6 Ways to Improve your Children’s Grades

How does your style as a parent affect the grades your children receive in school? 

Is there anything that you, as the parent, can do to help your children improve their grades? 

The answer to both these questions is a definite yes. According to a Stanford University study by researcher Sanford M. Dornbusch, there is a relationship between parents' actions and their children's school performance. 

Parents can, and do, have an influence on their children's grades. Here's what you can do to help your children get better grades in school.

1.  Be firm, yet encouraging. Set reasonable guidelines for your children and stick to them, but also take the time to explain the reasons for the rules. 

Try to give your children the sense that you have confidence in their capabilities and that you know they are trying. Even if they aren't always trying their hardest, they may put more effort into their work knowing you think so highly of them.

2.   Communicate. Talk with your children in terms they can understand. Explain to them why you think school is important and why they need to do their homework. It may not make mathematics any easier, but at least they know that you value what they are doing. And take time to really listen to what they have to say. 

You can let them know you're listening by giving a one-sentence summary of what they said before going on to what you want to tell them. 

3.  Let them play. Unlikely as it may seem, participation in school sports is associated with better grades. This is because children use play as a way of learning, rather than just as a diversion, as most adults do. They also have more energy than most adults and need a constructive outlet for it.

4.  Praise your children. Low-key support, such as praise and encouragement, works better than material rewards or big, exaggerated emotional responses. Creating rewards and punishments is not effective because children become more concerned with them than with their schoolwork. 

Try to help them understand that though they may not always enjoy what they're doing, it's important that they persevere. There is an exception, however, to low-key support. When a child's grades are very poor, stronger intervention is necessary. 

The school and parents should work together to find out what is causing the low grades and take steps to correct the problem. You must keep in constant contact with the school to demonstrate your concern. Don't wait for them to contact you if you sense a problem.

5.  Don't overreact. If your children bring home poor report cards, don't get visibly upset because this will only worsen the situation. Your distress will upset your children more and this will lead to poorer grades over time. Follow the guidelines listed here.

6.  Don't be too responsible. When all is said and done, you can't control everything that happens to your children. There are many factors beyond your reach that may influence school performance. Your children's friends, teachers and neighborhood all have an impact. 

Don't take too much responsibility for what goes wrong. You have a responsibility to try to help your children do the best they can in school, but you are not responsible for the results.

      What are your strategies for improving your children's grades? Leave your comments below.

7 Signs of Bad Teaching and What You Can Do About It

    

You are your child's first teacher. This is not only true, but you as the parent remain responsible for 
your child's education throughout his or her total school experience.

Parental attitude have greater correlation with pupil achievement than material home circumstances or variations in school and classroom organization, instructional materials, and particular teaching practices.

Your attitude must be that  you want and deserve teachers who are competent and effective for your child.

A bad teacher can destroy your child's self-confidence, devastate his desire to learn, dampen his achievements, and leave emotional scars. You can't afford to allow your child to be subjected to incompetent teachers. You must keep tuned in to detect bad teaching.

Here are seven signs of bad teaching to be aware of:

1. The teacher has low expectations for your child.
2. The teacher can't communicate knowledge in an interesting way.
3. The teacher is not aware of your child's strength's, weaknesses, and interests.
4. The teacher gives disorganized lessons and vague, careless assignments
5. The teacher shows little enthusiasm in his or her work.
6. The teacher does not assign homework on a regular basis.
7. The teacher belittles your child's efforts.

Moreover bad teaching should not be the norm in your child's school. You have every right to understand what's happening to your child and teachers have the responsibility to share that information without prejudicial judgment. 

Want an Exceptional Student? Here's the One Thing You Can Do

In their book, Pygmalion in the Classroom, psychiatrists Robert Rosenthal and school principal Lenora Jacobson describe a study they did involving children from kindergarten through fifth grade. They told the children’s teachers which students in their classrooms had “exceptional learning abilities.”

But the teachers did not know that the researchers had chosen these “exceptional” students at random. When the students were tested at the end of the school year, the students who the teachers had been led to believe had exceptional learning abilities had made much greater academic progress than their peers.

In essence, the teachers had been programmed to expect more from certain students, and these students thus expected more of themselves and delivered.

The message here for teachers is that you get what you expect.

Expect the best from your students and you’ll get the best. And, above all praise the efforts. The results will come. This is great advice for parents also.

What are your thoughts. Leave your comments below.

