CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

          The academic performance of any child cannot be separated from the home environment in which the child grows up. A healthy home environment offers emotional security to a child.

          The schools cannot simply provide a continuation of the home environment, but they can play an inestimable role in laying the foundation for the child learn how to read and write, however, this influence is characterized by various factors such as the parents home background learning facilities, levels of parents educational attainment and other socio cultural issues.

          Over the years, the society had recorded a persisted increase in the rate of poor performance in the various schools examinations such as the senior secondary school examination (S.S.C.E). Comments from educators have shown that the blame from look of performance has been as a result of neglect and carefree attitude towards academic works by students and parents.

          It is against this background that the researcher has decided to investigate on the academic performance of a child.

          There are innumerable factors which affect a child academic performance as stated above.

          It is obvious that a child academic performance is directly related to his her environment as well as learning facilities and other socio cultural issues. Every child is born with the same intellectual ability, but a good and conducive environment with adequate learning facilities will help to boost the intellectual and academic capability of the child. Parents from good learning environment will always have good attitudes towards education and provide learning materials such as the television, instructional video tract, books and journals e.t.c that will facilitate the learning process. These as a matter of fact can give a child an edge over his or her counterparts in an environment with poor learning facilities.

          Educated parents will always express the belief that it is important to help a child with his or her home work and to review the school work that the child had done but a child from a poor home environment to a large extent is deprived of such opportunities and thus, he or she struggles to service he teaching and learning process. A student in this category is therefore not confident and consisted. Hence he or she experiences how academic performance hence, the motivation of any intelligent child towards learning is being accelerated by the positive influence of his or her environment, while others are negatively affected in terms of their poor home environment.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

          The importance of education in an individual cannot be over emphasized. Education has a long lasting impact on ones life. For example the acquisition of knowledge and skills and all other things that is worthwhile, which are transmitted to a person through formal and informal education determines his or her potential in future.

          Basically, we understand that the home is the first school for a child where he or she is taught the basics norms and values by the parents before the child leaves for the formal education. Contrary to popular opinion. Learning and reading begins in school but the first foundation of the child begins in school but the first foundation of the child begins at home. (Binkley 1998)

          Base on those facts, this research has to do with asking the following questions on why does student home environment affect student performance in school.

·        Unconducive learning environment reduces a child academic performance

·        Can the attitude of illiterate parents affect the child performance

·        Can the attitudes of illiterate parents of affect the child’s performance  

PURPOSE OF STUDY

          The purpose of this study is to carefully investigate the relationship between a child home environments, level of parent’s educational attainment, learning materials a child’s academic performance in school. In other words the research seeks to know how variation in the above aforementioned factors in a Childs home can influence his or her performance in school, after which the research intends to suggest possible ways which these problems can be solved.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

          Education is of immense importance to individuals and to the society at large. Educators have greatly assumed that the home environment, to a large extent determines the progress of an individual in learning situation. This study will therefore highlight the significant differences in various home environments. The study will enable educationist and curriculum planners to take full cognizance of individual difference among children in any teaching/ learning environment while planning. It will also help teachers to cater for the various classes of school children in the classroom.

          Also, it will enable the teacher to adopt new dimensional approaches while teaching finally parents irrespective of their educational qualification should encourage the child at home, and also provide the maximum stimulation at all times.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

          As regard to the purpose of this research, the following research questions provide the focus of the study.

i)             Does the home environment have any influence on a Childs academic performance

ii)            Do the parents and their academic attainment have any influence on a Childs academic performance

iii)          Do the parents and their academic attainment have any influence on the academic performance

iv)          Is the academic performance of a child influence by his or her socio cultural background?

SCOPE OF STUDY

          This study is mainly concerned with the influence of home environment on the academic performance of a child. However the researcher is limited to some selected secondary schools in Egor local government area of Edo state

DEFINITION OF TERMS

i) ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: this can be define as the score a child or individual obtain in teat or examination based on hi or her learning experiences.

ii) HOME ENVIRONMENT: home environment in this context simply means the immediate surroundings and first institution where a child is taught the basic norms and values by the parents before he or she proceeds to acquire formal education

iii) SOCIO STATUS: this is the total state of an individual based on inequality in terms of occupation, level of education and other societal issues

iv) SOCIO- CULTURAL BACKGROUND: this is the social and cultural makeup of an individual in relationship with his or her environment

v) EDUCATION: formal instruction or training given to a child in school

vi) PARENT: any person (man or woman) with legal claim of a child

vii) EDUCATED PARENTS: owner of a female child or male child with formal education in addition to informal education

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