 |
Back on the Right Foot |
by Terri Howze
The year
is half over,
but it’s not
too late
to turn
around a difficult
school year.
The first step for any parent whose child is struggling in school is to have a parent/teacher conference. A teacher can be your best ally when trying to get to the bottom of an academic problem. Teachers know your child’s strengths and weaknesses, they know the areas that your child might need to work on, and they can help you figure out some things you can do together to help your child.
There needs to be a partnership between the home and the school, with everybody working together to make sure that the child’s needs are being met and to remediate any weak areas. Some children, however, may be resistant to the idea of a school meeting.
Much of this resistance may stem from the child not wanting their peers to see their parents at the school, or thinking that somehow it will make things worse. This is especially true of middle and high school students. This is the time to practice tough love.
Talk to your child. Let him know that you will go after school, but that you will be having the meeting:
“I know you’re not too happy about me doing this, but I don’t know how to help you unless I get some input from your teachers, so I will have this meeting. It’s a good thing; it’s not a bad thing. It’s not because you’re in trouble. It’s because I need to know how I can help you, and I can’t do that unless I go talk to your teachers.”
During the conference, ask about specific areas that are in need of improvement and for remediation strategies to be used both at home and at school. After discussion, it is important to follow up with consistent implementation of the strategies and additional conferences as often as needed. Children tend to do better when they know their parents are involved with the school on a regular basis.
Establish realistic expectations for your child, verbalize those expectations to him and then hold him accountable for his learning (with the support of home and school) at an age appropriate level. Reassure your child that he can improve.
Listed below are some other general strategies that may be helpful. This is not an exhaustive list, just a few ideas that could be helpful for any parent whose child is experiencing difficulty.
| Set up for success |
Evaluate the number of activities your child participates in. A good rule of thumb is one activity at a time. Sports, arts and church activities are wonderful for children, and studies show that children involved in extracurricular activities tend to acheive more scholastically. However, too many activities at once can cut into study time and adversely affect grades.
Set and reinforce a consistent bedtime. Proper rest is important for optimal performance. A tired child cannot focus or function cognitively as well as a child who has had plenty of sleep. Ask your pediatrician how much sleep is right for your children and make sure they get it!
Proper nutrition is imperative for optimal performance. Children who eat breakfast tend to be more successful in the classroom, for example. Also, make healthy snacks available for study time. It’s difficult to think when your stomach is growling.
Establish daily routines for preparing
for school. There should be a reasonably
consistent time and place set aside
for studying. A rule requiring no TV or
computer until homework is done can go
a long way toward improving study
habits. Make sure the place for homework
is quiet, free from distractions and
that you are accessible to answer your
child’s questions.
| Team up with teachers |
Make sure your child has an assignment book, writes the assignments down daily and has the teacher sign it to ensure accuracy. Dilligently watch for deadlines and help your child pace his work.
Regularly check your child’s homework for completion and accuracy. Don’t do your child’s work for her, but do talk to her about wrong answers, asking questions to help lead her to get the right answer on her own.
Request weekly progress reports from the teacher. Celebrate improvements, even small ones!
Correspond regularly with the teacher through e-mail. Continued cooperation with the teacher can have positive results. Teachers appreciate parental involvement, and want to help families who care about education.
Ask for a Student Support Team (SST) meeting. This system, in place in all public schools, allows a committee of professionals, along with the parents, to sit down and discuss concerns and to develop strategies that can be used in the classroom in an attempt to remediate.
Turning the year around at the midpoint is definitely possible–not necessarily easy, but possible. With hard work and consistency, you can help your child achieve.
