My routine at the school goes like this: I come in at 9am when the school opens and I observe the classroom for about an hour. The teacher hand selects an activity for my assigned group to do and puts it in a large, plastic bag. Around 10, I go off with three students that she has selected for me and we leave the classroom and set up shop in the hallway. The teacher selected activities are usually word games, such as "word bingo" or books to read to the children.
My three children are really adorable. I have one boy and two girls. One of the girls is a new student- a recent import from Africa. She is having an incredibly hard time with the English language. The one male student is a sweetheart who is very funny and talkative. I've been working with him for about four weeks now and he is comfortable enough with me to actually listen when I give him directions. He becomes really frusterated when he does not get an aswer right. The other girl's English language skills are comming along incredibly well. She has a strong accent, but I strongly feel as though it will decrease as she gets older, until, eventually, she has no accent at all.
The ESL teacher told me today that there is a severe lack of parental interest in school. She believes this is why some students are having a hard time learning English- the simple fact that the parents themselves do not want to attend parent-teacher meetings or put any effort forth into their child's education. Apparently, the teacher has a huge problem with the parents of her students. She told me that some students attendance grades are practically non existent- parents won't even take the time out of the morning to drive their children to school or to wake them up early and put them on the bus. She also told me that when she does finally get into contact with the parents, they usually swear at her or use other vulgar language, hanging up mid converstaion.
The InfoWorks website states that 37% of parents returned the salt survey. The National Rhode Island average of parents who return the surveys is 53%. The rate of suspension is 4.2 as compared to the national average of 3.9. There seems to be a huge disconnect between the parents and their childrens education. Also evidenced by the InfoWorks website, students reported that 12% of parents help with homework, with the national average being 67%.
I very much see this schools problem with the parents in the ESL classroom that I volunteer for. Each week, kids are given 4 days to get $1.oo from their parents for an icecream or a popsicle. Out of 25-30 students, only 3-5 actually are ever given money by their parents. The teacher stated that this is not due to poverty... she believes that the parents simply do not care about their children.
The boy in my group was telling me how he has five brothers and sisters and how he sometimes does not see his dad for days. Due to his young age, I'm sure that he doesn't know what he is actually talking about- but, from an adult perspective, it sounds like his dad comes and goes when he pleases, leaving his wife and children to fend for himself.
It's a difficult situation because there is really little that the school can do to make the parents of the students participate in their education. I could see if there was a problem with the students, however, how does one fix this problem? What are some ideas to get the parents involved in the education? The only one that I can think of involved manditory parental meetings once every quarter to discuss their childs progress in school. Keep calling and harrassing them until they show up. Or, maybe, send home repeated notices that they have to sign alerting them to their childs progress.
This is a question that I will try to find answers to. It breaks my heart that a parent could be so non-involved in their childs life.
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