G.I.V.E. Get Involved, Volunteer in Education

Learning for a Lifetime

This is the first article in a six part series on the virtues of Building Assets by Rachel M. Loeper, Parents' Source, September 20, 2001.

"Children learn in every waking hour, wherever they are, whatever they are doing." - Carnegie Task Force on Learning in the Primary Grades When the last hot days of summer vacation were drawing to a close, what were your kids saying? Though we can't blame them for being a little bitter at the prospect of not being able to go to the pool every day, is it more than that? Do they avoid a new school year like the plague?

Search Institute, a research organization in Minneapolis, MN has identified 40 skills, relationships, and opportunities, which they call, "The Developmental Assets." They discovered that the more assets young people have, the more likely they are to become caring, competent, contributing adults, and the less likely they are to get into trouble. For example, students surveyed with 0-10 assets skipped school and/or had below a C average 43 percent of the time, while students with 31-40 assets exhibited this behavior only two percent of the time. Several of the developmental assets focus on children and adolescents' educational attitudes and experiences. Research has proven that the more committed a child is to learning, the more likely it is that he or she will grow up healthy.

There are many things you can do to foster your child's interest in learning, and the good news is you've probably already started. The examples parents set and the atmospheres for learning they provide strongly impact what education means to a young person.

Did you know?

Of 6th through 12th graders whom Search surveyed nationwide, only 30 percent of public school teens said most of their teachers personally care about them. Search also found that 96 percent of students said that they enjoy doing well in school, but 65 percent admitted that they could do much better if they tried - and 83 percent can't wait for the school day to end. So what's a parent to do???

• Find creative ways to link interests with school subjects to promote the School Engagement Asset. Help your child with a history project about jazz or a book report about their favorite novel. Explore links between the classroom and the real world.
• If your child is bored in school, find out why. Suggest that she spend a lunch period with her teacher. Offer to join them. At the meeting, talk about how things could change. Encourage your child to take on responsibilities to make her learning experience more challenging and you will be facilitating the High Expectations Asset.
• Build relationships with your child's educators to give your child the Parent Involvement in Schooling Asset. Tell teachers and administrators when you are pleased with something you notice in the classroom or the district. Don't just contact them when you're upset. Other ways you can help your child develop this asset are by becoming an advocate for quality education. Join the parent-teacher organization or the school board. Serve as a volunteer in the school library or cafeteria.
• Find out what extracurricular activities your child's school offers. Make his relationship with school personal, not merely academic, and he will have acquired the Bonding to School Asset. By encouraging activities such as Key Club, band, and theater, you will also be strengthening the Youth Programs Asset.
• Create a positive learning environment in your home. Limit television and have books, magazines, and newspapers available. Discuss your children's homework or current events at the dinner table to reinforce the Homework Asset.
• Do more than encourage your child's academic success. Paying him for A's may have short-term results, but it does not help him to enjoy learning. On the other hand, if you help him to discover his fascination with the solar system or the intrigue he holds for South American rainforests, he will be able to foster that interest for the rest of his life. When he is encouraged to learn on his own, he will feel confident in the Achievement Motivation Asset.
• The most important thing you can do to nourish your child's enthusiasm for learning is to model your own. Share the contents of a new book you are reading, or read a book together and discuss it afterward to cultivate the Reading for Pleasure Asset. Tell her what role learning has played in your life, and how that role has changed.

Now take a moment to think about the relationships that strengthen your desire to learn. Was it the eighth grade History teacher who awakened your fascination with Gettysburg, or the high school English teacher who encouraged you to write poetry for fun? Share these relationships with your children. Ask them who gets them excited about learning, and you can be confident that they have the Caring School Climate Asset.

Food For Thought: (Can your child answer "yes" to all of these questions?) 1. Is your school a caring, encouraging place to be? 2. Do your parents and teachers help you to succeed in school? 3. Do you want to do well in school? 4. Do you get excited about learning new things? 5. Do you spend a significant amount of time on homework each school day? 6. Do you care about your school? 7. Do you read for pleasure on a regular basis?

If they answer "no", ask them why, and listen to the answers. Remember you don't have to be an educator to be that one person who makes a difference in the life of a child. You could be just the cheerleader they need to nudge them toward their future of learning beyond the classroom.

For a complete list of the 40 assets, click here. This article was submitted by Rachel Loeper of the Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth Initiative at United Way of Berks County. For more information on the 40 assets and the local HCHY initiative, contact Sharon Mast at the United Way, 610-685-4574 or sharonm@uwberks.org

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