Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008

Your role as your child’s first and best teacher

Who can forget the first day of school? For some of us, it meant a new lunch box or our first ride on a big, yellow school bus. For others, it was the first time away from our parents, interacting with peers instead of siblings. To all young students, the first day of school represents a significant milestone in the path toward academic and life success.

For parents, the first day of school is equally significant. As a mother of four, I can remember vividly the days I sent each of my children on their way to kindergarten. Knowing that school would present new opportunities for them to grow and develop, I also knew that school meant my job as a parent was about to change. I learned quickly how children thrive when teachers and parents become partners in a child’s education.

School has recently begun for South Carolina’s 55,000 kindergarten students. Though many of us prepared for this year’s school start by purchasing supplies and sandwich fixings, the job of preparing children for school success starts at birth.

Brain scientists tell us that more than 90 percent of a child’s capacity to learn is formed by age 4. Positive, nurturing early life experiences are critical to developing our children’s full potential. As your child’s first and best teacher, you are building solid foundations for school and life success every time you hold him close, read him a book, talk and listen to him. Spoken words — at home — can have a dramatic effect on a child’s development and long-term achievement. Research is clear: It is these everyday “teachable moments” — especially before your child is 4 — that make the most profound impact on her future.

Consider this startling fact:

In their powerful book, Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children (1995), researchers Hart and Risley show the dramatic effect of positive language in the homes of young children before age 3. Children from homes with positive, spoken vocabularies during their earliest years started school with significantly better vocabularies than their peers. In some cases, children’s homes were richer in language by 600 percent, sadly leaving some young learners at the kindergarten door having heard 32 million fewer words than their classmates. Achievement differences in these children persist well into the school years, according to the study.

Language, spoken and read, is critical to developing a child’s learning foundation. Positive, one-on-one interactions between parents, caregivers and children form the building blocks to later success in reading, literacy and math. Simple conversation, along with regular reading to and with your young child, can be powerful gifts he can use for a lifetime.

As the start of formal schooling begins, parents can help young learners make a successful transition to school by:

• Setting up good bedtime and mealtime routines.

• Visiting the school and meeting the teachers before school starts.

• Letting students help plan school lunches and pack book bags.

• Talking about school in an excited tone, showing your enthusiasm for the upcoming year.

• Setting limits on television time, choosing reading or simple family games instead.

• Establishing play and family time that mesh with the school schedule, including outdoor activities.

• Setting an example by reading yourself, letting children see you value what they are just now learning to do.

• Getting involved at the school.

Helping children thrive in school is one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of our jobs as parents. Your job as their first and best teacher is one with great rewards for a lifetime, for you and your child.

Ms. DeVenny is director of S.C. First Steps, the state’s school readiness agency. For more back-to-school tips and resources, visit www.scfirststeps.org/countdowntok.htm.