How to Have the Best School Year Ever
Seven Steps to Academic Success
By Emily Puro
The beginning of a new school year brings excitement, anticipation and high hopes. How can we keep the momentum going as the year progresses? We asked a few local experts – educators and parents alike – what parents can do to make the most of this school year and every school year to follow. Here are seven simple steps they recommend:
1. Make School a Priority
“Some of the most important messages are the subtle messages,” says Patti Book, principal of Beaverton’s Aloha-Huber Park K-8 School. By showing an interest in your children’s school work, making sure they bring necessary supplies and assignments to school, and ensuring they arrive on time, you demonstrate that school is important. School is your child’s job, says Book. Regular attendance and a good work ethic are as important for children as they are for adults.
It’s equally important to express high but reasonable expectations. “We can’t tell our kids enough that we believe they have the ability, with the right effort, to be successful,” Book says. They don’t have to understand every assignment, she adds – “We can help them with that” – but they always need to give school their best effort.
2. Talk With Teachers
A strong partnership between parents and teachers is essential for school success, but often finding time to communicate regularly is easier said than done. As a working parent with three kids, northwest Portland mom Diane Stadler relies on e-mail and other electronic means to stay in touch with teachers.
At southwest Portland’s Sylvan Middle School, where her two youngest children attend school, teachers use a secure web-based system in addition to e-mail to keep parents up to date on grades, projects and assignments. Not all families have access to e-mail, notes Book, so written notes and the telephone are still good options. While e-mail “is a good place to check in or give information,” cautions Book, “it can be problematic.” When issues arise or parents have detailed questions, she says, a meeting or telephone conversation is best.
3. Homework: Help Kids Help Themselves
Many parents struggle to find effective ways to help children with homework without doing the work for them. Our experts offer a few tips, keeping in mind the age, ability and temperament of each individual child. “We expect parents to be more involved with younger kids in terms of homework,” says Book, who suggests “a gradual release of responsibility” as children get older. Beginning about fourth grade, adds
Megan Aichler, director of services for Portland’s Minds in Motion Tutoring, kids should complete homework with little or no assistance. Homework is assigned to practice skills already learned in school, she says. If students don’t complete their own assignments, teachers can’t see where more instruction is needed.
If your child is unclear about how to complete an assignment, you can help by reviewing the directions together then modeling how to do one or two problems. Check back periodically to make sure things are going well, but for the most part, leave him to his own devices. When parents don’t understand how to complete an assignment, says Book, send a note to the teacher saying your child gave it his best effort but needs more guidance before he can do the work.
The most effective way to help children manage their homework, Book and Aichler agree, is to establish a regular homework routine. Designate a homework spot – whether it’s a desk in the child’s room or the kitchen table – and a regular time to do it. If your child’s homework spot is used for other purposes, like eating dinner, put together a box of supplies you can pull out to quickly transform the spot into homework central. While some children work best after school, others might do better after dinner or early in the morning. Some work well with music playing while others require quiet. Find a routine that works for your child and stick with it.
4. Teach Time Management
As students enter middle school – where multiple long and short term assignments are par for the course – effective time and project management become essential. While most schools provide planners for students to keep track of assignments and exams, according to Aichler, those planners aren’t always designed for optimal efficiency. Look for a planner that shows an entire week on every two-page spread and has pre-printed dates. That way, she says, students can enter assignments several weeks out without worrying about counting the days. Review the planner with your child regularly. A highly organized student might require only weekly parental reviews, but most middle school students do best with more frequent check-ins. And you don’t have to wait until middle school to teach time management.
Getting kids in the habit of entering assignments in a planner during the elementary years can make it easier to handle their workload as it increases. Remember that time management goes beyond organizing school projects. Help your children maintain a realistic schedule and post a family calendar in an area where everyone can see it. Talk about each person’s commitments and be willing to set limits if extra-curricular activities interfere with your child’s school work.
5. Feed Them Well
Numerous studies have shown a strong correlation between proper nutrition and positive academic outcomes – from better performance in school and on standardized tests to improved behavior and attentiveness in class.
Most parents know that a nutritious breakfast is essential, but what qualifies as nutritious? Breakfast should be balanced, says Stadler, a registered dietitian who works as a research assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University. It should include both complex carbohydrates and protein.
Carbohydrates provide quick energy to get kids going but that energy lasts only a few hours. A healthy dose of protein extends that energy long enough to carry them to lunch. Portions don’t have to be huge, Stadler adds. A cup of milk with cereal or whole grain toast, some yogurt, or a breakfast bar with protein will suffice. “Every ounce of milk or yogurt provides a gram of protein,” she notes. “A tablespoon of peanut butter scraped across a graham cracker is phenomenal compared with a donut, a slice of toast with jam, or nothing at all.”
Lunch also should include protein as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. Be sure to read labels and avoid foods that contain trans fats, high fructose corn syrup and other unnatural ingredients, as well as foods that are high in saturated fats and sugars. Look for breads and baked goods that contain whole grains and several grams of fiber per serving. Be sure to involve your kids in food selection, too, or they might not eat the nutritious meal you pack.
Remember that good habits begin at home. Even when her children purchase a school lunch, Stadler says, they’ve been trained to look for healthful options including fruits and vegetables. They also know that water and milk – even chocolate milk – are their beverages of choice.
6. Make After School Hours Count
What kids do after school is as important as what they do in school – especially with middle school and high school students who often are unsupervised. Make sure they’re involved in something, says Holly Vaughn-Edmonds, a counselor at Beaumont Middle School and the mother of two. If your teen or tween decides it’s time to give up soccer or ballet after years of practice, that’s fine. Just make sure she replaces it with something else.
“The kids I see who get into trouble,” says Vaughn-Edmonds, “are the ones who are doing nothing, the ones hanging out with lots of time on their hands.” Check with your child’s school, your local parks and recreation department, and other parents to find out what’s available.
7. Manage Morning Madness
Starting the day in a calm, orderly fashion goes a long way toward setting a positive tone, but for many busy families, mornings are chaotic. A little planning and a regular routine can help. Some families make lunches and lay out clothes the evening before. Others simply wake up early enough to get everything done before it’s time to
leave. Designating a place – preferably near the door – for backpacks, shoes, lunches and anything else your kids need to take to school will alleviate the mad dash to find things at the last minute.
Anything that needs to be signed or returned to school should be ready to go the night before. If your kids move between houses, make sure all the necessary school supplies move with them. Contingency planning can help, too. Although
Stadler’s children know where to find their lunches as they leave for school, they sometimes forget to bring them. “We always keep a balance in their school lunch account for those occasions,” says Stadler.
Ultimately, enforcing reasonable bedtimes and wake-up times and establishing a standard morning routine are well worth the efforts. “A routine is really important,” says Kim Abel, a kindergarten teacher at southwest Portland’s Maplewood Elementary School and the mother of three teenagers. “It makes kids much more calm at school which makes them ready to learn,” she explains. “If parents can provide their kids with some consistency and a routine, they’ll be much more successful.”
Emily Puro is a Portland freelance writer and mom.
June 12th, 2010 | Category: General Education Topics
