The Three-Legged Stool: Why a Child’s Success Demands Support at Home from Parents
Education is a three-legged stool supported by the school, the student, and the home. Just like a real stool needs all three legs to stand upright, a child’s academic success requires equal support from all three sides. If any single leg fails to do its part, the entire structure falls over. Right now, the leg representing the home is collapsing, and our children are the ones paying the price.
Teachers are working tirelessly inside the classroom to provide quality education, but their efforts are being undercut the moment the school bell rings at the end of the day. It is time for a candid conversation: parents need to do more at home, get on board, and actively participate in their children’s academic journey.
The evidence of parental disengagement is packed tightly into the very backpacks students carry every day. Teachers are witnessing a recurring, troubling trend. Books are returning to school tattered, with bent pages and missing covers. More alarmingly, homework pages in textbooks remain completely blank for days on end. In many of these textbooks, you can see that the children are trying on their own, but they can only go so far without support at home. They do a little bit of the work and leave the rest blank because they don’t have the help they need to finish.
This continuous lack of effort happens despite constant, direct reminders sent home by educators. When a backpack goes unchecked for several days in a row, it signals to a child that what happens at school simply does not matter.
Academic success cannot be a one-sided effort. Teachers can introduce concepts, clarify difficult topics, and provide guidance, but they cannot follow a child home to ensure the work is reinforced. A child’s success depends heavily on the structure and accountability provided at home. When parents refuse to help by ignoring reminders, they let their children miss out on the valuable reinforcement that homework provides, therefore allowing them to fall behind and struggle to succeed.
There is an online cartoon I recently watched where a teacher asked a student for his homework. The child boldly replied, “At home.” When the teacher asked, “Why didn’t you bring it?” the boy’s response was, “Because it is homework!” While this might pass as a funny cartoon or a viral joke online, the underlying reality is no laughing matter. For passionate educators who pour their hearts into teaching, and for students who desperately need to grasp the concepts being taught, this lack of follow-through is a serious barrier to learning.
Stepping up does not require a degree in education or hours of complex tutoring. It starts with simple, daily habits:
- The Daily Backpack Check: Open your child’s bag every single afternoon. Look at the condition of their books, read the notices from teachers, and check for assigned work.
- Respect for Materials: Teach children to value their learning tools. Cover textbooks, flatten bent pages, and treat school property with care.
- Mandatory Homework Routines: Establish a quiet, distraction-free time for homework every day. Do not accept “I don’t have any” as an automatic answer; verify it by looking at the textbooks yourself to make sure they are not left empty.
- Active Communication: Respond to teacher reminders promptly. View educators as partners, not adversaries or babysitters.
Teachers are doing their part, but they cannot do it alone. It is time for parents to meet schools halfway, zip open those backpacks, and actively secure their children’s future.
As an educator who is passionate about teaching and students’ learning, I truly believe that guiding a classroom of students is my natural gift from God. Through this article, I am reminding parents to come on board and do their part in ensuring the success of their precious gifts from God. These children are a teacher’s special gift as well, because together, we are helping to raise the next generation of leaders.
