‘What is home-school co-operation?’ It is the most frequently asked question by parents.

Some people may relate education to ‘schools’ and ‘teachers’, thinking that they are the providers of education.  With more research done recently on this critical subject, it is time to rethink the relationship between parents and schools and how it affects children’s development.  “Home’ and ‘parents’ also constitute a significant part in ‘education’. Parents and teachers both have great influence on children’s development. The connection between family and school should be strengthened so as to benefit children’s learning and development.

Schools are recognized education institutions which mainly focus on providing academic knowledge to students.  Attending schools is important to children’s development as children have to learn language skills, logical questioning techniques and other subject knowledge for them to grow intellectually. In addition, parents are also crucial to children’s growth since children spend a lot of time at home with their parents.  Parents’ habits, attitudes and emotions affect their children significantly.  Children tend to see their parents as role models. They imitate their parents’ behavior or the way they speak.  As such, families have a vital role in educating children about appropriate manners and moral values.   Some parents may not be able to teach their children the subject knowledge, but their encouragement would certainly be a strong motivation to the children. Hence, efforts from both schools and families are valuable in children’s growth and education.

However, there are barriers in building and keeping a strong connection between schools and families. First, tight teaching schedule of teachers constitutes a major reason for limited home-school cooperation. Teachers not only have to put in much effort preparing lessons and marking assignments.  It is hard for teachers to spare enough time to communicate with all parents, so communication between schools and homes often occurs only when students experience academic or behavioural problems.  Moreover, parents'' education level and their long working hours may affect their participation in school events.  Some parents may not have attained a high education level, which probably makes them underestimate their role in educating their children. Parents may think that schools and teachers are mainly responsible for the academic achievement of their children and that cooperation from them is not needed. As a result, they have less motivation to communicate with schools. Home-school cooperation is also not satisfactory when parents need to work for long hours. 

In order to sort out the problem, parents are responsible for building an intimate emotional bonding with their children so they can see their home as secure base.  Before they go to school, children should have learnt how to take basic care of themselves, and make their own decisions.  These abilities enable children’s self-learning ability, which is the key for future development.  Parents may need to consider its impact.