HOW TO HAVE AN AWESOME SCHOOL YEAR!
WELCOME to another exciting school year at Discovery School. Your role as parents is crucial in providing the support our students need to be succesful in school. What can you do? Here are a few reminders on what you can do to help:
1. Stress being on time and attendance! Research shows that school attendance is the single most important factor in your child’s school success. Being late just ten minutes each day means 30 hours of lost instruction time each year. Please avoid scheduling doctor’s appoints or family trips during school days and hours. If age appropriate, teach your child to set an alarm clock so he/she can take responsibility to wake up but do whatever it takes to make sure your child’s in class on time and ready to learn.
2. Prioritize schoolwork. Stress that school and homework comes first, and before friends, a job, or sports. Limit (or restrict) TV, videogames, movies and/or playdates during school nights. Set high expectations that you expect your child to do his schoolwork to the best of his/her ability, and then make sure he/she does by following through. Set high educational aspirations for your child.
3. Be involved from the get go! Know what’s going on in your child’s school and classroom. Monitor your child’s school progress. Read the schoolcommunications (blogs), volunteer, show up to school events. Check your child’s work, but don’t do it for him/her!
4. Partner with the teacher. Show up to every parent conference and back-to-school-event. Call for an appointment if you see your child struggling. Maintain ongoing communication with the teacher and the school. Stay connected! Don’t let report cards surprise you. Know how your child is doing.
5. Show daily interest. Create daily rituals such as in the car, during the family meal or every night before your child goes to bed to discuss school. Ask: “What did you do in school?” not “How did you do?” Don’t let a day go by that you don’t talk about what happened in your child’s classroom and what he/she is learning.
6. Support your child’s school activity participation. Children who feel connected to their school are more likely to have better grades. Encourage your child to participate in school activities that match his/her interests.
7. Applaud effort! Acknowledge hard work and persistence not just the grade or the outcome. Use specific praise about a task so your child knows what he/she did right to help stretch his/her inner motivation. The single greatest correlation to success in life is not the child’s grade but his/her persistence. Emphasize the effort!
8. Be a role model. Read in front of your kids. Talk about the importance of education. Have books available so your child see that reading is important. Let your childrenn see that you aren’t derailed by a mistake, and problem solve to work things through. Be an example of hard work and persistence so your child has a model to copy.
9. Pass on high educational aspirations. Be clear that you value learning and why education is crucial. Your child must understand it is important to work hard and how his/her effort will pay off later. From an early age talk to your child about future education plans in “when” not “if” term: “When you graduate from high school…” and “When you go to college…”
10. Get help so your child succeeds! If your child is struggling with his learning don’t wait to get help. Call the school and talk to the teacher. Ask to speak with the counselor or area administrator. Your goal is to create the best plan to help your child’s learning steadily progress and reduce frustrations so he feels successful. Don’t give up!
