REEP

Parents’ expectations influence children’s expectations as well. There are those parents who do not expect their child to be able to write their name in Pre K, and then there are those that wonder why is their child falling behind and not already reading sight words. Some send their children to Kumon Learning Centers or hire a tutor to guarantee their child’s maximum success in school. Others send them to enrichment classes over the weekends. Then, there are those parents that allow their child to sleep in and miss classes because, “It’s no big deal”.

The fact is parent’s expectations as well as their educational and cultural background can have a strong effect on child’s educational outcome. Amy Chua author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother believes that her parents’ high expectations for her, and love were the greatest gifts anyone had given to her. Amy Chua’s perspective has been debated over and over from TV shows and blogs. This is because she strongly believes that in America, parents can and should do the same with their children. They should demand more than what they typically do. I like it when she says that we should assume strength in our children. I believe this to be also a characteristic of a good teacher. My son’s friend who is also Asian-American told him that his parents expect him to get all A’s and that a B is for beating. I have met several Asian-American parents who have their children in enrichment programs. These are children who not only go to school from Monday to Friday but their days are also filled with piano lessons, chess, tennis, as well as advanced Math and Writing tutors. Many Asian-American children like Mrs. Chua’s, have parents who do not allow their children to have sleepovers. My son’s friend couldn’t have an X Box because his parents asked him, “Will an X Box put food on a table?” Just the other day in my writing class at the Chinese School a 12 year old came up to me and said, she was already planning her classes for high school and knew what she needed to do to have a high point score average to be able to enter Baylor Medical school program. When parents have high expectations they teach children to have them for themselves as well. Children learn to plan for their future and believe in their strength to do so.

Social scientists have studied this intergenerational link and believe that a child’s outcome is strongly influenced by their parents’ income, their social class and their parents’ behavior. This is what they have to say.

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