The Impact Of  Parents and Teachers On Children’s Learning

                         Life is full of lessons for adults and children. Children are the most important building block of  a society starting with infants, toddler, adolescents and adults. Children can easily be shaped by adults.  They can absorb information easily because they can imitate the the actions of the adult. Learning at an  early age can help to develop children’s skills, character, intelligence and language and shape the child’s development. It is the parents’ role to discipline and help kids to discover the world around them. Family influence and the external environment undoubtedly play key roles in children’s cognitive growth (Bornsten, Hahn, Bell , Hayens, Slater, Golding  and Wolke, 2006 , p. 156).  In addition, teachers play an important role in developing children’s skills.  Both parents and teachers should support children to improve their ability to learn new skills.

 

                  Curiosity is one of the most characteristic for kids  that assist them in learning. The child has the curiosity to search for different things. The parents' role is to enable that child to touch, move objects, reinstall, answer their questions , infer the relation between things, and to allow them to play with anything safe around them. All of these activities are relevant to  helping children to learn and improve their intelligence and language. I found a very useful article entitled “A Parent’s Guide to Children’s Speech” which describes the many ways for parents to deal with their kids. In this article  Elborn & Elizabeth ( p. 5) stated that children start to say their first words by 14 months such as “baba” or “mama”. By  24 months the child says single words, and by the age of three they are able to speak complete sentences. As a result, parents should concentrate on teaching their kids the sounds of letters and some vocabulary. In addition, this article , mentions how parents can deal with a  stuttering child and when they should visit or speak to a speech-language pathologist.  This paves the way for understanding their language and to use many words in describing something. In addition, Tomasello, Carpenter, and Nagell (1999) found that “infants who spent more time in joint attentional engagement with their mothers at twelve months of age comprehended and produced more language at that same early age and in the months immediately following” (p. 110).  Tomasello confirms the ability for young children to gain new words in “a variety of complex social – interactive situations” (p. 113).

                     Furthermore, parents can help their school aged children by choosing the best school for them, asking about the school’s programs, and so forth. This will positively affect their level of learning. Parents should also encourage their children to share with others to prevent them from becoming selfish later.

                    On the other hand, teachers have a sufficient role in sharing with parents this responsibility of educating children. The teachers’ main role is to assist parents in building children’s skills and in providing parents with the results. In addition, there should be a communication between parents and teachers for the sake of the future generations. Teachers can create a good environment for their students by finding interesting activities such as drawing, painting , learning letters and their sounds, and using play dough and puzzles. All of these will help children improve their ability to learn, discover many things on their own, stimulate their brain, and prepare them for the challenging studied in the future. One of the most important ways for children to learn reading and writing is through the use of writing stories and writing about themselves. Using some games has a big effect on their imagination and encourages them to memorize some of The Holy Quran, simple poems, and time tables. It may also be advantageous to do a simple experiment in front of the children and make them guess what might happen and to later discuss the results with them. Langley (2009) asserts that “Every day there should be at least one opportunity for a child to experience scientific fact or discovery within her environment” (p. 33). This will stimulate their ability to think deeply and improve their skills. Teachers can also read a book or story and ask the kids to repeat the short sentence. Teachers can use different kinds of teaching techniques to teach their students as it has been shown by Langley (p. 34)in the following table:

Reading Comprehension	Observation
Look at the cover of this book. Read the title, observe images.	Questions
What do you think this book is about based on the picture and the words of the title?	Hypothesis
This book, with these images and words on the cover, will be about.	Prediction
Make a prediction about the text. Read the book. Confirm prediction or change hypothesis?	Test/Experiment

              

                Many things are shared between parents and teachers. Both parents and teachers have the responsibility to observe the children’s development and to help them build confidence in themselves. They should also help children in changing their bad habit and assist them to overcome any difficulties in learning or thinking. Parents and teachers  work as  guides for children and have a big impact on them.

                In conclusion, parents and the teachers have a significant  influence on  children’s skills, their language, their intelligence, and their ability to speak and read. Furthermore, there should be cooperation between parents and teachers to illuminate future generations.

Reference list:

A parent’s guide to children’s speech, (A collection of full-length articles and handy checklists)

        Retrieved on 25/1/2012 
        from http: //www.caslpa.ca/PDF/a%20parent%20guide%20to%20children's%20speech.pdf

Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C., Bell, C., Haynes,  O. M., Slater, A. , Golding J. Wolke D & the

           ALSPAC Study Team. (2005). Stability in cognition across early  childhood. Psychological

          science. 17,2.

Langley, T. (2009). Creating a Curriculum That Fosters Scientific Thouglit. New York, Montessori
          Life, 3

Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition.  Harvard   University  Press ,

          Cambridge,  Massachusetts, London, England.

http://www.google.ca/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1249&bih