Top 5 Ways To Prepare For A Successful School Year

By Anjel

Summer time means something different to everyone. Some welcome the slower pace and enjoy the option of sleeping in. Others see it as a time to travel and explore. I enjoy a break from packing lunches everyday!

Whatever summer means to you, parents of children who have struggled in school all share common concerns as summer comes to an end:

• How can I make this school year better? • How can I make learning easier and more enjoyable for my child? • How can I help my child keep up with schoolwork? • How can I nurture my child’s self-esteem? • How can I gain the school's cooperation?

To help address these concerns, I’ve put together the following tips for parents:

1. Build a relationship with the teacher

Whether your child has an IEP, 504 Plan, or just the school's cooperation, you can help your child get off to a good start by meeting with the teacher at the beginning of every school year. Let the teacher know that you look forward to working with them as a partner in educating your child.

Take the time to educate yourself on your child's learning style so that you can help your child's teacher understand it right from the start. For example: Many children with Dyslexia Success Coach process information differently. They face challenges with being able to rapidly recall information. This makes timed tests a real nightmare for our kids to prove their knowledge! Therefore, our kids greatly benefit from being allowed more time on tests, or having fewer questions to answer on tests. It's important that your child's teacher understands this so that your child isn't held in during recess or lunch to finish work.

Open communication is essential to bridge the gap between school and home. Some other suggestions are:

• Exchange email addresses and agree to keep in touch throughout the school year.

• Share information about your child that the teacher may not otherwise learn during the course of the school day, such as: techniques that have been especially helpful in the past and your child’s favorite hobbies and special interests.

2. Work with your child to create a homework routine

Creating a routine helps ease tension that often accompanies homework. Routine also helps develop organizational skills and good study habits.

• Designate a space for homework. Make sure it’s a quiet space, free from distractions, and clutter free.

• Keep necessary supplies at hand (paper, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, highlighters, sticky notes, etc.)

• Agree on a time. Does your child do better right after school? After a snack and brief playtime? Perhaps after dinner is more ideal. Decide what works for your family and make a habit of it.

3. Support at home

Parents can help bridge the gap between school and home. Until the child's reading and spelling skills reach grade level, parents can provide the following homework accommodations:

• Read homework questions to your child and ask him/her to repeat the question back to you to check for understanding.

• For children with spelling and penmanship struggles, parents can act as a scribe. This can be done by allowing your child to dictate their answers while the parent writes it down. The benefit of these types of accommodations? Allowing your child to prove their knowledge of the subject matter being taught. Free from worry of spelling errors or simply answering questions incorrectly because they did not understand the question.

4. Backpack checks

Weekly or even daily backpack checks are extremely helpful. Our children need help organizing in order to reduce lost homework, misplaced notes, etc. You can help teach this skill by going through and organizing with your child on a regular basis. But please, don’t do it for them…do it with them. It’s another great opportunity to teach organization skills that will help them for years to come. Doing this regularly may also help you discover uneaten food at the bottom of the backpack - before it rots!

5. Emphasize strengths

I can't stress enough the importance of making a consistent effort to recognize your child’s strengths and emphasize them. Many schools place a heavy emphasis on reading, writing, spelling, and math. These subjects just happen to focus on our child's weak areas. Having to work 5 times harder than your peers on a regular basis, and rarely seeing the grades that reflect that hard work, can have a negative affect on a child’s self-esteem.

Be sure to balance the challenges out with plenty of opportunity for success and ease. Provide lots of different experiences so that your child can discover what their strengths and interests are. It’s great for their self-esteem and motivation.

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