Parenting resources for all who love and care for children
When I consider my son’s first year experiences attending college away from home, I must adjust my administrative guidance for the teachers working with college bound middle and high school students. I am learning that helping our students develop life skills is even more important for college survival than added academic skill development. [Read more…]
Ah, the age-old struggle between parents and their children to do homework! Why is it that kids fight tooth and nail to get their homework done? How can you help them take ownership of their homework? The struggle is real! Try some of these tips for helping your kids get in the habit of doing their homework: [Read more…]
When I hike with my grandchildren, they make many observations along the way. They may watch a slug moving on a leaf, or worms slither around as they lift up a rock. They generate questions about the plants and animals they see. Often this leads to conversations that generate lots of ideas to explain what they have observed. It is valuable to record these observations and these comments in science notebooks.
Recording observations can start with very young children by encouraging them to draw what they have seen. If children cannot yet write, they can dictate to parents or grandparents, who can then label the drawings. They may also record the children’s questions or observations next to the drawings.
Little by little, children will want to write for themselves. At first, they may write one letter or a series of letters they hear when they say name of the object they are depicting. This inventive writing should be encouraged. It is a vital step in the development of writing. Eventually, as their phonemic awareness increases and their phonics develops, children will fill in the missing letters and increase their written comments.
Test taking is a stressful and unpleasant activity for most anyone. For a child who may not have experienced test taking before, what are some practical ways to help them relax?
taking is a measurement of growth from one academic year to the next. For more details about growth mindset, check out the work by Carol Dweck.
Parent-Teacher conference time makes many parents nervous, but it does not need to be this way. Conferences are not an attack on your child, nor is it a time to put all the flaws of your child on display. Instead, shift your perspective. The question you should be asking is, “How can the teacher and I come together for the benefit of my child?” Here’s how to view Parent-Teacher conferences in a positive light.
When teachers start to explain all the standards that your child will learn in class for the coming year, it may be overwhelming! From the parent’s perspective, there are a lot of concepts that your child will learn. However, the flip side of this is that the teacher is actually outlining all the teaching standards by which he or she will be held accountable for teaching. This is the teacher’s commitment to you and your child. [Read more…]