There is one thing that parents can do to profoundly benefit children of any age and that is to be involved in their education. Many studies have indeed concluded that parental involvement in a child’s education has immense positive benefits for the child. What’s more, those benefits are long-term and far-reaching in their impact. Findings and statistics show that parental involvement in a child’s education supercharges the child’s success every step of the way. That series of boosts seems to snowball from nursery and preschool, through primary, junior school, secondary education, and higher education, right into adulthood. Such are the positive effects of a parent’s involvement that the benefits even extend to better career opportunities and higher earning potential once children become adults. Let’s explore, therefore, what we mean by ‘parental involvement in a child’s education’ and look in more detail at some of the key benefits to children.
What Does ‘Parental Involvement in a Child’s Education’ Mean?
Parental involvement in a child’s education can take several forms. Note, however, that the benefits are most positive when parents engage right from the early years, beginning in children’s nursery and preschool years. The examples below show the kinds of parental involvement that will enhance children’s lives:
- Ensuring the setting chosen for a child is the best possible fit for them. That means visiting contenders, talking with staff, asking the opinion of other parents who are already attending, checking reviews, and so on — before making your final choice. For young children starting a nursery, arranging a ‘taster’ day or ‘settling in’ session is also a great way to see how well they will fit in.
- Engaging proactively with nursery and preschool staff to keep abreast of the child’s progress — and again later with teachers and tutors at the child’s schools and higher education settings. This could, for example, include discussing any challenges, achievements, areas to focus on, weaknesses, and so on. A two-way dialogue and feedback ‘loop’ gives both educational professionals and parents sight of the bigger picture. As such, this interaction is extremely powerful in its potential to help the child.
- Attending parents’ evenings and open days. These are a great opportunity to catch up on the child’s progress in a more formal way, and to understand any changes, developments and perhaps new resources and opportunities that may have been introduced to the setting.
- Agreeing with teaching staff on ways in which parents can support their child’s learning in specific areas of focus within the curriculum.
Applying that information in the form of help and support while the child is at home. Referring to the right textbooks, helping with homework, and helping the child understand any tricky topics are typical examples of areas where parents can help children at home.- Ensuring that the child’s Personal Development Folder or equivalent is read and contributed to. In this way, there is a two-way communication channel between the childcare or education setting and parents.
- Helping children attain good verbal and written grammar as well as checking the child’s spelling will help them across all areas of their schooling — and later in adult life. Showing them how to check for themselves (e.g. via a spell-checker application on a PC) and ensuring they try to learn from spelling mistakes will also be hugely beneficial. While they’re younger, this will help them understand more topics and, ultimately, make them more employable when they’re older.
- When children have formal tests coming up, parents can help them significantly by regularly testing them on knowledge of the topics under scrutiny. This will help the child understand how much information they have, or haven’t, absorbed ahead of the formal test.
- As we previously reported, reading with children is hugely beneficial to their success. Studies show that reading with children under five boosts language skills by the equivalent of 8 months. So, if you really want to supercharge your child’s education and progress, read with them regularly. Follow the bold green link for more details.
- Help children better focus on study and homework when at home by giving them their own study area. This needs to be in a quiet part of the house, well away from distractions like TVs and noise, so it encourages learning activity.
- When children do well, praising them will encourage them to keep up the good work. It’ll give them a greater sense of achievement, and some moral support, and help instil a love for learning in them.
- Don’t be over-strict, though, if they don’t get things right the first time. Children learn as much from failures as they do from successes, so even failures are a good learning opportunity (ask any successful businessman or entrepreneur — they will all agree).
- Ensuring that children understand what’s expected of them is also important as a benchmark. Such expectations need to be set high but be realistic and achievable. Otherwise, they will cause unnecessary stress and be counterproductive.
Applying that information in the form of help and support while the child is at home. Referring to the right textbooks, helping with homework, and helping the child understand any tricky topics are typical examples of areas where parents can help children at home.
When children do well, praising them will encourage them to keep up the good work. It’ll give them a greater sense of achievement, and some moral support, and help instil a love for learning in them.“The most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement in school is not income or social status, but the extent to which that student’s family is able to: (1) Create a home environment that encourages learning; (2) Express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their children’s achievement and future careers; and (3) Become involved in their children’s education” — (Study by Henderson & Berla)
The Benefits of Parental Involvement in Children’s Education
Let’s now look at some of the benefits that children can expect to enjoy when parents are closely involved in their education.
