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Helping Children Succeed in School

As children return to the classroom, parents often wonder how they can help their children succeed in school — without doing too much for their children. There are two key areas in which parents have tremendous influence: success attitudes and skills.

A successful school attitude is built on confidence. Parents want to treat mistakes as opportunities to learn and encourage children to ask questions. Otherwise, children may lack confidence because they view asking questions or making mistakes as signs of weakness, rather than strengths that will help them learn more.

Some children feel insecure about trusting their own judgment and abilities because they depend too much on other people for direction and approval. Parents want to avoid only saying, "Good job." Instead, describe what made it "good" and point out any effort or improvement the child showed. This helps children know what to do next time and not need constant approval from others.

Parents also should avoid paying children for good grades or giving stickers for success. They usually discourage children or they might work in the short run, but won’t teach self-motivation.

To succeed in school, children need two crucial skills: organizational skills to get their materials home and back to school and time management skills so they complete their work.

Every child needs to be at least somewhat organized to succeed in school. At the least, parents need to provide children with organizational supplies. If a child or parent is not naturally organized, it’s helpful to have a reliable system to follow.

Be sure your child’s "system" is simple. I tend to be more organized than most people, but don’t go so far as alphabetizing my soup. Yet, I once had a teacher present an organizational system for my third grader that was so complicated it took me several weeks to figure it out. In the end, I scrapped it and helped my child come up with a system that would work for her and still meet the teacher’s goal of being more organized.

An organizational system must meet the needs of parents, teachers and children, but be easily adaptable to a child or teacher’s particular needs. A key feature is getting color-coded folders for each subject so children can quickly find their subject materials at a glance. Color-coding also helps children file their assignments correctly, so they will bring home their assignments and return them to school.

In the past, pulling together such a system took a lot of searching, but now there are products like the Mead & Scholastic pre-organized color-coded school supply system for children in grades 3 – 6. This unique system includes all the necessary supplies in color-coded subject-specific formats and even includes curriculum-specific reference materials. So if children (or parents) forget how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, or what a preposition is, it’s in the front of that subject’s notebook.

To teach children time management and good study skills, establish a consistent routine. Let children choose whether they will always do their homework immediately after school or after dinner, if they need some time to unwind or play before sitting again.

Provide a specific uncluttered space for homework. Be available for questions and support, but don’t hover or do too much for children. Instead of giving children answers, ask questions that help children figure out the answer independently. This provides children lifelong learning skills.

Success in school is like a three-legged stool in which the parent, teacher and student each play a vital role. The parent’s role in school success is that of a "supporting cast member." Parents can best support the child and teacher by being encouraging, helping children get organized and teaching children to be independent, instead of doing too much for children.

Parents can learn more specific details about helping children succeed in school by visiting a special back-to-school tips page I’ve created at my website: www.ParentsToolshop.com. Just go to the home page and click on "Back-to-School" tips. It will take you to a page with links to a baker’s dozen (13) of articles and back-to-school resources that will be available throughout September.

Jody Johnston Pawel is a Licensed Social Worker, Certified Family Life Educator, second-generation parent educator, founder of The Family Network, and President of Parents Toolshop Consulting. She is the author of 100+ parent education resources, including her award-winning book, The Parent's Toolshop. For 25+ years, Jody has trained parents and family professionals through her dynamic workshops and interviews with the media worldwide, including Parents and Working Mother magazines, and the Ident-a-Kid television series. Jody currently serves as the online parenting expert for Cox Ohio Publishing’s mom-to-mom websites and also serves on the Advisory Board of the National Effective Parenting Initiative.

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