November 2011, Education - the Key

Five Ways To Help Your Child Succeed in Elementary School

Mon, Oct 31, 2011

Many Hispanic children lag behind in school achievement compared to their peers. There are several, complex reasons for this and we will be discussing these in upcoming issues of our magazine. Yet the fact remains that helping your child get the most out of school is one of the most important things you can do to help them succeed in life. Life is very busy for everyone, especially for parents that are working hard to provide for their families, however the reality is that it is your responsibility as the parent to help your children and if you don’t, it isn’t reasonable to expect that someone else will. Here are five simple and practical ways that every parent can use to help their children succeed in school.

1) Communicate. Daily conversations with your kids about school will help your kids feel confident and supported as well as reinforce what they are learning in school.
 
2) Read together. Whether you are reading a website, newspaper, or a book, using literacy in a variety of ways will help provide real-world context and motivate your kids to read. Always encourage reading selections that are of interest to your child. Even if English is difficult for you, try it. It will be good practice for both parent and child.
 
3) Create good homework habits. Set up a location and time for the completion of homework each day. Setting this expectation will help your child develop important study habits and allow you to supervise their academic progress.
 
4) Keep up the home/school connection. Talk with your child's teachers on a regular basis. Teachers always appreciate parental involvement and can give you ideas on how best to support your child academically at home. In addition, be sure to read all literature that is sent home and send back any permission slips or other forms that require your attention. If you do not speak English and your child’s teacher does not speak Spanish, take someone with you to help or request a translator; there is a large number of Spanish speaking personnel in our schools.
 
5) Take field trips. Expose your kids to as many things as possible. The zoo, parks, museums, theater, and even the grocery store are great places to build knowledge and vocabulary. Tell your child that after the trip is over you will be asking them to tell you three things that they learned and give them a fun, silly reward for their answers. Examples of rewards could be stickers, a small candy, ice cream, their favorite dinner or snack, or a trip to a ninety nine cent or dollar store to pick out one item!