In the book, 1001 More Things to Do with Your Kids, Caryl Waller Krueger suggests several basic ideas for parents to incorporate into their children's habits to help them succeed at school:
Toddlers: Begin teaching the basics of what is important. A parent's response to a child's actions will enforce what matters, whether it is that a sharp object should not be touched and the importance of the "no" given, or it is a lesson in patience when a demand from the child is not given automatically.
Preschoolers: Preschoolers are capable of learning some steps of independence. Start teaching basic table manners, how to dress themselves, and even some basic academic lessons such as colors and numbers.
School Children: Ensure that your children are capable of handling lunch money, knowing their names and your name, knowing how to get to and from school (i.e. where to walk, where to wait for the bus), and even how to sit quietly and listen.
Provide a place of study in the home, and if possible a home computer and research tools (i.e. dictionary, encyclopedia software).
Ask your children what their homework is each day, help them check their work (but not correct it for them), provide a snack at "half-time," talk about academic subjects (i.e. favorite authors), and share successes with the family.
Encourage the love of reading in your children. You can read bedtime stories, spend time as a family at the library, and play audio books in the car.
You can help your students choose the right classes by having the them ask themselves what they will learn, how they can use the lessons and whether or not it will challenge them.
Help your children set realistic goals for the school year, and even challenge them to raise their standards later in the year.
Teach your children how to ask the right questions by playing games such as Twenty Questions.
Develop research skills by explaining how to use a dictionary, thesaurus and the local library. There are also many online homework-help websites designed for children.
Standardized test days are not only important in a child's education, but can be very stressful as well. Krueger suggests that on the day before a big test, parents serve the child's dinner of choice, not assign chores and make sure they are in bed early. The morning of, children need to have a healthy breakfast (preferably of their choosing).
Research has indicated that children should attempt their hardest homework first while their minds are still fresh. Krueger suggests the following order: math, writing, nonfiction reading, science projects, fiction reading. She suggests then dividing the homework time into 20 or 30 minute segments, with breaks in between.
Some parents find that setting up a sliding pay scale for A - C grades works well. On top of that, Krueger suggests additional bonuses for improved grades, payment deductions for falling grades, and bonuses for any good character marks (if applicable).
You can encourage counting and math skills by playing math games or dominos as part of your children's bedtime story time.
For school projects, make sure your children are on-task early, instead of waiting until the last minute. Create a calendar and help the children assign themselves mini-deadlines for certain components of the project (i.e. research, first draft) and encourage your children to work on the project a little bit each day.
Copyright by Family First 2007. All rights reserved.
