Parent’s involvement in child growth and Education

Why get Involved? The parent is the pivot point of the child’s life. He and/or she is the point at which all the dimensions of the child’s development hangs.

Where to get involved The parent should be fully involved in holistic child development. Holistic child development entails five dimensions. These five dimension are all equally important and none should compromise the other.

Five dimensions of development  Physical development – Your child needs nutritional support as well as hygiene training to ensure healthy development.  Emotional development – each your child faces things that can cause emotional trauma. You need to constantly provide emotional healing otherwise your child may live with scars of the trauma.  Relational development – Your child needs to learn to work and play together with others. This will help your child build strong and lasting relationships. He/she will also uphold values to self and human kind.  Intellectual Development – You need to be a key player in ensuring your child gains an education that develops the mind. An education that provides opportunities for satisfying life engagements.  Spiritual development – work with your child toward gaining a genuine experience of religion. Help him/her grow and mature into faith.

Thank you Esther Mwangi SEN Department

How to get involved Here are some tips on how you can get involved in your child’s life.

Think life success -Keep your hope and focus beyond good performance in the classroom. Assist your child to: Have self awareness and confidence - have knowledge his/her strengths, weaknesses and special talents. Let him/her be bold enough to face challenges and struggles in school. Proactive- Learn to make decisions and take actions to resolve problems or achieve goals. Persevere -to have the drive to keep going despite the challenges and failures. Learn flexibility- learn to change plans if things are not working. Be able to set goals- set realistic and attainable goals in vital skills. Be able to handle stress - recognize when stressed. Encourage to identify and participate in activities that help reduce stress; for example games, music, writing whatever is right.

Take charge of your child’s Education -Provide equipment and tools for learning- Your child needs both material and non material tools. This gives your child confidence that you are actually interested in his/her education. -Identify what kind of a learner your child is and contribute informed input his or her learning. -Speak for your child – your child may be eligible for some accommodations or learning services e.g I.E.P, speak them out and let them be put into consideration. -Offer new solutions- you may have done researches or learnt what happens in other schools. Do not hesitate to share. It may be a new solution to a stubborn issue. -Be positive- always assume that everyone wants to help.Give feedback, without forgetting to point out the positive. -Don‘t give up easily- if you are not satisfied with the school’s response, try again and again.

Empower your child work with your child towards independence. Let your child learn to do things for himself herself. This way your child will learn to cultivate own success and not depend on others to succeed. Teach your child to deal with obstacles without becoming discouraged or overwhelmed

Emphasize healthy life style  Teach you child healthy eating, exercising and getting enough sleep. This will help your child focus better, concentrate and work harder. Assist your child learn discipline in eating, exercising and sleeping. It is more powerful than when it is learnt anywhere else.  Everyday your child is prone to frustrations over failure, rejection by peers, things that did not happen according to expectations among other short falls. When frustrated try to give him/her outlets for expressing; anger, frustrations or feeling of discouragement. Create an environment open to expression.