Want to know the one resource that schools can never give students? Parental involvement. It also happens to be the #1 variable in success for students.
If parents aren't checking their children's grades on a daily basis, asking what they're studying, staying in frequent communication with teachers and the school, there is nothing that is going to replace that.
My oldest son was on a robotics team during high school in which we were a minority. All the other parents, their kids were studying calculus by the end of high school. I asked every one of them how their kid was able to do that and each one of them shrugged and said, "nothing".
To them, "nothing" was their child spending 2 hours per day at Kumon after school and a few hours on the weekend in addition to their constant checking of their work and insistence on academic excellence.
You also have to be careful about "well performing" school districts for a similar reason. I live in one such district and most of the parents I know have a regular, dedicated tutor for each of their kids.
The teachers expect a lot because of this. Good luck if you can't afford such help.
When my kid was in kindergarten, half the class had an outside tutor. I learned this the next year, when a parent offered to share her tutor with us.
This concept is strange to me; when I was growing up, a "tutor" was someone who helped kids who were behind. Nowadays the word seems to also refer to an outside coach who helps kids get ahead.
Want to know the one resource that schools can never give students? Parental involvement. It also happens to be the #1 variable in success for students.
If parents aren't checking their children's grades on a daily basis, asking what they're studying, staying in frequent communication with teachers and the school, there is nothing that is going to replace that.
My oldest son was on a robotics team during high school in which we were a minority. All the other parents, their kids were studying calculus by the end of high school. I asked every one of them how their kid was able to do that and each one of them shrugged and said, "nothing".
To them, "nothing" was their child spending 2 hours per day at Kumon after school and a few hours on the weekend in addition to their constant checking of their work and insistence on academic excellence.