How To Help Your Child Succeed In School

1.    Send him/her in a good frame of mind.

2.    Build up his/her confidence. "I am proud of you. I know you will do well. You are a hard worker."

3.     Praise him/her a lot for doing something well, especially if it is not usually his/her strong point.

4.    Do not heap praise on unsatisfactory work.

5.    Support the teacher and the school. If you have a complaint, take it up with the teacher. Don't mention it to the student.

6..    Expect to see samples of schoolwork regularly. Ask for it.

7.    Take what you hear with a grain of salt.

8.    Have books around the house, either the library's or your own. Be sure to have a dictionary and access to other reference books if possible.

9.     Keep your student well supplied with school supplies, even if he/she must go without treats. All workers must have tools. The nicer the tools are, the better the student works - usually..

10.    Show real interest in school. Attend meetings, class functions, games, etc.

11.    Encourage your student to ask questions. Don't put him/her off if you don't know the answer, encourage him/her to look it up or to figure it out. Then, check to see how he/she did.

12.    Look over your student's homework and encourage him/her to do it carefully. In the end though, it is his/her responsibility and not yours or ours. He/she must remember to do it and to bring the book each day. Haim Ginott in Teacher and Child made some good points. He said, "Homework is the responsibility of the child. When parents take over, they enter a trap. Homework may become a child's weapon to punish, exploit, and worry his/her parents.. Much misery is avoided when parents show little interest in the minute details of their child's assignments and instead convey to him/her clearly, 'Homework is for you what work is for us -- a personal responsibility.'"

Thanks for taking the time to read all this. If you made it all the way through, you are a TERRIFIC PARENT!