Many studies show incredible benefits from parental involvement in education. The study by Henderson & Berla quoted above, for example, shows that parental involvement in education is the strongest predictor of a child’s success at school, going beyond factors like income and social status. As such, it’s an incredibly powerful tool and a great to help level the playing field. A study by Meador agreed:
“Parents who invest time and place value on their children’s education will have children who are more successful in school.” — (Study by Meador)
A 2013 study by Pinantoan also concluded that students with active parents are more likely to succeed and achieve more A grades:
“Students with … parents operating in supportive roles are 52% more likely to enjoy school and get straight As than students whose parents are disengaged with what’s going on at school. This is especially the case during the earliest years of schooling, in Kindergarten through the 5th grade, when students with active parents are almost twice as likely to succeed.”
The benefits of parental involvement in education to children are numerous, though, also including the lowering of stress levels and improved knowledge, skills, outlook and outcomes. The deep and reliable source of support, together with all the other benefits, also combine to make children feel happier, have a higher quality of life, be less likely to skip lessons, be well-behaved, and have closer bonds with both parents and childcare/education staff.
Life skills like communication, problem-solving, organisation, tenacity, self-esteem, self-confidence and social skills are all improved when parents have an active involvement in education as children grow up.
Prospects are improved because of enhanced grades and a greater range and depth of skills. Through these, children gain the ability to have a wider choice of schools, higher education settings and universities, and careers as adults. Thereby, even incomes and their standard of living can be lifted. Parental involvement in education has a truly profound impact on children’s lives and we wholeheartedly support it at Little Acorns Nursery in Padiham.
Little Acorns Nursery: Your Childcare Provider in Padiham
If you are looking for a childcare service for your child in Padiham, Lancashire, do consider Little Acorns Nursery. At Little Acorns, we offer a warm, home-from-home environment where every child feels loved and valued. Our high-calibre early years professionals bring out the best in them, nurturing them in every area of their learning and development so they are set for success and ‘school-ready’ by the time they leave us.
Little Acorns Nursery supports many free childcare schemes for eligible families and may also suit those living near Hapton, Rose Grove, Burnley, Altham, Huncoat, Read, Simonstone, Sabden, Higham and Wood End. Get in touch today to register for a nursery place, arrange a guided visit, or for answers to any questions you may have:
Lancashire’s Walk & Talk Initiative is a scheme that’s wholeheartedly supported by the childcare practitioners at Little Acorns Nursery in Padiham. We encourage all Lancashire parents to take part too. It’s an initiative that is incredibly simple but has far-reaching benefits for children in their early years. Let’s take a look today at what Walk & Talk is all about, what its aims are, the benefits to children, and how families can get involved.
a reduction in the ‘word gap’ — helping children learn new words and widen vocabulary;
The scheme also aims to encourage children to use a variety of senses. These include, for example, sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing and, of course, active listening. When out on walks there are so many different things for children’s senses to be stimulated by and each lends itself to a conversation. Whether it’s the sound of birdsong, the feeling of the wind on their faces, the smell of freshly-cut grass on the breeze, the noise of traffic, the dazzlingly beautiful colours of blossom, or the mouth-watering smell of food cooking around the neighbourhood or town, walking is indeed a feast for the senses.
Pyjamarama is a one-day fundraising event that’s organised through the children’s reading charity BookTrust. It takes place each year across a variety of UK settings including homes, schools, preschools, nurseries and more. As well as being great fun for those organising and taking part, the initiative is beneficial to millions of disadvantaged children. The ultimate aim is to raise money to fund the purchase of books and resources, so that every child in the UK gets the chance for bedtime stories and each family has proper reading opportunities. The initiative is hugely popular, great fun, and transforms lives. Today, we take a look at what to expect, how to get involved, and the many benefits of Pyjamarama.
Pyjamarama is always a fun day for both adults and children. The added aspect of pyjamas makes it special, quirky and relaxed. And, at the end of the day, it’s incredibly worthwhile. Not only does it raise money to give disadvantaged children and their families opportunities for reading and bedtime stories, but it also encourages those children taking part in Pyjamarama to read more, for pleasure as much as anything. Additionally, it gives children a different perspective and encourages altruism and empathy for others less fortunate than themselves.
Our Padiham nursery had its annual inspection by the local Environmental Health Officer recently. The purpose was to ensure, as required in all settings serving food, that Little Acorns Nursery has high standards of hygiene and follows the food preparation guidelines specified by the UK’s Food Standards Agency. Once again, Little Acorns Nursery passed with flying colours, achieving a full 5-star rating. That’s the best rating possible and reflects the highest levels of quality for food preparation, the food itself, cleanliness, and competence of staff. So, our thanks and utmost respect go to Kim, our in-house chef/cook, whose high standards, skill and expertise do the children and the nursery proud.
