Make learning your child's most important responsibility

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My son will take his final exams when he returns to school after the Christmas break. Of course he has not picked up a book during the holidays because his teachers said they will give him a list of what the tests will cover when school starts back. This is madness -- all this time has been wasted doing nothing. I know rest is necessary, but pure laziness is being taught by his teachers -- not by me. My son is learning the lesson well; he left his books at school during the break. Our teachers are encouraging this laziness, yet society says it is my fault if my son fails. How did this happen to parents?AssessmentThe situation you describe does not only happen at final exams. Throughout the school year, parents constantly ask their children "Have you studied for your test?" Students often give similar responses such as "The teacher will hand out what we have to know the day before" or "The teacher hasn't told us what to study yet." As the New Year begins, our nation could definitely prosper from parents' participation in their children's homework to demand a good education. Parental participation that blindly follows destructive school rules doesn't benefit our children. It is true that parents are responsible for their children's education, and if your child's teacher is not giving your son the best education he can receive, then you should help by picking up where the teacher leaves off. You should begin the New Year with a resolution that counts.What To DoWhat you do with your time is what you do with your mind, and what you do with your mind will determine your success, especially when you compete with other countries that prepared their children's minds to create and lead. Their parents were not afraid to put their children's future first and demand good use of their children's time/mind. Explain to your child that you are in charge of teaching the basics for success in his life. The most important resource that children have now is time -- and how they use that time is a parent's responsibility. Your child's most important responsibility -- from the time he gets home until he goes to school the next day -- is his homework. As a parent, your goal is to make this responsibility a priority. Take responsibility for your child's education.Children get home late, have to bathe, eat, digest and then what? Most then do homework, and some are bright enough to recall it. Yet do they have the time to truly learn new concepts and, more importantly, explore the content further? Not likely. What if your child still makes an A? Is it an A for learning, knowing and creating, or is it an A for simply recalling memorized information? It will make a difference when your child is 25, and doesn't know how to fit into a global economy of educated people that have little use for this robotic performance. Be sure that learning is the primary after-school responsibility of your child. Our children's education is determined by how they use their valuable resource of time. Begin the year courageously, telling your child that you will accept nothing less than his best efforts in his homework, regardless of the standards set by his teachers or school. (Write Dr. Yvonne Fournier, Fournier Learning Strategies Inc., 5900 Poplar, Memphis, Tenn. 38119. E-mail her at drfournier(at)hfhw.net)