Parents as Teachers: Why is an FEP Important?
Parents are their child’s first and life-long teachers. Most of their teaching will take place within the home and will be informal in nature. The home is a laboratory for learning. Scientists tell us that babies are either sleeping or learning. Research indicates, “By the time children enter kindergarten they have already achieved 50 % of the intelligence they will have as adults. The first four years of life are the peak learning years. Preparing little learners informally at home can make a huge impact on their formal learning later on in their lives.
When children walk through a kindergarten door, parents take on new role. Parents who have children in pre-school are already playing this role. Parents become educational partners with their child’s classroom teacher. 
They are team teachers - one in the classroom teaching formally and one in the home teaching informally. Each has an influential position of responsibility and accountability to the other to assure the “child they share” receives quality instruction richly laced with meaningful learning opportunities and experiences. Year upon year this learning process continues until the child walks through another door on graduation day… A door to the future, ready to succeed.
Parents have the role of decision makers and advocates throughout their child’s life. From choosing a quality pre-school to selecting an appropriate institution of higher learning, parents are supporting and guiding their child’s education.
This is a wonderful yet challenging task for parents. There are so many things to consider and so many choices to make. Parents have so much to do and so little time to do it. Professional educators gain formal schooling to acquire the skills that are needed to teach and develop their plan of work. They also have an educational structure of support through which flows a constant stream of information, instruction, and knowledge. If parents are to confidently assume the role of a teacher, advocate, plus decision maker, and take their rightful places as an educational partner, they too must gain the necessary skills and information to prepare their family plan of work to use at home. Where do we start?
The Utah State Office of Education and the Utah PTA sought the answer to this question. As a result the family education plan (FEP) training was launched in 1991. The FEP Program was formed on a rich foundation of research relative to student achievement and family, school, and community partnerships. Over 6,000 parents statewide participated. Results were positive and according to an outside evaluation, student achievement improved, especially in math. Parents became more informed and involved in their child’s education, both at home and school. Teachers noted improved classroom behavior, completion of homework, increased parental support and more effective parent teacher conferences. The program was discontinued in 1997 due to lack of funding. Although the FEP Program was no longer in operation, many parents and ‘friends of FEP’ continued to use FEP at work and home. Over the years, requests were made to reinstate the program. The Utah Family Center (PIRC) took to heart the requests. They set a goal to re-establish FEP and produce a website on line version for parents.
We gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Education and the Office of Innovation and Improvement, for making this venture possible through PIRC funding. We invite all parents everywhere to take the challenge of creating a Family Education Plan and ‘turn on the light of learning in your home.’