22 Jul 2014 Getting your child ready for school

by Charlotte Green
Mike Kemp photos

The development of language contributes to a child’s academic achievement, and the way you parent your child influences the development of language. Children are born ready to learn, but their experiences determine how much learning occurs. Reflecting on how you interact with your child can help you prepare your child for school success.

Soon it will be August, and kids will be getting ready to go back to school. Many students are re-entering the school hallways, but for some it will be their first experience. Kindergarten does not mark the environment where the stage of learning begins; it begins at home with parental interaction.

The initial years of life set the stage of lifelong learning, and parents have major influence as to what that looks like. Repeated verbal experiences are necessary for children’s brains to become highly developed. To support an environment that provides the academic edge to prepare your child for school, parents must engage in those repeated verbal experiences through implementing strategic parenting.

“Strategic parenting” is a term used to reflect thoughtful interaction between a child and his/her parents. The dialogue and interaction between an adult and a child will either support or hinder a child’s vocabulary development as well as brain growth.

The majority of brain development occurs during the ages of newborn to 5 years, making the vocabulary interaction during the early years critical to a child’s success in school.  

According to the Wisconsin Council of Children and Families (2007), 85 percent of the brain is developed by age 5. The brain establishes its foundation for learning based on the child’s interaction with others and their environment, and that foundation of learning sets the stage for schooling to occur.

When parents interact with their children, they are implementing one of three types of parenting styles: authoritative, permissive and authoritarian.

Authoritarian parenting is a parenting style that discourages ongoing dialogue with children. In this style, parents expect children to follow home rules established by parents without explanation or understanding. Let’s call this style “because I said so” parenting.

Another style, authoritative parenting, is a style were parents engage in responsive dialogue with children to foster logic and decision making skills. Let’s call this style “ask me why” parenting.

The last style is permissive parenting. Permissive parents want friendships and do not seek compliance. There is responsive dialogue, but children generally manipulate the conversations. Let’s call this “buddy” parenting. These parents place high value on the relationship and want the children to view them as friends. Unlike permissive parenting, authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles promote discipline and obedience to authority.

Strategic parenting means that a parent knowingly implements certain parenting styles to foster high academics and strong social skills in children. Strategic parents thoughtfully combine all styles to teach thinking, expose words, instill authority, build relationships and support reading comprehension.

Parents who implement strategic parenting techniques understand that there are multiple ways to interact with children and expose children to the various styles to prepare them for school and society.

It is important for children to understand and respect authority. Young people need to understand that when they are asked to do something by a trusted authority figure, that in itself is sufficient reasoning to perform the request. However, children need opportunities to engage in responsive dialogue with adults to develop reasoning skills. Implementing strategies that incorporate a balance of multiple parenting techniques fosters healthy adult-child relationships, increases vocabulary and establishes a foundation for school success.

So as you wrap up all the summer fun, strategically engage your children in conversations that will get them ready for school success.

SOURCES:
Elkin, D. (2010). Miseducated: Preschoolers at Risk. Random House. New York, New York.
Green, C. (2011). Because I Said So: A discussion on parenting styles and achievement gaps.
     Outskirts Press. Denver. CO.
Wisconsin Council for Children’s and Families (2007). Quality Matters: A Policy Brief Series on
     Early Care and Education. Winter 2007, Volume 1.