TIP SHEET #3: Tips From a Guidance Professional With 4 Children of Her Own

1. Model and encourage structure at home. There should be a pre-determined space for homework. It’s helpful if mom and dad present a united front for school expectations. Once kids learn they can play one parent against the other, the parents have lost the game.

2. Make love of learning a family affair. Let them see you reading books or doing internet research at home. Model “learning is fun” behavior. Let them know that their educational success matters to you.

3. Over-scheduling sometimes gets in the way of school success. Know your teen and set limits, making education the priority. Anything outside of school that gets in the way of education is a mistake. Some students can handle a lot more outside activity than others and thrive on having a full schedule, but others get distracted.

4. Car time is great because your kids are captive. Turn off the radio or phone and talk. You can go over vocabulary words (making funny sentences to use the words of the week), do multiplication tables, state capitals, whatever they are studying at the time.

5. You need to get involved as a parent if your teen isn’t achieving. Spend some time each day going over homework and returned papers. If they know you care, your kids are more likely to try a little harder. Talk to the teachers: they are a great source of information as to why your teen isn’t doing as well as you’d like.

6. The early years in school are the most crucial. Make it fun. If kids get excited about learning, it tends to carry through to high school and even post-secondary. Young children who view school as a place they have to go rather than a place they get to go are the ones who struggle later.

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