Parent Tips:
Praise is appreciated by all children. It is particularly important for children who are hard to motivate. Keep in mind the enormous impact your praise can have on building their self-esteem and on helping them to develop appropriate behavior concerning school. With your continual positive support, children can be motivated to develop a positive self-image and to approach school with a confident, I-can-do-it attitude.
Getting Involved with your Children and School:
http://www.parenting.org/
http://www.kellybear.com/ParentTips.html
Praise is appreciated by all children. It is particularly important for children who are hard to motivate. Keep in mind the enormous impact your praise can have on building their self-esteem and on helping them to develop appropriate behavior concerning school. With your continual positive support, children can be motivated to develop a positive self-image and to approach school with a confident, I-can-do-it attitude.
Getting Involved with your Children and School:
- Put on a Happy Face! At the end of the day your feet may hurt and your head may pound, but when your little ones come running to you full of enthusiasm about something at school, put on a smile and match their excitement. When you put them off with “later, later,” their joy in the accomplishment disappears.
- Talking Texts- ask your children to read their textbooks or any book to you while you fix dinner, sort laundry, or drive the car. Any texts will do- a reader, a social studies book, even a math book. When they finish a section, ask questions to expand their comprehension of the ideas in the text.
- “I Can” cans- give each child an empty bottle or can covered with paper and labeled “My ‘I CAN’ Can”. Whenever your children learn a new skill, be it academic, artistic, or athletic, write it on a piece of paper and stuff it in the can. Review the contents of the cans periodically, and watch your children’s self-esteem soar!
- Make Mistakes Okay- when children can learn from their mistakes, instead of feeling discouraged by them, they are on the road to success. Make mistakes okay by talking about your own errors: “One mistake I made today was…” Encourage your kids to describe mistakes that they made, and then talk about solutions: “One way I can keep from making this mistake again is…”
- Banish Blaming- take a “no fault” approach when your children experience difficulties in school. Blaming teachers or classmates only strains relationships. Join forces with teachers to reach a common goal: helping your children overcome difficulties and find success.
- Beat the Clock- Punctuality counts. When a teacher sets a specific time for a conference, make every effort to be there on time. Teachers often schedule many conferences back to back, and one late parent can throw everyone off schedule.
- Information, please. Be sure to give teachers any information about changes in home circumstances that may affect your children’s behavior or performance. A death in the family, an extended sickness, a separation or divorce- even the loss of a pet can put a strain on children that spills over into the classroom.
http://www.parenting.org/
http://www.kellybear.com/ParentTips.html