Sue Abderholden, the mother of a fifth grader, recruited other adults to serve as pen pals with students at her daughter s school. The students write letters, and the adult pen pals respond once a week. I carry the letters back and forth between the students and their pen pals where I work, said Abderholden. It takes about five minutes a week. Schools are beginning to recognize the time barriers that families face.
Many schools now offer transportation and child care for school-related events.
Parent-teacher conferences regularly offer evening hours. Teachers say that many seemingly small things parents do can help their children succeed at school. Simply listening to your child read aloud at home is a very effective strategy for improving reading, according to one teacher. That special time together at home makes a big difference at school. Many parents find that staying involved in their children s education gets more difficult as children get older.