How to Guarantee Your Kids Will Succeed at School
Dad: Hey Brian, how was your first day at school?
Son: Good
Dad: So how is your teacher?
Son: Good
Dad: Anything exciting happen today?
Son: Nope
If this conversation sounds familiar, there is an easier way to find out not only how your kids are doing, but to guarantee they’ll be successes at school.
It’s all in the questions you ask.
If you say “How was school?” or “What did you do today?” you’re likely to get simple answers. Instead, ask targeted questions and you’ll do much better.
What cool things did you do today?
You’re targeting a question to ask your kid about exactly what they enjoyed most about school that day.
Who did you sit with at lunch/play with at recess?
This works well in the beginning of the year, especially as your child gets new classmates. Find out the names they drop the most, and then ask more targeted questions about who their friends are and what those kids are about.
If you help your kids with homework the night before, you can focus on specific assignments. You can ask how their lab experiment went, or presentation, or spelling test. You can also find out what interests them, and spend some time online learning about sharks, volcanoes, or dinosaurs.
Even with targeted questions to bring out the stories, kids can still reveal very little about school. People For Education zeroed in on 5 areas where parents can have the biggest impact on the success of their kids at school.
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Set high (but not unrealistic) expectations for your child
Let your children know that you think it is important that they do well in school. High parental expectations have the greatest impact on student achievement. When parents consistently express belief in their children’s potential and tell their kids that they expect them to succeed academically, students do better. - People For Education
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Talk to your child about school.
Talk with your children about what’s happening at school — activities, programs and what they are learning. Surprisingly, this has a greater impact on academic achievement than monitoring homework, being at home after school for your kids, or limiting the time they are allowed to watch TV or go out during the week. - People For Education
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Help your child develop good work habits and positive attitudes about learning.
Parents help their children succeed by helping shape their children’s attitudes, sense of personal competence and work habits, including persistence, seeking help and planning. Rather than trying to directly “teach” your children, focus on helping them handle distractions and crises of confidence, praise them for effort and persistence and demonstrate a positive attitude about school as a whole. - People For Education
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Read with your child at home, in any language, even after your child can read alone.
Reading is one of the foundations of all education, and you can make a big difference by reading and talking about books and stories with your children. Reading with children is the best way to turn them on to reading. But this doesn’t mean that you should be forcing them to sound out words. Instead of focussing on teaching your children the mechanics of reading, teach them to love reading. Make reading fun and enjoyable! - People For Education
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Parent involvement in school activities.
Whether it is attending a school concert, cheering on a school team, or participating in community events and meetings planned by your school council, parent involvement in school activities can foster a sense of community within the school. It can build stronger relationships between teachers and parents, and provide an opportunity for parents to connect with and support each other. - People For Education
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via Globe and Mail
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I agree with all of the advice. We still have MANY years to go (our oldest is in 3rd grade), but so far so good. Something that I found that is KEY is to make sure the kids are well rested and well feed. Making sure they go to bed early on school nights, eat a good breakfast, and send a healthy lunch that they will eat all help.