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Back-to-School Success
Whether children dread or welcome the approaching school year, there is
much that parents and teachers can do to help smooth the transition
between the lazy, hazy days of summer and the tightly scheduled days of
the academic year. Preparation is key.
- Talk about the coming year. Reflect on previous years and develop
strategies to prevent problems that surfaced during the last school
year. Explore feelings about school. Tell your children what school was
like for you and your friends at their age. Talk about your successes as
well as your disappointments. Such disclosures open the door for honest
dialogue with children.
- Ease into earlier bedtimes before the school year begins. Shop for
clothing, school supplies and food for bag lunches. Watch for bus routes
and pick-up/drop-off times in the paper. Personally visit the school,
before the year starts, if you have moved during the summer. Placement
tests and transfer papers are an essential part of developing your
child's new schedule.
- Set up a study space with good lighting, comfortable seating, a
smooth surface for writing, access to food and drink and minimal
disruptive background noise. Equip each study space with a dictionary,
atlas, paper, pencils and pens, a ruler, scissors and other materials
routinely needed for homework. Your children will come home the first
day of school with lists of materials they need. Acquire those materials
right away to prevent delays in getting down to work from day one.
- Computers are part of modern life. Children need to become computer
literate; and so do their parents and teachers. If you can't do basic
word processing and Internet research, ask your children to teach you.
Such role reversals - children teaching adults instead of the other way
around - have a profound and positive effect on children. They see that
their parents (or teachers) are willing to show their ignorance and work
hard to learn something new. Choose a location for the family computer
where you can readily supervise its use. Predators lurk on the Internet
-- another reason why parents and teachers need computer knowledge.
- Arrange to meet with your child's teacher(s) at the beginning of the
school year. At minimum, establish telephone contact. Some schools hold
family nights during the first week of school, but others don't
routinely meet parents until October or later. Equip yourself with
knowledge about the curriculum and homework expectations during the
first week of school so that you can support your children and their
teachers from the beginning. Prevention is key.
- Do not overbook your child's after school hours. There is a
tantalizing array of extra-curricular action available, from dancing and
karate lessons to theater and hiking groups. Help your child find a
balance between developing his or her talents and becoming frazzled in
the process!
- Volunteer to help out at school. If work hours prevent helping out in
the classroom or chaperoning field trips, there may be services you can
perform at home or on weekends. By involving yourself in the life of the
school, you send an important message to your children that you care
deeply about the quality of their schooling.
- Get to know your children's friends. Children often study better
together than alone, especially if they know there will be time to play
after their work is finished.
- Strive to teach your children the joy of lifelong learning. Asking
for help is part of this process, as are hard work, concentration,
practice and application of skills in new learning situations. The
payoff is the exhilaration of mastery. Enjoy!
LINKS
Setting students up for success
Making a Good Start
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Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.
Previous columns are available.
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