- From Children's Stories to Study
Skills: Help Your Children Succeed in School
- By Barbara Freedman-De Vito
©2005
Introduction
As a parent who wants the best
for your children, there are undoubtedly many things that you
already do every day to help your children succeed in school.
The purpose of this article is to provide some practical ideas
for you to try. Some of these suggestions may be new to you,
many will be familiar, and some are just plain common sense but,
hopefully, they will all serve as reminders of the many simple
steps you can take that are too often taken for granted or forgotten
about, due to the hectic pace of everyday living.
Read to your kids, whatever
their ages
First of all, read to your children.
We all know that this is important, but I'd like to point out
that reading aloud should begin in infancy. It can contribute
to your baby's developing attention span and receptive language
skills. In addition, I'd like to encourage parents to read to
growing children, even once they are able to read on their own.
Don't stop once your kids are in elementary school for, whatever
the status of their reading skills, hearing a good book read
aloud is an experience apart.
Being read to allows children
to focus more on the descriptive passages and the action, rather
than having to struggle with understanding every single word.
It also allows them to hear great children's stories that are
beyond their current reading level, and it's a wonderful way
for a family to share a magical experience. Choose a children's
book that can also be enjoyed by you as an adult, and have a
family reading session each evening or each week. A classic children's
story, such as "The Wind in the Willows," or the Harry
Potter books might be perfect for your family, depending on the
ages and interests of your children.
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Encourage independent reading
and library use
Offer quality children's literature
to your growing children and encourage them to read on their
own - at their own level and at their own pace. Fiction and nonfiction
can both open up new worlds of knowledge and experience and help
prepare kids for success in school and in adult life, and don't
forget that online children's stories are an exciting new resource
to add to your reading repertoire. |
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Take your children to the local
public library. Be sure that each member of
the family has his or her own library card. Help your children
see the public library not just as a place associated with homework
and drudgery, but rather as an exciting doorway to interesting
information and adventure.
Encourage library book borrowing related to any special topic
that interests
your kids - from astronomy to adventure stories, from fact to
fantasy.
Get your kids to participate
in some of the special free extra activities and programs that
are regularly scheduled in many public libraries, like storyhours,
craft projects, films, and summer reading clubs. Take your children
to museums, concerts, puppet shows and the like. Expose them
to any forms of entertainment and cultural enrichment that you
may be lucky enough to have access to.
Develop effective research
skills and good study habits
Help your kids develop research
skills that will serve them well, not only on school projects,
but later in daily life as an adult. For instance, if you're
planning a family trip, let the kids conduct library and Internet-based
research on possible destinations, sites of interest, driving
or flying routes, and how to dress appropriately for the climate
of your destination spot. If you're thinking of buying a new
car, let your kids take part in your consumer research, comparing
different car models according to a variety of pertinent criteria.
Nurture good study habits and
self-discipline. Set aside a regular, daily study time for homework
in a quiet, well-lit room. Be sure that your kids have a study
environment that's sound physically, as well as conducive to
mental concentration. A quiet room is important, but so too is
good lighting, a chair that provides good back support and access
to all the materials that your children need to complete projects.
Supply them with pencils, erasers, rulers, and so forth.
Encourage kids to keep their
desk or other study area neat and well organized. This will prevent
lots of time-wasting searches for materials and will really pay
off as your children get older and their school assignments become
more complex. Good organizational skills, which include the arrangement
of physical objects, plus the logical structuring of the steps
involved in completing any given project, can last a lifetime.
Take an interest in your kids'
day-to-day school life
Take an interest in your children's
school projects. Encourage them to show
you reports they've written or pictures they've drawn. Make them
see that you care about what they're doing and about how they're
doing, but don't make them feel like they're constantly being
monitored or judged. Don't add
pressure, just give them plenty of support, encouragement and
praise for jobs well done. Provide them with the resources they
need (such as Internet access, library time, books and magazine
articles) to do a good job on
school assignments, but... resist the temptation to do the school
projects for them.
Take the same approach with everyday
homework. If your child's having
trouble with a math problem, review the rules, explain the procedures,
and
check the results, but don't just give a child the answers. The
learning
process is more important than a list of correct answers to hand
in to the
teacher.
Go that extra mile
Among the most precious gifts
that you can give to your children is your time. Put them first
and make time for them. Build a happy, stable home
environment, full of love and security, and you've already gone
a long way
towards helping your children thrive and succeed both in school
and in life.
Be involved in the big and the small events that make up their
daily lives.
Offer your support, encouragement, resources and love. Be there
for them, no matter how busy your professional life is or whatever
other commitments you have. Before you know it your children
will be grown up and what they'll
become depends largely on you. For their sake, as well as for
your own, make the most of their childhood.
There are no pearls of wisdom
here, just a refresher course in things that
we've all heard a million times, but don't always stop to take
them to heart. They're so important that they deserve our attention,
to periodically remind us of what really counts in life. |
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