We often talk about how as parents, YOU are your child’s first and most important teacher. As a parent, you can never underestimate the power of quality time spent with your child.
Yet, a recent New York Times Op-Ed from researchers Keith Robinson and Angel L. Harris suggests that parental involvement may be overrated. We’ll be honest, at first the headline both gripped us and discouraged us. Everyone knows how important parents are to a child’s success in both school and life.
Yet, upon a closer examination of the research, there’s an important takeaway for parents: Being an “involved parent” isn’t about simply checking a box–observing a class, attending meetings, intervening with homework–it’s about BEING ENGAGED AND INTERACTING WITH OUR CHILDREN. It’s about finding specific, creative ways to spend quality, intentional time with our kids.
All of us–parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and neighbors can spend time interacting with the children in our lives in a positive way. It’s not about fancy vacations, expensive tickets to a theme park, the hottest toy on the market, or simply being involved for the sake of merely being involved.
Sometimes in the hurriedness of life, we are so busy going through the motions, focused on what everyone else tells us we “should” do, that we forget to slow down, enjoy our children and focus on what they, as an individual person, actually need.
So what can we do? Below are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
1. Spend time talking while you are doing an activity like washing the
car, taking a walk or riding your bikes.
2. Put a puzzle together or play a game as a family.
3. Make dinner together and sit down to eat it together.
4. Make ice cream or clown sundaes. Let them help make the list of
ingredients, go shopping and enjoy the treat together.
5. Play outside…might be hoops, tossing a baseball, swimming, street
hockey or drawing pictures with chalk.
6. Pull weeds and plant flowers.
7. Get down on the floor and give your child 15 minutes of your undivided attention–no phones, no computers, no distractions. Have fun playing together!
Stay tuned!! Tomorrow, we’ll hear from one mom who shares a real-life story of her attempt to spend quality time with her children that involved a 1,000 piece puzzle (yes, 1,000!). What was she thinking?! It seemed like a good idea at the time, but was it??
