It is important to be involved with your child’s education both at home (working with your child on homework and special projects, reading, establishing a daily routine, discussing the days events etc.) and at school by participating in field trips, teacher conferences, back to school nights, extracurricular activities or even assisting the teacher if needed. This type of involvement sends the message to your child that school is important to you and by extension that it should be important to him.
You may not have been the best student as a child or understand the “new math,” but you can still travel alongside your child as an encourager, advocate and champion when it comes to learning. Both experience and research tells us that in years to come both of you will be glad you were engaged in your child’s education.
Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students) is the father involvement initiative of the National Center for Fathering that organizes fathers and father figures in order to provide positive male role models for the students and to enhance school security. Contact Rich Batten for information on schools in Colorado currently running a Watch D.O.G.S. program.
Fathers' Involvement in Children's Learning - 2009 Report (PDF)
Putting Parents in the Middle (School, That Is) (PDF)
Life on Mars: Understanding the Culture of Fathers (National PTA Publication) (PDF)
Strengthening Children’s Literacy (PDF)
FRED (Fathers Reading Every Day)
Parents' Links to Colorado Education (PDF)
US Department of Education Publications on Fathers’ Involvement in Schools
Fathers' Role in Children's Academic Achievement and Early Literacy (PDF)
National Center for Fathering Articles on School Involvement
