Back to School

Labor Day and the beginning of the school year will soon be here. The following are some everyday suggestions that might help the year go more smoothly for you and your student(s).

STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS—Students become better learners when realistic expectations are stated, consequences are understood, and when parents emphasize effort and not just results. Review homework, correct mistakes, but always recognize improvement. Praise your child for completing tasks, not just for perfection.

STRUCTURE—When parents provide a regular routine and monitor their children’s activities, students become better learners. Have a sharing time at dinner and have each family member tell one or two things she/he did that day. Designate a quiet place and a regular time for studying. Although individual family members probably keep their own schedules on an iPad or cell phone, post a family calendar to keep track of activities and chores.

OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN—Students become better learners when they have opportunities to learn outside of school. Go on a nature walk, visit a museum, read an interesting article together, or have your child write the grocery list.

SUPPORT—When adults talk with students about their schoolwork, praise them for their successes, encourage them to keep trying, and teach them problem-solving and negotiation skills, students become better learners. Attend parent-teacher conferences and school functions

RELATIONSHIPS—Students become better learners when they are given warmth and friendliness and when they receive praise, recognition, and respect. A positive environment that affirms one another is important. Send your child to school each day with words of encouragement and a smile. Take your child out for a treat when you see her/him exert a lot of effort on a school project.

ROLE-MODELING—Students learn better when adults in their lives read, study, talk about education, and get involved in their children’s schools. Read a book for your own enjoyment or take a community education class. Ask your child’s opinion about a decision you are making. Share a personal goal with your child. Helping to build a child’s self-esteem is an important job for parents and other adults a child encounters. We should love our children with unconditional love like God loves us…”Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish, love is never rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not prone to anger, neither does it brood over injuries…There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure…” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

By showing unconditional love and respect for each member, families foster good self-esteem in all family members.