They say, "It's takes a village to raise a child." And it is certainly true that we want our children to have many experiences with many different people as they grow and learn about the world. Teachers will tell you that when parents are involved in their child's education, the child tends to do better in school. I would go a step further and say that it is very necessary for parents to be invested in their child's Pre-K to Grade 12 education if we want the child to be very successful.
Teachers spend 7 or 8 hours a day with the child and the parent spends the rest (or most of the rest) of the waking hours with the child. It is beneficial for teachers and parents to work together to help children to learn and to grow with confidence. Public schools understand this very well and the best public schools actively seek ways to get parents involved.
When I taught middle school children, some parents would tell me that they planned to "back off" and allow their child some freedom to complete assignments and to study on their own. I would gently tell them that their child needs them in middle school every bit as much as they needed them in elementary school. The same is true for high school students. Children need their parents for encouragement and assistance throughout their school career. And teachers need parents who are involved in their child's schooling.
Teachers in public schools do all they can to help students to be successful. It is a difficult job. Often it is the students who don't have support at home that have the most difficultly in school. When parents aren't available to their children, it is hard for students to do well in school. And it doesn't have to be that the parents are "teaching" them at home. It is enough to provide a safe place at home to do homework and to have rules about study time vs. play time.
Public schools always want parents to be involved. When teachers and parents work together, students succeed. It's that simple.
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