Praise is appreciated by all children. It is particularly important for children who are hard to motivate. Keep in mind the enormous impact your praise can have on building their self-esteem and on helping them to develop appropriate behavior concerning school. With your continual positive support, children can be motivated to develop a positive self-image and to approach school with a confident, I-can-do-it attitude.
Getting Involved with your Children and School:
- Put on a Happy Face! At the end of the day your feet may hurt and your head may pound, but when your little ones come running to you full of enthusiasm about something at school, put on a smile and match their excitement. When you put them off with “later, later,” their joy in the accomplishment disappears.
- Talking Texts- ask your children to read their textbooks or any book to you while you fix dinner, sort laundry, or drive the car. Any texts will do- a reader, a social studies book, even a math book. When they finish a section, ask questions to expand their comprehension of the ideas in the text.
- “I Can” cans- give each child an empty bottle or can covered with paper and labeled “My ‘I CAN’ Can”. Whenever your children learn a new skill, be it academic, artistic, or athletic, write it on a piece of paper and stuff it in the can. Review the contents of the cans periodically, and watch your children’s self-esteem soar!
- Make Mistakes Okay- when children can learn from their mistakes, instead of feeling discouraged by them, they are on the road to success. Make mistakes okay by talking about your own errors: “One mistake I made today was…” Encourage your kids to describe mistakes that they made, and then talk about solutions: “One way I can keep from making this mistake again is…”
- Banish Blaming- take a “no fault” approach when your children experience difficulties in school. Blaming teachers or classmates only strains relationships. Join forces with teachers to reach a common goal: helping your children overcome difficulties and find success.
- Beat the Clock- Punctuality counts. When a teacher sets a specific time for a conference, make every effort to be there on time. Teachers often schedule many conferences back to back, and one late parent can throw everyone off schedule.
- Information, please. Be sure to give teachers any information about changes in home circumstances that may affect your children’s behavior or performance. A death in the family, an extended sickness, a separation or divorce- even the loss of a pet can put a strain on children that spills over into the classroom.
Tips To Motivate Your Children To Do Well In School
- Take the time to read with your children daily.
- Provide enrichment material, including children’s books and magazines, and educational toys.
- Provide quiet, private work spaces where children can study undisturbed.
- Keep your children’s work spaces well-stocked with all the supplies they need to complete their assignments.
- Take time to sit down with your children and help them schedule homework into their daily routine.
- Reward good grades with recognition and praise, and avoid the temptation to use money as a bribe for good performance.
- Take advantage of educational events in your community as often as possible.
- Value your children’s uniqueness, and avoid comparing them to others.
- Limit the amount of television children watch to one hour on school days and two hours on weekend days.
- Encourage creative thinking by asking your youngsters for help solving problems.
- Encourage your children to practice school skills in real life situations.
Check out this website for great guides on what to expect at each grade level as well as other tips: Parents Survival Guide
How to communicate so that your children will listen!
•Tell your children-clearly and firmly-that you expect them to do their homework responsibly.
•Don’t argue with your children. Use the broken record technique.
Arguing with your children is a no-win situation. The only result is that everyone gets angry, nothing is solved, and whatever message you’re trying to communicate is lost. When you learn to speak so that your children will listen, everybody feels better. You feel good because you calmly stated your expectations, and your children feel better because they know exactly what is expected of them.
Study Skills
At school…
- Always write your homework in your planner.
- Keep your school desk clean and organized.
- Have at least 2 sharp pencils.
- Review your work to catch any careless errors.
- Participate in class discussions.
- Ask for help when needed.
- Listen with 100% attention.
- Keep your eyes on your own paper. Never cheat.
- Cover your work. Don’t let others copy from you.
- Behave in class 100%.
At home…
- Ignore or remove all distractions when working.
- Eat a snack, drink some water before working.
- Use the bathroom before starting homework.
- Have a set study time every day.
- Do your homework at a desk or table.
- Do your hardest homework first to get it done.
- Do all of your homework and remember to turn it in.
- Practice with your Study Buddy to improve your math facts, spelling, and to quiz each other.
- Read for at least 20 minutes every day.
- Look up words in the dictionary when needed.
- Use a calendar to plan ahead for my quizzes, tests, field trips, and special class projects.
- Practice your flash cards every day.
- Have a great attitude! Remember you can do it!
Tips for studying for a test.
•Determine what the test will cover.
•Organize all study materials.
•Schedule a time for studying.
•Make a list of sample test questions.
•If studying from a text book read the chapter, take notes and review the chapter.
In need of another great studying tool?? check out: Study Stack This website allows you to search for pre-made flash cards, as well as gives you the ability to create your own. The cards can then be turned into all sorts of games to make studying fun!
Tips for reading
•Read to your children.
•Listen to your children read aloud.
•Make regular visits to the library with your children and help your child get a library card of their own.
•Give your children a gift subscription to a magazine.
•Encourage your children to write stories of their own.
•Turn off the TV and read together.
•Ask questions about the material that was read.
Does your student need extra help learning to read? Check out:
Reading Teacher
Have an Ipad?
Check out these great FREE apps to help with teaching things like sentence building, research techniques and other English/Language Arts subject matter: Ipad Apps!
Ever find a website full of words you don't understand but want to?? Try this cool website: Lingro By typing your website address in on this site, it will make all the words click-able and can be put into 11 different languages!! You will be able to find definations without ever leaving your site!
Helpful Websites:
Kids Health
Back To School Tips
Vocabulary Help
Online Graphical Dictionary
Parenting Website
11 Parenting Handouts
Helping Children Cope With Natural Disasters
When Children Experience Trauma: A Guide for Parents and Families
Parenting Tips (English Version, Spanish Version)
Effective Parenting
Tips for Partnering with Your Child's School to Promote Success
Helping Your Child Become a Better Student
Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers
Handbooks, Forms, and Notices
Enrolling a Student
Transportation Information