Why Does School Attendance Matter for Kids?

Introduction

How does a child achieve academic success? By going to school every day. Well, that’s obvious. What is also obvious is the consequences of not attending the classes regularly.

Researchers have found a strong correlation between attendance for school and academic performance and success. Children that miss school frequently often fall behind— both academically as well as professionally. Absence from school is often the biggest single cause of poor performance and achievement.

Consistent attendance for school will provide students with several unique benefits:

Benefits of Regular Attendance for School

1. Achievements

With regular attendance for school, students gain academic, personal, and professional benefits. We all know that with regular attendance for school, students learn every day and do not have any backlogs. With no backlogs, they will have to study less. Also, at the time of writing the exam, they will have an upper hand as opposed to students that were irregular to the class.

2. Structure

When children engage in the same activity through school, they are more likely to develop structure. This structure gives them better time management skills. Time management is useful in hundreds of ways in their life.

3. Achievement

Students that attend classes regularly are always likely to do better at reading, writing, and math assessment as opposed to irregular students. This doesn’t mean irregular students will not pass with flying colours, but attending regular classes will help in a better understanding of the concepts and subjects. They are also more likely to stay up-to-date with daily assignments and homework as well as be better prepared for monthly tests.

4. Social skills

When your child is regular at school, their social skills improve. They will take part in several social programs that will give them opportunities to understand their subjects and the world around them. By socializing with teachers and other students, they will learn cues, etiquette, and more.

When your child attends school regularly, they get a message that education is a priority not just for your family but for them as well. They get to understand that attendance for school is a crucial part of educational and professional success. They also become responsible citizens.

How Can Parents Contribute to Regulars School Attendance?

Teach your child time management skills and ensure he/she shows up to school daily and on time. Not showing up regularly can strain their ability to stay up to date academically.  You must also teach them to sleep and wake up on time in order to get attendance for school without missing.

Ensure your child completes homework or assignments on time. Missing school to complete an assignment is not the right strategy and will cause more harm than good for children’s academic progress.

Keep family engagements in the evenings or weekends or avoid events that happen during the daytime so that your child goes to school. If it’s important to attend to a family obligation, keep it as rare as possible.

Occasionally children might miss the class due to an illness and this should be regarded as a one-off incident. Going to the class should be a default activity every day.

Things to Keep in Mind to Ensure Regular Attendance for School

As a parent, you must plan ahead to limit your child’s absences from and make attendance for school a top priority.

1. Help your child to go to school on time. 

Except for emergency situations, there should be no reason, whatsoever, to miss school. Reasons like missing the bus, waking up late, uniform not ironed, homework not complete, sleeping late are not the reasons at all to miss school. You must never take your child’s school discipline for granted. You might be close to the school management, but that doesn’t mean you must send your child to school late.

2. Do not turn on the TV in the morning

Some people turn on the TV early in the morning to catch up on news or to watch religious programs or even to watch sports. You must get away from this practice. Children get attracted to TV and will take time to get ready.  This way they might miss the school bus or may go to school late.

3. Check homework

You must read the school diary or check with your child if there’s an assignment that needs to be completed. Children might forget to tell you about the homework due to their playful nature and this might cause a problem for them. In order to finish the assignment, they might have the day off the next day or not go to school at all for fear of being scolded by the teacher. You must take an active role and get involved with your child’s daily assignments.

4. Figure out sources of anxiety

If you see your child upset about something or has issues that he’s not discussing with you, then you must get involved. There might be reasons why your child refuses to go to school and you must figure out the reason and solve it immediately so that your child enjoys going to school.

5. Plan in Advance

Plan everything in advance. Activities like ironing school uniforms, polishing school shoes, preparing his bag, and others must be done at least the night before going to school. This ensures their school attendance.

6. Give healthy food

Give your child healthy and balanced food with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Also alternatively give dry fruits. Ensure your child has lots of exercise and plays sports.

7. Create a wonderful environment

Make sure that your child has a relaxed time before hitting the bed. Give him something to read that can stimulate his mind and keep him away from the TV. Ensure the child sleeps for a minimum of 8.5 hours. Getting plentiful sleep gives them the energy and incentive for regular attendance for school.

Also Read:

How to Raise a Strong and Confident Child

Adolescent depression–A guide for parents

Do you think it’s okay to discipline a child physically?