Secrets of School Success, Part 2

Another important feature that sets academic high achievers apart and assures their success in school is their love of learning. 

Rather than viewing learning as a navigational tool, they love to learn because of the feeling of self satisfaction it gives them. They view school as a privilege rather than a problem. 

These children who achieve academic success look forward to the opportunity to shine on tests. They make a connection between effort and good grades, and see themselves succeeding.

Academic high achievers' love of learning is most influenced by the family putting a high value on learning. 

Research shows that the homes of these children tend to be quieter with no blasting of TV, disc players, or emphasis on computer games. 

Noise gets in the way of learning. Children reared in a noisy home are slower to develop language and cognitive skills. Students tend to achieve better in school when family life is harmonious and stable. 

You may not think of your relationships as a tool for your child’s academic success, but studies show that children who perceive harmony and commitment in the household feel less anxious and more grounded – – freeing them up to do better at school. 

Academic outcome studies have also shown that students who eat meals with their families more often enjoy greater academic success. 

Here is Part 1 of the Secrets of School Success in case you missed it. What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.

8 Ways to Help Your Child Remember Math Facts

As your child progresses from kindergarten through eighth grade, the knowledge and skill to be learned in math will not come become automatically unless your child is exceptional.

To acquire these skills require frequent practice and sustained effort. If you do not see your child consistently practicing the rudiments of
math, -- that is, working sets of challenging problems on a daily basis – then do not expect him or her to be particularly good math student.

Here are the 8 Ways to Help Your Child to Remember Math Facts: 

          

1.  Reward your child for improvement retention of math facts. Possible rewards include verbal praise (e.g. I am so proud of you for knowing five new math facts ” or a kiss on  the cheek.

2. Provide practice of math facts using a computer with software programs that provide immediate feedback for your child.

3.  Use daily drills to help your child remember math facts (e.g. written problems, flash cards, etc.)

4. Allow your child to keep basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division charts to use in solving math problems.

5.  Build upon math facts your child already knows, reinforcing facts your child has mastered. Add one fact at a time as your child demonstrates success.

6.  Have your child complete math facts and then have your child use a calculator to check and correct the problem.

7. Have an older brother/sister, an older friend, etc., work with your child each day on drill activities (e.g. flashcards.)

8. Review on a daily basis, those skills, concepts, tasks, etc., which have been previously introduced.

Overall, emphasize the importance of studying and the joy of learning through words and examples. Your children may acquire and keep this as a value for the rest of their lives.

What would like to add to these ways? Leave your comments below.

14 No Nonsense Ways to Help Your Child Read Better

As the former Secretary of Education William Bennett, once wrote, children learn to read by reading. Many American schoolchildren, however, read ten or fewer pages a day for school  and homework combined.

Your child will not become a really strong reader with such a limited amount of experience. He needs to be reading at home everyday. Especially if his homework is light, non-existent, or it's summer time, he needs to spend some additional time with books.

Here are the 14 No Nonsense Ways to Help Your Child Read Better:

1. Make certain your child’s reading material is appropriate for his or her level. If not, modify or adjust reading material to your child’s ability level

2. Have your child verbally paraphrase material just read in order to enhance his or her comprehension.

3. Teach your child to identify the main point in the material in order to enhance his or her comprehension.

4. Have your child outline, underline,or highlight important points in the reading material

5. Have your child read progressively longer segments of reading material in order to build comprehension skills (e.g.begin with a single paragraph and progress to several paragraphs, short stores, etc.)

6. Have your child list new or difficult words in categories such as people, food, animals, things that are hot etc.

7. When your child encounters  a new word or one whose meaning is not understood, have your child practice making up sentences in which the words can be used in the correct context.

8. Have your child identify one word each day that is not understood and require him or her to use that word throughout the day in various situations.

9. Make certain your child learns the meaning of all commonly used prefixes and suffixes.

10. Give your child time to read a selection more than once, emphasizing accuracy not speed.

11. Reduce the amount of material your child reads at one time (e.g., reduce reading materials to single sentences on a page, a single paragraph, etc.). Gradually increase the amount of material as your child experiences success.

12. Highlight or underline important information your child should pay close attention to when reading.

13. Make certain that your child learn dictionary skills in order to find the meanings of words independently.

14. Stop your child at various points throughout a reading selection to check for comprehension.



What would you like to add to this list. Leave your comments below.