Help Your Child In School

As parents we can have a big impact upon our children and how successful they are in school. When I taught school I could tell those students whose parents felt school was important and those that didn’t take the time to help their children with their studies.
Parents need to place an emphasis upon education and help their children understand its value.

Key things for helping your child achieve success at school.

Set Goals
It is important to outline goals that will help you achieve the results that you want. Educational goals can be both short-term and long-term. For a specific class your child
might have a goal to study for each test for at least three hours, or to complete all of his homework assignments on time. Long-term goals might be to earn a scholarship or a
certain grade point average. The important thing is to make them attainable.

Make A Commitment
Help your children make a commitment to achieve their goals. State the commitment
clearly and write it down where it can be referred to often.

Provide Motivation
For some children the earning of good grades is enough to motivate them to do well in school. For other children it is not enough. My sister had a hard time in math and so my parents told her that if she maintained at least a “B” average she would get the Girbaud (a popular brand at the time) pants that she had been wanting.

Think Positively
Many children don’t believe that they can succeed in school therefore they often fail. Help your children realize that if they are willing to do the work they can accomplish almost anything. When I taught school I had a student move in half way through the year. During parent teacher conferences his parents expressed their delight with their son’s grades, saying that he had been labeled as a not to bright, problem child in his old school. I had no preconceived notions about the child and as a result he blossomed. I expected him to do well and he did. Acknowledge even the smallest achievement. If your child turns in every assignment for a week let them know how proud you are. If they get a “B” on a test when before they have only received “C’s” praise them. Praising your child for the small things helps them realize that they can accomplish the big things.

Be Organized
For many children this can be the most difficult part. They may want to turn in every assignment on time but aren’t organized enough to do it. This is where a parent can help. Most teachers give plenty of advance notice on assignments so put together a calendar that outlines when everything is due. Then review the calendar on a daily basis. I remember a high school teacher stating that they could usually predict how well a student would do in school by how organized their locker was. My husband partly blames his bad grades in junior high on his poor organizational skills and incredibly messy locker. Teach your child to keep their space organized. Throw away old assignments and papers. Have a binder with folders for each class and paper for notes. Keeping everything that is necessary in one binder helps eliminate unnecessary clutter.

If parent help child in school, most children can achieve success. It just takes a little motivation, some organizational skills, and work on both the part of the student and the parent.