Friday, July 27, 2018

7 Tips for a Happy, Successful School Year


For many children and their parents, returning to school is a joyful occasion—reconnecting with school friends and families, the excitement of purchasing school supplies and new clothes, the return to the comfort and normalcy of the school routine, and, of course, the gift of a little breathing space for Mom and Dad.
But for many other children, the new school year brings with it a large dose of anxiety: Will I struggle like I did last year? Will I make any new friends? Will I be bullied or isolated? Will the teacher like me?
And for many parents, the specter of another year dealing with various school-related issues, perhaps foremost of which is homework, creates its own anxiety, as suggested by the above quotes. To help reduce that anxiety and replace it with a sense of joyful anticipation of what the school year can bring, I offer the following seven parenting tips for a happy, successful school year:
1. Project a positive attitude about school and confidence that your children will experience success and happiness. Communicate to your children through words and body language that you are excited about the new school year and confident they will enjoy it. Children pick up on the messages we send, so make those messages optimistic and hopeful.

2. Establish supportive home routines. The school year calls for renewed attention to home routines, such as those surrounding bedtime, morning, and meals. Children appreciate and thrive on the routines that we parents establish. It gives them comfort and security and better prepares them for the routines and expectations of the school day. One routine consistently correlated with success in school is the family dinner, all family members around the table together—make it a habit as often as possible.

3. Avoid the temptation to make schooling a competitive sport by over-focusing on grades. Our culture is plagued by competitiveness in all areas of life—sports, fashion, looks, talents, wealth, and more. Let’s protect our children’s school experience from this hyper-competitiveness by focusing on their own gifts and talents and avoiding comparisons with others.

4. Remember that homework is a contract between the teacher and the student, not between the teacher and the parent. Somewhere along the way, many parents have come to believe that children are incapable of doing their own homework. This is not good for the child, who needs to learn how to deal with his own responsibilities, or for the parent, whose anxiety level and patience are often strained to the breaking point over homework issues. Homework is the child’s responsibility, not the parents’. (And school personnel need to assist in this area by ensuring that the amount of homework is reasonable and the quality is such that the child is capable of doing it on her own.)

5. Establish family rules related to TV, computer, and video game usage. There is a place for electronic learning (and playing), but every minute in front of a monitor is a minute away from family communication. No one forms a healthy relationship with a monitor; we only form relationships with real people, and home is where those relationships and the life skills surrounding them are born and developed.

6. Make optimum use of parent/child time during trips to and from school. Make travel time between school and home a cell phone-free experience. Think of the message we send our children when our attention is given to others on the way to and from school. And think of the message we give them when we put aside our cell phone and tune into what’s going on in their lives.

7. Avoid the temptation to over-involve your children in after-school activities. Life is getting busier every year for our children, as well as for the parent, usually Mom, whose job it has become to spend late afternoons and evenings as family chauffer. How many activities our children should participate in is a personal choice, and a key word here is balance—for example, one sport at a time might be a good rule of thumb. If we adults insist on leading harried, distracted, overworked lives, let us at least spare our children that. Children need far fewer activities after school and far more family time with Mom and Dad.
And one more tip for good measure: Take care of yourself. I love the metaphor of the oxygen mask, in the familiar words of the flight attendant: “If you are traveling with a small child, put the oxygen mask on yourself first, then on your child.” We are no help to anyone if we are not taking good care of ourselves. Take care of yourself—physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, relationally, and spiritually. Make it a priority—for your sake, as well as for your children’s.

https://www.positivediscipline.com/articles/7-tips-happy-successful-school-year

Friday, July 13, 2018

3 Superstar Tips for Starting the School Year Off Right


Whether we like it or not, the new school year is quickly approaching. Before long, our worlds will become a flash of paper, pencils, and backpacks.  We'll be racing to the bus stop, zipping our kids to and from activities, and plowing through homework.

Life moves quickly during the school year. It's busy.  It doesn't slow down, and there's no rest for the weary.
So before we start this wild ride, it's worth mentioning that as families, we really should set the stage for school year success from day one.   And we can.
Here are three superstar tips for starting the school year off right. Three tips that will hopefully guide your family into good habits which will lead to strong students and happy parents.
1.  Find a place for everything.  From the time kids leave the house in the morning until the time they rest their tired little heads on their pillows, they need to know where every single shoe, lunchbox, backpack, and school paper belongs.  Find and clearly label "homes" for each item, and reinforce from the outset that each child is responsible for putting everything in its place. If, when kids come home, they place their coats, hats, and shoes in the same place and hang their backpacks on the very same hook and place their lunchboxes on the very same countertop, the likelihood of anything being lost lessens.  And goodness knows that not being able to locate one of these items on a school morning means chaos. Especially if you're running late (which we usually are).

2.  Form school-happy habits.  From day one, start a routine that is both conducive to an "early to bed and early to rise" life and manageable for your family.  
Consider:•    Packing backpacks and lunches the night before a school day.•    Setting clothes out in the evening for the next day.•    Having children get dressed for the day before they eat breakfast so that they're ready to roll as soon as they eat.•    Doing homework together, as a family, at the same time each day.•    Starting homework right after school or right after dinner so there's enough time to complete it.•    Looking at the next day's schedule while everyone's together at dinner or bedtime.•    Creating a "head to bed" time that will be reinforced every night by every family member. This will initiate the bedtime routine and move everyone to shower, get pj's on, read, and hit the sack.
3.  Communicate early and often.  And with every involved party: your kids, the teachers, administrators, specialists, friends, parents -- you name it. Talk to them. And be willing to listen to them as well.
Write each teacher a quick email early in the first month of school introducing yourself and sharing your excitement for the new year. Ask how you can help support him or her from home or in the classroom. If your schedule allows, find time to volunteer in the class as often as possible.
Connect with other parents. Talk to them about how they think the year is going, and make an effort to maintain a positive outlook.   Set up play dates for your child with his or her friends and, before or after these play dates, chat with parents.
Talk to your children each and every day. Keep in mind, talking to them is listening to them, too.  Ask questions but be willing to hear the answers.  
School is such an important time for children—and a great time for families to support each other. Let's make this school year a success from the beginning!



https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/3-superstar-tips-starting-school-year-right.html