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Resources | Parental
Involvement | Links
Tackling Tests
Although educators give them and students take them, parents,
too, have a role in helping their children succeed in the
testing age. 
Resources
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documents and brochures listed below are portable document
files (pdfs) and can be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Discipline for Children and Teens
Raising a Successful Reader
Mathematics and Science Success
Parent Power
Community Education Fliers
Testing
Miscellaneous
Parental Involvement
When parents and families get personally involved in education,
their children do better in school and grow up to be more
successful in life.
Sounds like common sense, doesn't it?
Yet parental involvement is one of the most overlooked aspects
of American education today. The fact is, many parents don't
realize how important it is to get involved in their children's
learning. As one dad said when he began to read to his daughter
every day and discovered that it improved her learning, "I
never realized how much it would mean to her to hear me read."
Other parents would like to be involved, but have trouble
finding the time.
All parents and family members should try to find the time
and make the effort because research shows that when families
get involved, their children:
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Get better grades and test scores.
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Graduate from high school at higher rates.
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Are more likely to go on to higher education.
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Are better behaved and have more positive attitudes.
Family involvement is also one of the best investments
a family can make. Students who graduate from high school
earn, on average, $200,000 more in their lifetimes than students
who drop out. College graduates make almost $1 million more!
Most important of all, ALL parents and families can
enjoy these benefits. It doesn't matter how much money you
have. It doesn't matter how much formal education you've had
yourself or how well you did in school. And family involvement
works for children at all grade levels.
What is "family involvement in education"?
It's a lot of different types of activities. Some parents
and families may have the time to get involved in many ways.
Others may only have the time for one or two activities. But
whatever your level of involvement, remember: If you get
involved and stay involved, you can make a world of difference.
Family involvement in education can mean:
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Reading a bedtime story to your preschool child.
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Checking homework every night.
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Getting involved in PTA.
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Discussing your children's progress with teachers.
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Voting in school board elections.
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Helping your school to set challenging academic standards.
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Limiting TV viewing to no more than two hours on school
nights.
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Getting personally involved in governing your school.
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Becoming an advocate for better education in your
community and state.
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Insisting on high standards of behavior for children.
Or, family involvement can be as simple as asking your children,
"How was school today?" But ask every day. That will send
your children the clear message that their schoolwork is
important to you and you expect them to learn.
Many children and parents are yearning for this kind of
togetherness these days. Among students aged 10 to 13, for
example, 72 percent say they would like to talk to their parents
about their homework. Forty percent of parents across the
country believe they are not devoting enough time to their
children's education. And teachers say that increasing parental
involvement in education should be the number one priority
for public education in the next few years.
(Adapted from "Get Involved! How Parents and Families
Can Help Their Children Do Better in School," a brochure
published by the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning.
You can obtain a copy of the brochure by contacting the partnership
at 600 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202-8173.
Or request a copy by email
from Missouri NEA.)
Links for Parents
Great sites for parents,
just a click away on the Internet, or download
Recommended Web Sites for Parents (pdf) in a flier format.
.
ABCTeach Network
This is a site for kids, parents, student teachers and teachers.
It offers more than 5,000 free printable pages. Visitors
to this Web site can click on the following areas: basics,
research/reports, teaching extras, portfolios, shape books,
abc forums, theme units, reading comprehension, fun activities,
babysitting/daycare and flashcards.
Child Safety on the
Information Highway
Information for parents on appropriate use of the Internet
from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Includes guidelines for parents and "Rules for Online Safety"
for students.
Colleges
and Scholarships
An online directory of college and university admissions
office email addresses and telephone numbers, college scholarship
and financial aid office email addresses, and links to the
home pages and online applications of more than a thousand
colleges and universities. Also contains a page of links
to the very best college and university admissions, college
scholarship, and financial aid pages on the web.
CollegeXpress.com
Search for colleges, scholarships, government loans
and private loans. Find out what you are eligible for by
searching the extensive database of over 320,000 scholarships.
Making a plan for college is made easier by logging into
this Web site.
Family Education Network
A for-profit membership organization that offers parents
and children an array of features organized by topic and
grade level.
Family Involvement
for Learning
Learn about the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning,
its publications and activities.
FunBrain
This site gives parents a chance to participate in their
child's education and includes "Parent Quizzes"
and "Parent/Kid Challenges." Students can take
quizzes on this site and then receive responses from their
teachers.
Home2School
Lets parents know what is expected of their child. It has
tutorials for parents who aren't familiar with the skills
and allows parents to check off skills they feel their child
has mastered.
Internet Public Library
This site includes a reference center (style and writing
guides, genealogy, encyclopedias) and KidSpace, the user
can go to a page that has a "Science Fair Project Resource
Guide." The site also allows the user to ask a reference
question.
LibrarySpot
This site includes libraries (libraries online, film libraries,
government libraries, medical libraries, public libraries),
a reference desk (acronyms, almanacs, associations, encyclopedias,
grammar/style, quotations) and a reading room (books, headlines,
journals, newspapers, magazines).
MegaSkills®
Home-School Institute
MegaSkills are the super-basics—the attitudes, behaviors
and habits that we need to be able to learn to succeed in
school and on the job. MegaSkills are drawn from school
report cards and job evaluations. In addition to providing
information specifically for parents and the community,
this site has many links to other parent advocacy groups.
MU
Outreach and Extension Office
This article entitled "Experts say talk with children about
tragedy, aftermath" gives advice to parents when talking
to their kids about tragedy.
National Parent Information Network
This network provides information and communications capabilities
to parents and those who work with them. Includes resources
for parents and resources for those who work with parents.
NEA Parents Page
The NEA provides a page for parents to get information on
everything from discipline tips to grant applications.
North
Central Regional Education Laboratory
Fifty Ways Parents Can Help Schools offers suggestions
on everything from how to assist in the classroom to how
to serve on a decision-making committee at your child's
school.
Parent Link
Offers several articles and discussion about helping your
kids cope with terrorism.
Parents
for Public Schools
Parents for Public Schools is a national organization of
community-based chapters working to strengthen public schools
through broad-based enrollment. Invigorated by a diverse
membership, their proactive involvement helps public schools
attract all families in a community by making sure all schools
effectively serve all children. The "resources"
button at this site leads to topics including advocacy,
business/community partners, civic engagement, educational
programs and models, professional development, and educators'
organizations.
PTA
National PTA Leader's Guide to Parent and Family Involvement
explains how to get more involved at your child's school.
PTACentral
This resource provides information and insight on an array
of issues facing today’s schools from school fundraising
to regional Parent Teacher Association contacts to classroom
initiatives.
Publications for Parents
Access a variety of publications for parents available from
the U.S. Department of Education, including Helping Your
Child series of brochures, ERIC parent brochures, Summer
Home Learning Recipes and Preparing Your Child for College.
Safe Surf
Provides lists for parents and teachers of safe sites to
take children online. Safe Surf Kid's Wave even provides
a favorite site of the month for kids to explore.
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