Learning doesn’t just happen, Good education takes three partners. Student, teacher and parent. What though is the parents role? Many of us parents often wonder. “How can I help my child do better?”
Here are some tips from outstanding educators
- Start Right – Meet your child’s teacher at t he beginning of the term, go to parent-teacher meetings, know what”s being thought and what’s expected. What book will be read? How much homework?
- Send your child to school everyday – Teachers worry about parents who make other plans for their children. Sometime’s it’s a dentist’s appointment, sometimes a family holiday. The child misses school work and also gets a parental message : ‘School isn’t that important’
- Be positive – children feel best when they feel good about themselves. Here’s a golden rule. “Every child should experience some success everyday”. Pay attention to what your child does well : notice the smallest improvements and be generous with praise. Never use humiliation or ridicule.
- Show interest – If you ask, “What did you do in school today?” and your child answers “Nothing, “ask more specific questions based on what you know is being taught. Even if you don’t get much information, you’re telling her that ou care about school.
- Work with teachers – Children learn best from someone they respect. So avoid putting down the teacher, Don’t say the teacher is “too” fussy or doesn’t know what she’s talking about”. If you have criticism, take it to the teacher, directly. If that doesn’t clear it up, discuss it with Principal.
- Show interest in content and growth more than in marks- What is the child learning “Is he showing improvement? Question your child about good marks as well as poor ones. Is a high percentage a mark of achievement Or was the work too easy? Explore how you and the teachers can work together to enrich the programme, at school and at home.
- Share information that can help teachers understand your child – Does he/she work better by himself/herself or in groups? Is something happening at home – illness, new baby, a new job-that may affect the child at school.
- If you think there’s a problem, get in touch with the teacher and make an appointment –Bright students may start to have headaches because they are bored, weaker students may invent excuses because they feel they are unable to do the work. In either case, consult the teacher.
- Use clues – From report cards, meeting with teachers and attitude tests a become familiar with your child’s strength and weakness to see where you can help. Is the child lacking in some skill? Can you get special tutoring for that? Is there a physical problem – eye sight, hearing or some learning disability?
- Encourage Responsibility –Teach your child to wash dishes, or care for the family pet, or make his own bed. Teachers say they can spot students who have chores for they do better at school work. Support activity, not passivity. That means bicycle versus mopeds, reading versus TV, microscopes and building models versus readymade toys.
- Use rewards rather than punishments – Achievements may be it’s own reward, but special privileges are a sput. If you take your youngster out for a treat after an athletic achievement,. For example, why not after an academic achievement? This shall be a positive stroke.
- Reinforce Learning – Which for moments when you help teach. At the stroke, ask “How much change will I get?” if you’re planning a trip, let your child help map the route. “How many kilometers is it? When will we get there?”
- Children do as their parents do, not as they say – If parents get excited about new books and new ideas, a child will too. If a parent, acts as anything worth doing is worth doing well, that’s how a child willdo school work.
- Teach concentration – “Paying attention” is an important key to learning, and it’s a skill your child has to acquire. You might start by showing your child how players concentrate at a gootball game or tennis match. “Keep your eye on the ball”, they tell themselves, “concentrate!” in the classroom, your child can practice such positive self-talk, “I can do it”, she/he might say. Or “Listen to the teacher!
- Teach your child to ask questions as he reads – What made this explorer so successful who risked his life for his country and why? What caused the famine? And encourage him to draw conclusions. If he’s studying an invention such as electricity, for example, hav e him imagine what life would be like without it.
- Set home work rules – Be flexible, but remember that children thrive on order and routine. A good rule might be : “If you don’t get your work done, you can’t go out”. Your child may not always like you rules, he may tell you about friends who are allowed to stay up later watch more TV, spend less time on homework. There’s a simple answer. “They don’t have me as a parent. “Every child needs a quiet study area, safe from interruption. Equipped with a good light. Agree on a regular time for studying there.
- Adjust to school – The early teenage years are a time for becoming more responsible. Parents should begin to back away from daily monitoring of homework. You should simply take an occasional look : be aware of what the child is learning and continue to offer support, but the goal now is to help him make school work his own responsibility.
- Stay Alert – Don’t ignore problems. Drugs, smoking and teenage drinking exist almost everywhere. Watch for changes in appetite attitude, friendships, behavior and marks. Teenagers are struggling to become independent. They may act as if lthey don’t want you to be involved in their lives, but do it anyway, find ways to say, “I’m interested I care. “help your youngster look ahead. Beavailable to discuss the choices that comes. Where does they want to be, beyond text Tuesday? What college or career is he aiming for? What skills/courses and preparation does she/he need for that goal? If he’s not sure of his goal, help him select activities and elective classes that will explore the possibilities.
