Helping Your Child Be Successful in School
by Laura Brooks
March 23, 2007
There are many things that you, as a parent, can do to help your child be successful in school. Listed below are a few suggestions of ways you can help your child with school work, structure your child's life at home, and reassure your child of his self-worth.
Remember if you have any questions about your child's school performance, we are here to answer those questions, so please ask. Our goal is to prepare your child to be successful in life and by working together we can accomplish that.
Help with School Work
- Provide a place to study with minimal distraction.
- Help plan long term assignments.
- Help schedule your child's homework, include breaks.
- Ask questions; discuss his work; provide assistance when needed.
Reading
- Read to your child often.
- Listen to your child read to you everyday.
- To increase speed, read along with your child a little bit faster than he reads. This will help improve speed and phrasing.
- Make sight word flashcards.
- Make vocabulary flashcards.
- Read newspapers, magazines, cereal boxes.
- Ask comprehension questions. (Who, What, When, Where, How, Why, and sequence of events)
- Play Games (Scrabble, Boggle, Upwords, Concentration, Wheel of Fortune, Pictionary, Scattergories, Password, etc.
Structure Child's Life at Home
- Provide a regular routine: mealtime, play, limit T.V., chores, bedtime, homework time.
- Keep belongings in the
same place.
- Help child remember where to put them.
- Remind him as often as necessary.
- Use visual reminders.
- Be patient when he forgets.
- Keep instructions simple -
one at a time.
- Be sure he understands.
- Ask him to repeat instructions.
- Give child time to think.
Talk and Listen to Your Child
- Avoid comparing one child to another.
- Let your child know that it is all right to make a mistake; help him figure out how to correct his mistakes.
Reassure Child of His/Her Self-Worth
- Help child become aware of his own special unique talents (sports, art, music, hobbies, etc.)
- Praise when it is
deserved.
- "I like the way you're working."
- "I'm proud of you."
- "Now you've got it."
- "I'm pleased."
- "You're on the right track."
- Avoid negative
remarks.
- "Can't you do a simple thing like this?"
- "I've told you twenty times already."
- "You could do it if you'd just try harder."
- "You're just being lazy."
