Home-school communication vital

Tatenda Makombe  
CHILDREN learn best when adults in their lives work together to encourage and support them. This basic fact should be a guiding principle that the home and the school must achieve an effective communication line.
We tend to think that schools should stick to teaching academics and that home is the place where children’s moral and emotional development should take place.

Society has created artificial distinctions about the roles that parents and teachers should play in a young person’s development. Children don’t stop learning about values and relationships when they enter a classroom, nor do they cease learning academics when they are at home.

In my conversation with one of the teachers from school X in Manicaland, I learnt that a bad home school relationship can deprive children of their right to a good education because when parents are reluctant to help their own children, it demoralises the teacher.
“When the year started I was geared for work.

“I made sure I gave my pupils homework. I was very demoralised when most of children came to school with their homework not done and those who did their homework showed that it was done without the supervision of the parents.

“Still willing to help my pupils I asked them to ask their parents to help them with their homework.
“To my surprise I got a very disturbing letter from one of the parents, part of which read: ‘It is not my job to teach, you are the teacher you should do the teaching.’

“Nowadays I hardly give homework. When I do, I don’t question those who don’t do theirs or those who do it badly”, she said.
Bad blood between teachers and parents also leads to neglect of the child by the teacher. A Grade Six teacher who teaches at school X told me that a certain parent yelled at her after she had punished a certain boy in her class for deviant behaviour. Now this teacher does not pay any attention to this boy.

He sits in a corner, even if he is the only one who knows the answer to a question asked by the teacher, she vowed she will never pick on him.
The teacher also said that when marking his books she doesn’t pay much attention.

This form of neglect can be damaging to a child’s sense of self. It makes a child have low self esteem and poor peer relations. Surely no parent would want this for their child.

Parents and the school both have a common goal. Parents want their children to do well in school since a good education is the best foundation for a bright future.

Teachers want high pass rates for their class so that they earn a good reputation and be fulfilled.
It is vital for parents and teachers to communicate effectively with one another.

Each one has a piece of the picture of a child’s development, and each can be more effective when information is shared.
Constant communication helps ensure that both schools and homes are responsive to students’ unique needs and therefore support children’s overall development.

Home-school communication is very important. Children hear the same messages from teachers and parents and understand what they are expected to uphold.

Good communication between parents and the school benefits students. It raises their academic achievement.
There are other advantages for children when parents become involved namely increased motivation for learning, improved behaviour, more regular attendance, and a more positive attitude about homework and school in general.

If good home-school communication is established, parents and teachers will help each other to identify the weaknesses in children and help each other to find specific areas to improve and work on.

Parents also benefit from being involved in their children’s education by getting ideas from school on how to help and support their children.
Perhaps most important, parents benefit by becoming more confident about the value of their school involvement.

Parents develop greater appreciation for the important role they play in their children’s education.
It takes extraordinary effort to build strong relationships between parents and teachers. Schools have to reach out to parents, making them feel welcome as full partners in the educational process.

Families, in turn, have to make a commitment of time and energy to support their children both at home and at school.