School Success #3
Tips from Teachers
Teachers can give great insight from their experience. How cool is it when a child’s parent and his teacher can partner up. this partnership is a true gift of learning that will bless the child forever!
Master Teacher Cheryl Cummard provides some invaluable tips to help such great learning take place:
1. Be your child’s advocate. A child should beel safe and happy at school. When something is wrong, speak up. Most of the time, the child can’t or won’t speak up, so you must figure out what is wrong and talk it over. When her child was asked to read a book that was way too hard for his level, Cheryl went to the teacher and asked her to please read it in class. That way, she could explain the antiquated language and the difficult words as she went. Realizing the Cheryl’s son may not be the only student who was struggling, the teacher did just that, and thanked her for bringing the problem to her attention. However,
2. Stay out of petty social incidents, and they will die quickly. For example, if your daughter tells you that so and so isn’t speaking to her, don’t jump in. “What are you doing to do about it?” is a good response instead. Even if her reply is “I don’t know,” you give her the message that she can do something. Don’t just solve it for her. Pray about it together. Help her be nice to someone who is being mean, or to see where that person is coming from. Remind her that her friend may not have been taught what she has been taught. But if parents go to the teacher or the other parents, the incident is blown out of proportion and may not be resolved for the entire year! Let these things die a natural death by not feeding them too much. If you must intervene, however, then get the two together and mediate.
3. Go to the teacher first about concerns. The principal is always last resort.
4. Make your child accountable. Support the teacher. Many parents these days let their child off the hook, and blame an incident on the other guy or the teacher. Find out the truth, including the part your child played. Teach him to say, “I messed up. I will fix it as best I can, and I will do better.”
5. When there is a big assignment, cut it into pieces. Make a plan to have each portion done by a certain date. Kids typically will not do this process on their own. Without this kind of plan, kids learn to procrastinate.
6. If a child must memorize something, put it to music and add actions. They will learn and never forget it. Cheryl’s song: “D-A-V-I-D and I can spell my name!” (set to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat) was adapted to each trait, will be imprinted on your child’s memory when learned with actions and a melody.
7. What is the best reward for a home run or a goal or a slam dunk? It is the home run, the goal, or the slam dunk! Similarly, the best reward for an “A” on a child’s report card, is the A! A dollar or a candy bar or a doughnut takes away the satisfaction of earning that A, and becomes the reward instead of the intrinsic self-satisfaction.
8. Read! Read to your child. And if you read one of their assignments or assigned books with them, don’t have each of you take turns reading one page. During your page, the child’s attention may have wandered. One idea is to sit close together—close enough to touch. You read at least one full sentence, and the child can cut in and take over on any word after. Then it’s your turn to cut in. That way both of you are reading every sentence, and are staying tuned in to it all.
9. Teach students to become and “editor” rather than a “speller.” As an “editor,” the goal is to recognize when a word doesn’t look right. Then you can look it up or spell-check it! In contrast, a “speller” often memorizes and remembers the word until the test, then promptly forgets it.
10. Homework. Ideally, it should include communication, such a talking to someone about a certain topic for 10 minutes. That and reading. Reading helps every other subject. Don’t turn your homoe into a war zone over homework.
11. A teacher can always spot the children that didn’t eat breakfast. They simply cannot learn if their tummies are growling. A teacher can also spot those that ate sugary cereals for breakfast. They start to nod about 9:30am each morning. Cheryl kept a toaster and spread in her room, for both cases.
12. Teachers have such a heavy load that anything and everything a parent can do to help (i.e. grade papers, make copies, help in break out groups, etc.), frees the teacher up to do more teaching. If your student every tells you that he doesn’t want you there, i.e. to volunteer or to chaperone, that’s when you need to be there! Know what is going on in the classroom.
13. Every time your child gives a talk in Sunday School or Primary or helps with the lesson or leadership of Family Home Evening, they are building skills that will help them at school.
14. Talk over their day. “What was your favorite part of the day?” Or, “What were you grateful for at school today?” If you ask, “What did you learn today?” They might answer, “Nothing.” So you could:
15. Encourage kids to keep a journal or diary.
One idea is to write what they learned that day. If they only wrote one specific thing they learned each day, then they realize what they have learned, and there is at least a documented 200 things they learned in the school year!
16. Display their work. Put up a paper frame, or have a designated area, and let the child put there what he chooses. He can pick his favorite paper, and change it about once a week.
17. Pick a place for everything that must be signed. Cheryl had a “Sign by Tomorrow” box. That way papers don’t get lost, and get signed. Have a child empty her backpack at least once a week, so important things get read, nothing gets lost in there, and papers don’t build up.
18. There are lots of ways to learn. Point out what your child is good at. Maybe he is a good artist or a people person. If you are concerned that you child is struggling, be sure to have him tested, so he can qualify for extra help.
19. Be at school and be on time. Kids that learn to miss school just because they don’t feel like it or because they are too tired (or parents are too tired) is a bad lesson for the future. Life will be full of times we don’t want to do things but we just have to step up.
20. Most importantly, enjoy your children rather than spend so much time worrying.
Another great Teacher Dixie Parrish adds:
1. Teaching kids to serve others at home helps them get along with other students and teachers at school. If they are given chores at home, it transfers to taking responsibility and perseverance at school.
2. Read to your children daily, so they will become readers themselves.
3. Make sure they know their math facts by 4th grade, so that they can focus on problem solving. Flash cards are great.
4. Turn off electronic devices at home, and provide a place to do homework.
5. Say something positive about learning and school every day.
6. Thank your child’s teacher often—a little praise goes a long way.
See also: Children—School Success #2 It Takes a Team. “Give me a C! A Caring Teacher, a Coach, and a Cheerleader!