Are we right to interfere in our children’s education?

A couple of weeks ago I read an article published on Parentdish a few weeks ago that kind of struck a chord with me. The article was written by an ex-teacher basically inferring that these days parents tend to interfere way too much in their children’s education.  In the past I have been party to teachers complaining that parents aren’t interested enough in their children’s education; whilst others are now complaining that parents are too involved. Is there a happy medium?

I’m going to make no apology. I am one of those parents and I will continue to “interfere” in my children’s education as long as I feel I have to.  Believe me, I don’t really want to, but the way I see it is that our children only get one shot at this. I was left to flounder with uninterested unsupportive parent which has left me determined my children won’t be left to do the same.

Yes I am one of the mothers that will ask to speak to the teacher at the end of the day if necessary. Yes, I am interested in what levels they are working at – not to be pushy, I’m not concerned with having a child genius but I do want to know if they are falling behind the others and yes, I will go into school and bang the table if I think I have cause to do so.

Why? Do I not have faith in the teacher’s ability to know what is best for my children? Well yes, I do, to an extent but I’ve learned through experience that having blind faith that a teacher is doing their utmost best for my child isn’t always the best way to be. That’s not meant to be a direct hit on teachers – they are extremely busy, some are newly-qualified and inexperienced, there’s a lot of paper-shuffling these days and class sizes are big. Things are going to slip under the radar and if a child is middle/average, I fear they are particularly susceptible to slipping.

A lot of work is sent home from school to be completed with and without parental help – reading books every night, phonics work, spelling tests, literacy and numeracy sheets never mind the endless requests for money, cardboard tubes, dress-up costumes – normally all at very short notice! We’re expected to be involved with helping with their education when it comes to homework and school requests so why should it be unacceptable to speak to teachers about what goes on in school time?

Last year I left it too late to get involved with my sons education and that was a big mistake. I was kicking myself towards the end of the year that I hadn’t spoken up sooner. This year, I made a point of speaking to his new teacher straightaway about my concerns and a couple of weeks later after she’d spent more time with him, her concerns were the same as mine. It was good to know we were on the same page and since then we have been able to work together to form a plan of action of how we can BOTH support him moving forward. Confronting it head on means she’s comfortable approaching me and vice versa.

See, a parent “interfering” in their child’s education isn’t always a criticism. Most of us parents know that teachers are doing a sterling job but we’re also acutely aware of the pressures and constraints teachers find themselves under. By understanding where my children are with their work, areas they are struggling in and any issues they are having at school we can help support the work the teachers do with a bit of extra support and reinforcement at home.

Is that such a bad thing?