Parents want their children to succeed in school. However, sometimes their best intentions are misguided. Attempts to provide children with a wonderful life can, in fact, increase the stress of the entire family.
One of parents' most common mistakes is to want to make everything easy for their children. It's painful for parents to see their children struggle. If children never do anything difficult, however, they never learn that they can successfully meet a challenge.
Here are some things parents can do to promote their children's success in school:
? Make school attendance a family priority. Try to schedule doctors' appointments and family vacations when school is not in session. Have your child arrive at school in time to organize for the day.
? Show your child that you consider school to be important. Attend parent meetings and conferences. Talk with your child about school. Don't overemphasize grades.
? Read to and with your child. Let your child also see you reading alone.
? Either rule out or treat physical difficulties, such as vision problems, hearing problems, or attention deficit, that may impede learning.
? Don't overschedule your child. Be sure at least three hours between school and bedtime are free of extracurricular activities.
? Encourage healthy sleep patterns. Because of the changes their bodies are undergoing, adolescents actually require more sleep than younger children, perhaps nine hours per night.
? Provide your child with nutritious foods (limited in sugar, fats, caffeine, and additives). Be sure your child starts the day with breakfast.
? Make dinner a family activity, complete with conversation on a wide range of topics.
? Provide a place, with minimal distractions, for your child to study. Be sure the study area is well lit, well ventilated, and equipped with all the supplies your child is likely to need: pencils and pens, dictionary, ruler, stapler, etc.
? Establish a definite time each day for homework, reading, or other academic activities.
? Don't allow TV or video games in the morning before school. Limit total time for these activities to 10 hours per week.
? Don't give your child everything he or she wants. Doing so will teach the child that desires can be satisfied without work.
? Be sure your child has household chores to complete without reminders.
? Help your child develop the habit of writing all assignments in an assignment notebook. It works best if assignments are written on the date they are due.
? Help your child learn to organize time and materials. Begin to wean your child from this help as soon as he or she is able to assume partial responsibility.
? On nights before a test, have your child review material just before bedtime and then go to sleep without reading or listening to music. This will aid retention of material studied.
? Make homework your child's responsibility. This lets your child know that you recognize him or her as a capable person.
? Be sure your child gathers together each evening all the materials that he or she will take to school the next morning.
? Allow your child to experience the natural consequences of his or her actions. For example, don't retrieve things the child forgot.
? Have realistic expectations for your child. If his or her abilities are slightly above average, do not expect the child to be at the top of the class.
? Recognize that your child's teachers are striving for the academic, social, and emotional development of many children besides yours. Seating your child next to a best friend, for example, may not be in the best interest of the class -- or even of your own child.
? Recognize that there will be times when your child will be frustrated by a difficult task. Resist the temptation to solve the problem yourself. Your child will learn and grow from this experience and will emerge with confidence to face the next challenge.
A successful school year depends on the cooperative efforts of parents and teachers -- and, of course, on the students themselves. Each member of the team must fulfill his or her own responsibilities -- and allow the other members to fulfill theirs.
A parent and former teacher, Fran Hamilton is the author of Hands-On English, now in its second edition. Hands-On English gives quick access to English fundamentals and makes grammar visual by using icons to represent parts of speech. The book is for anyone 9 years or older, including adults. Fran also publishes companion products to Hands-On English and free e-mail newsletters: LinguaPhile, published monthly, is for people who teach and/or enjoy English; Acu-Write, published weekly, addresses common errors in English. Both are available at http://www.grammarandmore.com.
Oswego taxi to Midway ..If you're a single parent or a married couple on... Read More
Have you ever wondered why toys for babies tend to... Read More
Life is comprised of pieces of time sprinkled with pivotal... Read More
Teri was 5. As younger siblings do, she looked up... Read More
We all scream for ice cream. Or, we don't, at... Read More
Many public schools not only fail to educate our children,... Read More
How excited do kids get with the start of school... Read More
We are all so very happy to see that the... Read More
If you ever walk through an orphanage, it will be... Read More
KIDS AND THE NEWSMore than ever, children witness innumerable, sometimes... Read More
Loving your step-child can be both simple and hard. It... Read More
Impulsivity is one of the hallmarks of people with Attention... Read More
On a recent Saturday evening, I noticed a young teen-age... Read More
1. STOP focusing on what you are going to make... Read More
Ritalin has been shown through the years to be very... Read More
Just two days ago, another 15-year old child was added... Read More
Back in college, I wrote for a five-day-a-week, award-winning campus... Read More
"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds... Read More
By the time your children reach their teens, there is... Read More
The subject of competition is one that provokes some pretty... Read More
Karen, a single never-married thirty-year old attorney has a four-year... Read More
One of the most important aspects of parenting, is ensuring... Read More
This can be a very complicated issue, so I don't... Read More
Dear friends here we will charge up our mind with... Read More
The purpose of this article is to address some of... Read More
shuttle from Midway Morris ..Did you know that the school system is only able... Read More
It's been said, time and again, that for a child... Read More
Age 1: Invite only family members and close friends only... Read More
My son recently had his third birthday party and it... Read More
Ah, there is nothing like being an expectant mom. Along... Read More
I am a dad. I have been now for over... Read More
Have you ever sat and watch a child struggle with... Read More
Backpack? Check. Notebooks? Check. Ink-pens? Check. Clear Skin? Mommmm!If you... Read More
Life is funny.My twenty-year-old daughter, Melanie, has a her new... Read More
Having a babysitter take care of your kids is sometimes... Read More
Dear Camille,As I thumb through the photographs that I carry... Read More
Do you have a wild child? Then this article may... Read More
Last week in my newsletter, I mentioned that... Read More
There is little doubt that reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic are... Read More
Q. My daughter has gotten very good at manipulating us,... Read More
As a parent, you can learn a lot about your... Read More
There are a lot of sophisticated parenting theories and techniques... Read More
When kids try new things, sometimes it's a 'fit' and... Read More
Do you know what these famous people have in common?Alexander... Read More
Child care costs are are one of the most expensive... Read More
The teenage years are a crucial time in a child's... Read More
Although many parents become frustrated as they try to maintain... Read More
For several years now, I've told the following story as... Read More
The cruel callous remarks made by our offspring can sometimes... Read More
Dexedrine is not prescribed very often for the treatment of... Read More
Parenting |