communication is time-consuming and offers a chance to explain complex messages to the receiver.

Two-way communication offers the parents and teachers an opportunity to dialogue together and is mostly inform of phone calls and teacher-parent conferences. This mode of communication is the most effective for a teacher-parent communication and would significantly make a difference in sharing of best educational concepts including the play-to learn-method. Two-way communication would be the most effective due to the following reasons. It offers the parents an opportunity to ask more questions in relation to a given kind of play which would enable them to implement it under different settings at home. There is an opportunity for the parents to provide feedback to the teacher on the outcome of any given play which would provide them with a chance to make the necessary adjustments or change the play if need be (Neese, 2017).

Additionally, this method would offer the teaching staff an opportunity to build a good relationship with the parents as they engage each other with the attempt to find the best educational tools for the children. Moreover, this method would increase the parents’ participation in the educational process of their children which would boost their children’s confidence as they engage in different plays both at home and at school, in turn, approving their academic performance as well as behaviors. The good behavior would be as a result of the continued praise the children receive both at home and school resulting from the continued participation in play by both their teachers and parents.

Play-based learning

Children can be educated better and learn more through engaging in play, which enables them to discover, explore, take risks, solve problems, negotiate and create meaning hence developing the foundations of social skills, literacy, and numeracy. Through play to learn educational concept, educators can introduce new concepts and reinforce them by engaging the children in a way that interests them. The concept exploits the child’s natural sense of discovery through exploration of the world around them. The educator has to know each child’s field of interest and embed the elements of learning as well as teaching within the play experiences that the child is naturally drawn or interested in to ensure the best outcome (Kanal, 2018).

In this regards, it is crucial for educators to deliberately and carefully plan play-based experiences that help children learn different educational concepts in a way that is enjoyable as well as meaningful to the child. Sharing these concepts with the parents on a daily routine would help the parents better understand and identify progress in this educational process. There are different kinds of play that are most effective and easy to explain to both the parents and children.

Kinds of play that are most effective and easily explained

Various kinds of play provide a unique learning opportunity for the child depending on their interest as well as their age. The following plays are most effective and easy to explain: unoccupied play, dramatic or fantasy play, physical play, competitive play, symbolic play, and constructive play. Unoccupied play involves the child watching the surrounding happenings, and they may be engaged in random movement with no particular objective. This specific play offer the child an opportunity to develop self-confidence and is effective in ensuring they learn about their surrounding environment. This play also enables the child to develop early social skills which are essential for future learning and development (Gudritz, 2016).

Dramatic or fantasy play offer the children a chance to dress up in different occupations like doctors or nurses. This is dramatic and allows educators to educate children on different social skills like cooperating, sharing and language development. It is easy to explain to the parents and children and offers them an opportunity to practice it at home (Dwyer, 2017).  Physical play is another essential and effective way of learning. The educator engages the children to be physically active which is critical in the physical and mental development of a child. Physical play would include activities like bike riding which parent can participate alongside their children. Such play is easy for the parents to participate as it involves activities they already know and can teach their children.

Competitive play involves children participation in a game that has set rules. The game aims at attaining a particular objective. A good example includes soccer whereby the participants have to learn the rules and participate as a team with the guidance of the educator or the parents.  Such engagement provides the parents and educators with a chance to educate them on ways of dealing with losing and winning. The ease of participation also enables the community to participate by setting local teams for the children which are essential for their physical exercise and general learning.

Symbolic play is a type of play that involves graphic arts, counting, vocal participation or even music making. The educator involves the children by way of singing, jokes, coloring, and drawing which enable the children to learn by developing skills to express themselves and explore their ideas experiences and emotions. Symbolic play is essential to the children as they develop critical interactive skills which facilitate their learning. Additionally, this form of play is easy for them to participate given that most of the activities are of great interest to them and can be practiced at home under limited space. Moreover, this form of play can be incorporated with the constructive play which involves building with blocks, making different structures with toys. Constructive play is essential to a child as it educates them how to fit things together, manipulation and building. Such skills enable a child to figure out how to make things work out better. Such play is easy to explain and for the parents to participate. A good example is building of sand castles which most of the children of love at their early age (Ryan, 2018).

Teacher-parent cooperation and coordination are essential in determining the development of a child. Such collaboration can be affected by two-way communication between the teaching staff and the parents. An excellent teacher-parent relationship is also essential in determining the best form of play-based learning, for a child to adapt depending on their age and specific interest. In this regards, it is necessary for the teaching staff and the parent to continuously evaluate this form of educational techniques and improve on them to facilitate physical and mental development.

References

• Dwyer, L. (2017). 10 Types of Play and How They Help Kids Learn.
• https://www.thebump.com/a/types-of-play
• Gudritz, L. (2016). 6 Types of Play Important to Your Child’s Development. https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/types-of-play#12
• Kanal, N. (2018). What is Play-Way Method of Learning? http://edtechreview.in/dictionary/3304-what-is-play-way-method-of-learning
• Krasnoperova, E. (2016). 5 Benefits of Regular Communication with Parents. https://simplycircle.com/benefits-regular-communication/
• Ryan, M. (2018). Parents Can Encourage Constructive Play to Build Skills in Their Kids. https://www.verywellfamily.com/constructive-play-290173
• Neese, B. (2017). Educators’ Guide to Parent Teacher Communication | SEU. https://online.seu.edu/parent-teacher-communication/