The Tuesday after Labor Day (or whenever the first day of school is in your state) should be the REAL start of the new year! This is the time when kids gear up for another year of building friendships, participating in sports, and learning a lot of new information and skills as they jump start another school year. Once the excitement wears off and all the parents have posted pics and stories of their children's first days of school, daily routines become the norm and the lazy days of summer are all but a distant memory.
Research shows* that when parents are involved with their child’s education, grades and test results are higher and students’ attitudes and behaviors are more positive. This helps the school as a community to be more effective. Here’s what you can do to help your child be more successful in school:
Many of you probably do a lot of these things. However, if you don't, it's never too late to start...and there just may be something in it for you. Last Wednesday, I started a wellness class at the local hospital that teaches us to incorporate eight healthful lifestyle habits to foster a positive change in our energy level, appearance, sense of well-being, and health results such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight. As the speaker was presenting, she re-told the story of David and Goliath...you know, the little lad that kills the big giant by throwing a stone between his eyes. In the story, David asks "What's in it for me?" He wanted to know what benefit HE was going to have if he killed Goliath. So the speaker asked us to think about what's in it for us as we incorporate the presented lifestyle changes and, of course, I thought of many things such as breathing easier (a big one if you have the pulmonary problems I face), improved immune system, feeling better about how I look, lowering risk of many common diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and being more physically active.
Now I am going to put the challenge on you! Ask yourself what benefits you could get out of helping your child be more successful at school. Maybe your child has ADHD, hates school, has poor grades, and has negative peer relationships and brings home this negative energy to the rest of the family every day. Helping him get this under control might help him to have better school experiences, higher grades, and more positive peer relationships, which in turn would help him to feel better about himself. The increased self-esteem will cause him to bring home more positive energy which then results in peaceful evenings for you and the rest of the family. Another example is that maybe you are an avid book lover but never find the time to yourself to do any reading. If you incorporated family reading time where the TV is turned off and the whole family reads together at the same time, you could help your child achieve their daily reading goal in a supervised manner, be a positive role model by allowing her to see you read, and get a few uninterrupted minutes to soak in a few pages of that novel you haven't picked up since May.
There are other things you can do, as well, to be more involved in your child's education. You can start attending PTA meetings or School Board meetings so that you can have a voice in school programming, commit to getting up fifteen minutes earlier so you can eat breakfast with your child, arrange to work a flexible schedule on days your child has athletic competitions so you can actually see the games, or volunteer in your child's classroom (this gives you some real insight in your child's life away from home). Don't feel overwhelmed and think that you have to do it all...choosing to do just ONE thing can make a big difference. Remember, David killed Goliath with just ONE stone! So commit to making one change for your child and yourself because when you ask yourself the question "What's in it for me?" you will probably find that the answer is....more than you thought!
Research shows* that when parents are involved with their child’s education, grades and test results are higher and students’ attitudes and behaviors are more positive. This helps the school as a community to be more effective. Here’s what you can do to help your child be more successful in school:
Many of you probably do a lot of these things. However, if you don't, it's never too late to start...and there just may be something in it for you. Last Wednesday, I started a wellness class at the local hospital that teaches us to incorporate eight healthful lifestyle habits to foster a positive change in our energy level, appearance, sense of well-being, and health results such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight. As the speaker was presenting, she re-told the story of David and Goliath...you know, the little lad that kills the big giant by throwing a stone between his eyes. In the story, David asks "What's in it for me?" He wanted to know what benefit HE was going to have if he killed Goliath. So the speaker asked us to think about what's in it for us as we incorporate the presented lifestyle changes and, of course, I thought of many things such as breathing easier (a big one if you have the pulmonary problems I face), improved immune system, feeling better about how I look, lowering risk of many common diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and being more physically active.
Now I am going to put the challenge on you! Ask yourself what benefits you could get out of helping your child be more successful at school. Maybe your child has ADHD, hates school, has poor grades, and has negative peer relationships and brings home this negative energy to the rest of the family every day. Helping him get this under control might help him to have better school experiences, higher grades, and more positive peer relationships, which in turn would help him to feel better about himself. The increased self-esteem will cause him to bring home more positive energy which then results in peaceful evenings for you and the rest of the family. Another example is that maybe you are an avid book lover but never find the time to yourself to do any reading. If you incorporated family reading time where the TV is turned off and the whole family reads together at the same time, you could help your child achieve their daily reading goal in a supervised manner, be a positive role model by allowing her to see you read, and get a few uninterrupted minutes to soak in a few pages of that novel you haven't picked up since May.
There are other things you can do, as well, to be more involved in your child's education. You can start attending PTA meetings or School Board meetings so that you can have a voice in school programming, commit to getting up fifteen minutes earlier so you can eat breakfast with your child, arrange to work a flexible schedule on days your child has athletic competitions so you can actually see the games, or volunteer in your child's classroom (this gives you some real insight in your child's life away from home). Don't feel overwhelmed and think that you have to do it all...choosing to do just ONE thing can make a big difference. Remember, David killed Goliath with just ONE stone! So commit to making one change for your child and yourself because when you ask yourself the question "What's in it for me?" you will probably find that the answer is....more than you thought!
*C.S. Harmon, Working Together for Children, ASCA School Counselor
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