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Helping Your Child Succeed in School - November 1992
Q: When should I talk with my child's teacher?
Early and often. Contact the teacher at the beginning of the year or as soon as you can. Get acquainted and show your interest.
Let teachers know what they need to know about your child. If your child has special needs, make these known right from the beginning.
If you notice a big change in your child's behavior or attitude, contact the teacher immediately.
The teacher should tell you before the end of a grading period if your child is having trouble; keeping parents informed is an important function of the school.
Remember, parents and teachers work together to help children want to learn and to help them gain self-confidence and self-discipline.
Q: How do I get the most out of parent-teacher conferences?
Be prepared to listen as well as to talk. It helps to write out questions before you leave home. Also jot down what you want to tell the teacher. Be prepared to take notes during the conference and ask for an explanation if you don't understand something.
In conferences, the teacher should offer specific details about your child's work and progress. If your child has already received some grades, ask what went into them. Ask how your child is being evaluated.
Discuss your child's talents, skills, hobbies, study habits, and any special sensitivities such as concern about weight or speech difficulties.
Tell the teacher if you think your child needs special help. Tell the teacher about any special family situation, such as a new baby, an illness, or a recent or upcoming move. It is important to tell the teacher about things in your children's lives that might affect their ability to learn.
Ask about specific ways to help your child at home. Try to have an open mind.
At home, think about what the teacher has said and then follow up. If the teacher has told you your child needs to improve in certain areas, check back in a few weeks to see how things are going.
Parents and teachers are partners in helping children.
Q: What if I don't have time to volunteer as much as I would like?
Even if you can't volunteer to do work at the school building, you can help your child learn when you are at home. The key question is, "What can every parent do at home, easily and in a few minutes a day, to reinforce and extend what the school is doing?" This is the involvement every family can and must provide.
The schools also need to take steps so parents feel good about what they're doing at home and know they are helping.
What we as parents need to care about is involving ourselves in our children's education outside of school.
Remember, you can encourage your child to work hard. You can give your child the power to succeed in school.
This book is based on studies; on materials developed and copyrighted by the Home and School Institute (HSI), MegaSkills® Education Center, 1201 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036; and on the MegaSkills book and program.
The Basics
The following are
among the studies that provide documentation for the text material in this
publication. Up-to-date research on the family's role in education is not easy
to find in popularly accessible libraries, even in bookstores. Selected below
are some of the more easily found sources.
For those interested in more information on these and other studies in the field, it can be helpful to check with university and other school libraries as well as with the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of the U.S. Department of Education.
Where Our Children Learn
What Our Children Learn From Us
How Our Children Learn From Us
All of the activities in this section have been adapted from the following copyrighted home learning activity programs of The Home and School Institute (HSI), MegaSkills Education Center.
Learning is Homegrown, developed for First Tennessee Bank.
MegaSkills® Workshop Program, HSI National Training Initiative.
Project ADD (Alexandria's Dynamic Duo), developed for Alexandria City, Va. Public Schools.
Project PACT (Parents and Children Together), developed for Arlington County, Va. Public Schools.
All of the material in this section has been adapted from The Parents Q and A Library, a copyrighted program developed by The Home and School Institute under a grant from The Work in America Institute.
Helping Your Child Learn Geography, for parents of 3- to 10-year-olds, offers suggestions on ways to help children learn the five basic themes of geography while having fun. 33 pp. 1990.
Helping Your Child Learn Science includes some basics on science and fun activities for parents and children to do together, along with resources for more science fun. 64 pp. 1992.
Help Your Child Improve in Test Taking has simple techniques to help children at all grade levels avoid test anxiety and prepare for teacher made and standardized tests. 1991.
Help Your Child Learn to Write Well has simple strategies for adults to help encourage children who are just learning to express their ideas through writing. 1991.
Timeless Classics lists nearly 400 books published before 1960 for children of all ages. 1991.
Cómo ayudar a sus hijos a aprender ciencia is the Spanish translation of Helping Your Child Learn Science (see above). 64 pp. 1992.
Helping Your Child Get Ready for School is for parents of children from birth to age 5. It includes activities to ensure that children will be able to make the most of school when they begin. 64 pp. 1992.
Helping Your Child Succeed in School contains tips for parents on how to set up study areas, what to expect of your child, how to manage time, and making decisions and setting priorities. 52 pp. 1992.
The following people were kind enough to review this book:
Dale Boatright and Lyn Klosowski, American Federation of Teachers; Joyce L. Epstein, Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning; Susan Hlesciak Hall, National Committee for Citizens in Education; Patricia Henry, President, and Catherine Belter, National PTA; Oliver C. Moles, Office of Research, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U. S. Department of Education; Paula Moser, Consumer Information Center; Catherine Peterson, Capitol Hill Day School.
Special thanks to Leo and Diane Dillon for their advice on how to work with illustrators.
Dorothy Rich, Ed.D., is the founder and president of the Home and School Institute in Washington, D.C. She has been designing programs for families and teachers since 1964, and is the author of MegaSkills® In School and In Life: The Best Gift You Can Give Your Child. Ms. Rich is a recognized expert on family learning and literacy. She developed the MegaSkills Workshops for parents now sponsored by school systems and businesses in 40 states, and the Classroom Management Through MegaSkills training program for teachers. She also designed "New Partnerships for Student Achievement" under a grant from the MacArthur Foundation; has served on the National Assessment Governing Board; has testified before the U.S. Senate and the National Governors' Association; and consults with state and local school systems and business groups nationally and internationally.
Betty MacDonald has studied at the Art Students League and The Chinese Institute in New York, and at Columbia University. She has won numerous awards and is in Who's Who in American Art. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and the world in such places as Italy, Brazil, the former Soviet Union, Kenya, Niger, and Botswana. Ms. MacDonald's art is in the permanent collections of several museums including the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution), the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.; and the Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has taught many courses for the Smithsonian Institution.
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