Parenting tips for overseas working moms

RIINGEN says she reorganizes her priorities to participate in her three children’s studies.

As a full-time working mother who travels frequently, I don’t get to spend as much time with my children as I’d like to.

It’s a challenge I have to face everyday. It gets more intense during examination weeks.  If I could, I would declare stay-at-home days for working parents during these times.

So I just try to reorganize my priorities, no matter how difficult, to participate in my children’s academic lives.

Any teacher will tell you that a parent’s  involvement in a child’s education is crucial to his/her development and will have an impact even years after graduation. Studies have shown that when parents are involved, children get better grades, develop a positive attitude towards homework and school, and are more determined to pursue and finish their studies.  Distance, of course, makes involvement difficult.

My job gives me the opportunity to interact with many OFWs who are also mothers and share the same challenges. Many of our OFWs leave home principally to earn enough to pay for their children’s education.

Needless to say, ensuring that the children get the most out of their studies is of highest importance.

I had a good chat on the subject with Lynn Pinugu, institutional development director of Mano Amiga Academy, which has many students who are children of OFWs.

Pinugu stressed that the absence of a parent should not prevent a child from reaching his/her full potential. Working directly with a child’s guardian, or his/her support,  when parents were away, could still produce positive results.

Helping your child learn

Here are Pinugu’s tips to strengthen children’s ability to learn, even when parents are not around full-time:

Have a positive attitude towards learning. How we feel about school rubs off on our children, no matter how little time we spend together.  Working parents may not have the capacity to be involved in school, but they can show how much they value education by taking an active interest in what the children are learning. When we talk to our children, we can ask about specific lessons and show curiosity to encourage them to remember what they learn in school.

Read together when you are home. Choose a book together. Talk about the different chapters, characters and plot. This is a great way to stay in tune with our children and is mutually rewarding.

Organize study times. Setting a specific time for studying and homework establishes a routine and encourages children to be mindful of deadlines.  Ideally, study time should be scheduled after meals when children are well rested.   We can ask our children’s guardian to ensure that they stick to the schedule.

Communicate with the teacher. From day one, the child’s teacher should be informed of the setup at home so that he/she can work out how to get first-hand information from the kids. In this day and age, some teachers even welcome communication with parents by e-mail.

Set clear goals. Even high expectations, as long as they are realistic, will give children the confidence to perform at their full potential. Goal-setting is also a great way to teach children how to work around their schedules and be properly organized.

It may take time to teach children good study habits and to  have a study schedule. But everything is possible even if the parent is away.

With determination, patience and hard work,  even OFW parents can play an active role in their children’s education.

(The author is a wife, mother of three, and senior vice president of Western Union for Pacific and Indochina. For questions and comments, e-mail [email protected]