Because the recipe heavily involved potatoes, this also tied in nicely with the book Supertato, which our preschoolers have been looking at in tandem with discussions about food and the importance of a healthy diet. The photo shows one of the children peeling potatoes. Others peeled vegetables and even made their own dumplings. The fun activity helped to nurture children’s learning and the development of new skills and knowledge. The final result was both tasty and a huge hit with the little ones!
Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. Pancake Day, arrived on the 13th of February and it gave us a great opportunity to organise pancake-themed activities for the nursery/preschool children … for the entire week! After all, who doesn’t love pancakes? So, as you’ve no doubt guessed by now, our Recipe of the Month for February was home-made pancakes and it’s a recipe the children really enjoyed getting involved in. They loved mixing ingredients in a bowl to make their own pancake mix. We even set up a ‘Pancake Bar’ (see the main photo at the top), which included lots of yummy toppings that children could use to decorate their pancakes. The toppings included strawberries, bananas, chocolate spread, jam, lemon, sprinkles, honey and cream.
Valentine’s Day, which arrived on the 14th of February, also involved lots of food. After all, as the saying goes, it is often thought of as the language of love! At the nursery, we organised a lovely Grab ‘n’ Go Breakfast for our parents. This was followed by a special 3-course Valentine’s Day meal for our children in our lovely new dining room, which was set up like a little restaurant (see the photos). Children had sausage rolls to start, cheesy chicken and red pepper pasta for the main course and strawberry mousse – with sprinkles – for pudding. Accompanying this was some delicious blackcurrant juice. It all went down a treat with our nursery children, as did several other activities that were themed towards Valentine’s Day.
Kim, our talented in-house chef, prepares tasty home-made meals and healthy snacks for children at the nursery. Meals are prepared freshly, on site, using high-quality ingredients, which are locally sourced whenever possible. They are delicious as well as being nutritionally balanced to include a healthy mix of fish, meat, pulses and vegetables. 
To make way for the new children’s dining room, an existing room at the setting was repurposed and totally revamped. Starting in Summer 2023, the contents of the existing room were sorted and relocated where needed, leaving a wonderful new space to use as the new ‘Great Oaks’ dining room. Walls, ceilings and skirting boards were prepared and freshened up with new paint. Attractive William Morris-style wallpaper was also hung on a ‘feature’ wall. Large canvas wall images were displayed to form interesting focal points and storage was added in the form of a large cabinet and a small cupboard. Large and small dining room tables and chairs were added for the different age groups along with high chairs, which will be close at hand whenever needed. All this sits on a durable floor with an attractive wood finish. All in all, the outcome is a pleasant home-from-home for children.
During the autumn half-term break, adults and children from Little Acorns Nursery in Padiham embarked on a sponsored walk around Gawthorpe Park. The walk took place during a cold and wet Tuesday, on 24th October, with children from our Little Seedlings, Little Acorns and Great Oaks rooms donning Wellington boots, anoraks and wet weather gear for the task. Once assembled, little ones and adults braved the inclement weather and went on to complete the walk admirably, even making the local Burnley Express paper
When the rain persisted, children were also encouraged to use magic wands to wish it away!
The sponsored walk was dedicated to a cause that’s extremely close to our hearts — the memory of Yusuf, the baby son of one of our families — as well as aiming to raise awareness of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). £148 was raised through our sponsored walk and a further £52 through a cake sale by our 
As leaves start to blanket the ground and the earthy scents of autumn begin to infuse the air, it’s the perfect time to engage children in a captivating adventure that celebrates the season. In today’s post, we’ll introduce you to an Autumn Nature Hunt, an exciting outdoor activity for children that’s not only entertaining but also educational.
Today’s bird spotting activity for kids continues our series of nature-themed posts that each come with a free reference poster for families to download. Featuring 40 British birds, the activity and the poster represent a great opportunity to get children of all ages outdoors, closer to nature. As many of us know, 
At the time of writing, it’s peak butterfly-spotting time — more adult butterflies can be seen in late July and early August than at any other time in the year. That makes it the perfect time for children to get out in nature to spot these charming creatures. Doing so is fun, educational and also beneficial in so many ways – we’ll explain more about that later.
Usually, you will need to pay for childcare costs first and then reclaim them through your Universal Credit childcare support account. However, there are some circumstances where you may be able to get some of your childcare costs paid upfront through the scheme. This recent change is designed to help families essentially with cash flow so that a major barrier to working is removed. That, in turn, will also help the economy.