Is Greater Parental Involvement at School Always Beneficial

Is Greater Parental Involvement at School Always Beneficial? From the beginning of time, parents have been involved in their children’s lives and served as their protector, guide, teacher, and life skills coach. Many different aspects of parenthood will eventually transfer to a classroom setting, where a parent would continue a support role and become more deeply involved in their child’s education. This involvement would change over time and with change would come adjustments that would either assist or hinder a child’s ability to function and reach full academic potential. Early Parental Involvement Before organized schools came into existence, parents were the primary teacher for their children. Their role as educator was essential if the village or community was to grow and prosper. Children served in many capacities, and as soon as they were able to assume grown up responsibilities, they did. These responsibilities were what kept their heritage, culture, and people alive and well enough to pass traditions onto their posterity. If parents had not been involved in their child’s learning, little by little their culture and heritage would have been lost. As the originator of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s, emphasis on early childhood experiences would prove an essential step in understanding behavior and the vital role behavior plays in a child’s ability to learn and thrive (Ormond, 2003). As education became more organized and the need to formally educate individuals became essential, it was apparent that schools would have to be designed to educate students away from their homes. Schools in the late 1800’s were traditionally in one room buildings where mixed grade levels were taught. Parents would send children to school and when they returned home and had