Helping Your Child Succeed In School: Pt 2

Last week, we looked at some ways parents can help their child succeed in school. We can all agree that as parents we want our child to be successful in school. As parents, we truly are our child’s first teacher. Let’s take a look at some additional ways we can help our child succeed in school.

Fourth, be your child’s advocate. Become informed about your child’s learning, behavior, and other areas of concern at the school. Ask your child’s teacher or principal about any concerns you may have about your child’s learning progress or behavior. Remember, we talked about establishing a partnership with the teacher and school? Do you see how we have had to interact with the teacher and administrators at the school and why it’s important to build this partnership early? As a parent, learn about your rights especially if your child is receiving special services or experiencing trouble learning, adjusting, behavior or trouble with peers or teachers. Express your concerns with the school team and make an effort to work with them to alleviate your concerns.

Finally, look for ways to support your child’s learning at home. Do you know that by simply demonstrating a positive attitude about school, learning, and education serves as a powerful model to our children? Show an interest in what they are learning in school – ask them what they learned and don’t accept ‘nothing’ as an answer. Talking with your child about what they are learning encourages them to pay attention in class, stimulates language development in young children and encourages listening skills. Introduce your child to the library early and encourage them to continue to use it as they progress through school. Encourage your child to demonstrate responsibility and independence through chores, house rules, and making age appropriate choices.

You can take part and help your child succeed in school by implementing a few or all of these suggestions. You may already do some of these or you may see a few new ones you can try. Talk as a family and determine which of these may work better for you or if you can come up with some of your own! The key is to make a decision to take an active role in your child’s school life and then do it.

Resource: Colorin Colorado