How to Help Your Child Do Better In School

As a teacher, I often see parents struggle to support their children academically. Here I lay out a plan to help your family get out of the rut and into better grades in school.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Become the manager, not the teacher. So often parents feel the need to re-teach what was discussed in school. Some parents are able to pull this off successfully, but most end up in a power struggle with their children.
   Instead you should help your child manage their study time. Sit down for 3-4 minutes planning what will be accomplished during this study time, maybe make a checklist of things to do. The first priority is to complete homework that is due the next day. The second priority is to work on any projects/tests that will be due soon.

2. Once the plan is made, leave your child to complete the plan. Check back in about 5 minutes to make sure work is being done. If so, then check back in 10 minutes. If work is not getting done, find out why. Resist the temptation to answer your child's question. Encourage them and try to guide them to the answer. If the answer cannot be found, then have your child mark the question and bring it to the teacher's attention the next day.

3. Be sure to have your child study for upcoming assessments a couple of days ahead of time. If your child is finished within 15 minutes, have them study for a quiz or test.
   The textbook is a great resource for practice problems. Just ask your child which chapter they are studying and flip to the end of that chapter. There should be a chapter review with a bunch of questions. Have your child complete the odd problems. When they are done, check the back of the book for the answers or have your child bring the answers to their teacher for correction. The teacher will be impressed and will gladly give feedback.
   Be sure to follow up the next day. Ask what the teacher said and if the questions were answered adequately. This is a much better conversation than, "What'd you do at school today".

4. When the child completes all the tasks, be sure to reward them for a job well done.

5. Make this a routine at home. The same time and the same place. Develop the plan and execute it. Create questions for the teacher and follow up.

Tips & Warnings

• Be consistent with your child. Don't follow the plan one week and not the next.

[chrissy41]

on 8/2/2009 Your tip on being consistent is excellent! So many times parents will be so committed in the beginning and slack off in the end (I have to admit that I, as a parent, has done the as well.)