I want to share this Musikgarten article with you on the importance of parent involvement:
Research has found that the earlier educators establish family engagement, the more effective they are in raising student performance.
If you could wave a magic wand that would improve the chances of school success for your children as well as their classmates, would you take up that challenge?
For decades, researchers have pointed to one key success factor that transcends nearly all others, such as socioeconomic status, student background or the kind of school a student attends: parental involvement.
The extent to which schools nurture positive relationships with families — and vice versa — makes all the difference, research shows. Students whose parents stay involved in school have better attendance and behavior, get better grades, demonstrate better social skills and adapt better to school.
Parental involvement also more securely sets these students up to develop a 
lifelong love of learning, which researchers say is key to long-term success.
A generation ago, the National PTA found that three key parent behaviors are the most accurate predictors of student achievement, transcending both family income and social status:
- creating a home environment that encourages learning;
- communicating high, yet reasonable, expectations for achievement; and
- staying involved in a child’s education at school.
What’s more, researchers say when this happens, the motivation, behavior and academic performance of all children at a particular school improve. Simply put, the better the partnership between school and home, the better the school and the higher the student achievement across the board.
Parental involvement is the active, ongoing participation of a parent or primary caregiver in the education of a child. Parents can demonstrate involvement at home by:
- reading with children;
- helping with homework;
- discussing school events;
- attending school functions, including parent-teacher meetings; and
- volunteering in classrooms.
While both parental involvement and parental engagement in school support student success, they have important differences.
Involvement is the first step towards engagement. It includes participation in school events or activities, with teachers providing learning resources and information about their student’s grades. With involvement, teachers hold the primary responsibility to set educational goals.
But while teachers can offer advice, families and caregivers have important information about their children that teachers may not know. So a student’s learning experience is enriched when both bring their perspectives to the table.
With engagement, home and school come together as a team. Schools empower parents and caregivers by providing them with ways to actively participate, promoting them as important voices in the school and removing barriers to engagement. Examples include encouraging families to join the family-teacher association or arranging virtual family-teacher meetings for families with transportation issues.
Research has found that the earlier educators establish family engagement, the more effective they are in raising student performance.
Children whose families are engaged in their education are more likely to:
- earn higher grades and score higher on tests;
- graduate from high school and college;
- develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom; and
- have better social skills and classroom behavior.
In one study, researchers looked at longitudinal data on math achievement and found that effectively encouraging families to support students’ math learning at home was associated with higher percentages of students who scored at or above proficiency on standardized math achievement tests.
Students whose parents are involved in school are also less likely to suffer from low self-esteem or develop behavioral issues, researchers say.
And classrooms with engaged families perform better as a whole, meaning that the benefits affect virtually all students in a classroom.
This holds true in Musikgarten classes as well. That is why I’m always encouraging you to get out those CD’s or downloads and use your books with your children at home. Even if your child is just a few months old, you are beginning a tradition of involvement in your child’s life that will ensure his/her successful future.
I will have more from this article to share with you in next week’s email.
See you soon! 
With thanks and love,
Barbara 
