Children return to school on Monday. Teachers have been getting ready for this year of learning for two weeks and more, but the fall semester starts Monday.

There is a myth out that children are returning to the task of learning on Monday. The truth is, children have been learning all summer. The only change on Monday will be the location of the classroom.

The most important lesson to be derived from the success of the home-school movement of the past decade is this, "Parental involvement is crucial to academic success!" Home-schooled students perform well on college entrance exams, the SAT and the ACT.

An essential element in the academic success of our children enrolled in public and private schools will be parental involvement in the learning process. Get to know your child's teacher. Become an active partner in your child's learning. Let your child's teacher know that you are his/her ally in the education of your child.

I like what William Bennett (former Secretary Education) said recently, "Not every teacher is a parent; but every parent is a teacher."

Two-paycheck and single-parent families often lack one precious resource needed for teaching their children - TIME. While parents of public and private school children do not have all the time they would like to have, they can take advantage of the time they do have. Again, William Bennett said: "Home-school parents are able to wear the education hat most of the day, but all parents can put that on for at least a few minutes a day."

Here are a couple of things parents who want to be involved in the education of their children can do even with limited time: 

1) Engage your children in active, not passive learning. Turn off the TV and spend some time interacting with your child. Be alert to your child's interests and promote hands-on learning. Research (in the library and the Internet) the subject of your child's interest.

2) Plan to eat one meal per day together - at the table - with the TV off. Use the time for talking together as a family about interests. Do not use the time to bring up issues about which there is conflict. For suggestions about conversational topics, go to my web site and look up "Dinner Topics" under EXERCISES. Down-load the topics and add your on to the list.

3) Don't think of learning in terms of formal settings only (preparing homework). Preparing a meal can be a wonderful time for a lesson in math as fractions of a cup are added to a recipe. Grocery shopping can be a time of comparing unit prices - which size is the better buy? The schoolroom is not the only place, and perhaps not even the best setting for learning to take place.

Time is the best gift a parent can give to a child. This gift "goes on giving" and says to the child that he/she is worthy of their parent's most treasured possession.