Does Parental Involvement Vary by Grade Level?

Preschool

• For many children, it all begins in preschool, the gateway to learning. Preschools serve children and families in all situations, with more and more public school systems offering classes in every state. Gone are the days when a pre-K program was available only to families who could afford to pay. This is where the seed of parental involvement is planted. A higher number of parents volunteering benefits the preschool environment in many ways. ̶0;Parents̵7; involvement in preschool classrooms decreases the number of children supervised by each adult, providing assistance for the teacher and extra hands-on support for the students. Bilingual parents also can provide translation support,̶1; reports First 5 California, a division of California's Children and Family Commission.

Elementary School

• ̶0;Parents are most likely to attend school meetings and events or to volunteer in their child̵7;s school when their children are in primary school," according to the Center for Public Education, an initiative of the National School Board Association. In 2007, 90 percent of students in kindergarten through fifth grade had at least one parent who attended a meeting with their teachers. The elementary years feature many milestones for children and their parents as they work together on homework assignments, but the center encourages parents not to cease their involvement during the pre-teen years.

Middle School

• As your child reaches adolescence, being an involved parent changes meaning, and the Michigan Department of Education stresses focusing your involvement within your home. You might question whether your child̵7;s popularity or happiness will suffer if you are still a presence in the classroom or school environment; you might worry that you are intruding on what is shaping up to be a private time of self-discovery for your child. ̶0;School activities to develop and maintain partnerships with families decline with each grade level, and drop dramatically at the transition to middle grades,̶1; according to the Michigan education department. Still, there are ways to be involved without being intrusive, including simple things you did in the elementary school, such as being involved in the PTA.

High School

• The teenage years are difficult and often tumultuous times for a family. Your child has embarked on her journey to young adulthood, and socially she is changing every day. This does not mean that you should absent yourself completely, though. Encourage your teen to get involved in a sport or other extracurricular activity. ̶0;At the K-8 level, 92 percent of parents reported attending a school or PTO/PTA meeting compared with 83 percent of parents of high schoolers," reports The Center for Public Education. Volunteering dropped from 52 percent of parents of K-8 students to only 34 percent of parents with high school students. But it still is possible to unobtrusively volunteer in your child̵7;s extracurricular activities, whether it's a sport, marching band or even the Latin Club. Booster groups, fundraising and, again, the PTA are excellent ways to stay involved that are designed for parents' participation.