How Latino Parents Can Help Children Succeed in School

Many Schools Believe Latino Parents Are Not Helping Their Children Academically

Latino Parents Support Education in Non-Traditional Ways

• Placing a high value on education.
• Motivating their children to do well academically.
• Monitoring or "keeping an eye" on them.
• Providing emotional support for academic endeavors (Ceballo, 2004; Romo & Falbo, 1996).
• Encouraging and motivating their children via narratives of the hardships that the family has experienced (Lopez, 2001; Villanueva, 1996).
• Emphasizing the importance of education as a way out of manual labor.
• Excusing them from doing chores, keeping other siblings quiet while doing homework, or expressing pride for their academic success (Ceballo, 2004).

Barriers and Challenges to Latino Parents' Engagement In Youth Academics

1. Latino Parents often lack knowledge of the U.S. educational system and the expectations of school personnel.
2. Recent immigrant parents are often unfamiliar with how to navigate the U.S. educational system (Ceballo, 2004).This may be one reason why Latino parents do not feel confident in their ability to help their children (Okagaki & Frensch, 1998). The lack of familiarity with the school system hinders parents' abilities to provide academic support and advocate for their youth's academics (Romo & Falbo, 1996).
3. Latino Parents often lack time due to having multiple jobs or working long hours.
4. The exposure to long working hours forces parents to spend less time with their children, limiting the attention they can give to their children's academic success (Parra-Cardona, Cordova, Holtrop, Villarruel, & Wielding, 2008).
5. Latino Parents often have limited English proficiency.

Recommendations For Latino Parents to Help Children Succeed In School

• Emphasize the value of education because your children are listening. It may not be obvious that your child is paying attention, but children value parents' opinion. If the importance of education is instilled early on, your children will know the expectations you have for them in terms of completing their education.
• Provide moral encouragement and emotional support. You may not be able to help your children with their homework or their college applications, but children appreciate the support and encouragement they receive from their parents.
• Provide your children with a quiet place to study. If your family lives in a one-bedroom apartment, monitor the noise level of other family members or assigning the bedroom as the study room.
• Express pride in their work. Celebrate their achievement no matter how small they may seem. For instance, if your child did not get a good grade on a spelling test one week, but is able to receive a passing grade the following week-celebrate!
• Keep an eye on your children's activities. When parents monitor adolescents' school work, school attendance, and other school related activities, adolescents may perceive their parents as having a higher value of academics. Latino adolescents who perceive their parents as "keeping an eye on them" have been found to be more likely to succeed in school and not to drop out (Romo & Falbo, 1996).
• Become more involved in school activities. Many schools have programs to help ethnic minority parents navigate the school system that their children attend. It may be intimidating, but many schools want and have programs specifically targeted to promote the involvement of ethnic minority parents.

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