[For All Ages] [For Elementary Students] [Middle and High School Students]

[Reading] [Homework Tips] [Resources] [Math Web Sites]

Being a Parent

Being a parent is perhaps the only job that requires no training, no degree, and lasts a lifetime. It pays no salary, has no vacation or holidays, and allows no sick leave. And you can never say, “I quit!” But it’s a job with the most benefits. It’s a job that changes you forever and shows you how deeply you are able to love.

By Claudia G. Lints

Things You Can Do to Help Your Children Succeed in School

FOR STUDENTS OF ALL AGES

At Home:

1. Ask about their homework—what it is, when it’s due—and check

to make sure they do it.

2. Provide a quiet place, with a good light and away from

distractions, for them to do homework.

3. Make sure they get a good night ‘s sleep each night and eat a

healthy, substantial breakfast each morning.

4. Talk to them about school for at least a few minutes each day

To let them know you’re interested and you think school is important.

5. Teach them respect for others and responsibility for their own

behavior.

6. Make sure they get regular health and dental check-ups.

7. Limit children’s exposure to TV and video games.

8. Be positive about school. If parents say “I wasn’t good at school” or “I really didn’t like school,” this can turn children away from learning.

9. Check your children’s school web sites regularly to keep informed.

At School:

1. Attend back-to-school nights and parent/teacher nights to meet

Your children’s teachers.

2. If you are concerned about something, meet with your children’s

teacher promptly, before a minor issue becomes a major problem.

3. If possible, volunteer—regularly or even just occasionally—at

Your children’s schools. You will get to know the school better and show your children that you consider education very important.

FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS

At Home:

1. Read to your children or look at a book with them for at least

5-15 minutes each day.

2. Have books and magazines appropriate for your children’s reading level available for them.

3. Use routine household events to teach about numbers and colors—shopping for food, using a recipe, sorting laundry, etc.

4. Give children small rewards for success (either behavior or academic) at school.

5. Praise them when they get good grades or do their homework completely and without complaint.

6. Take your children to the special programs for youngsters at your local public library.

7. Make sure your child has all necessary childhood immunizations.

At School:

1. Join a parent-teacher organization (PTA or other parent group) and attend meetings.

2. Talk to the teachers to find out what your children will be learning each year.

3. Ask the teachers for suggestions about how you can help your children at home.

4. Make arrangements to visit your children’s classrooms at least once during school hours, just to observe. Talk to the teacher later about anything you didn’t understand or were concerned about.

5. Ask about after-school programs or extra-help sessions if you think your children could benefit from these.

FOR MIDDLE-AND HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS

At Home:

1. Continue to encourage your children to read. Don’t let TV, video games, or friends absorb all their free time.

2. Talk to your children about their specific interests related to school—subjects or teachers they like, clubs or extracurricular activities, books they are reading, projects they are working on, etc.

3. Discuss their choice of courses with them so that they are well prepared for different options after high school.

4. Begin discussing with them what they might like to do after they graduate form high school.

5. Know your children’s friends, where they live, and, if possible, their parents.

6. If your children work part-time, make sure this doesn’t interfere with schoolwork or getting a good night’s sleep during the week.

7. Continue to celebrate school successes with appropriate rewards. Even though they may seem embarrassed, your children will appreciate your enthusiasm for their good work.

At School:

1. Get a copy of your children’s schedules each semester.

2. Find out what guidance is available to your children in choosing a college, applying, and finding scholarships and loans.

3. Volunteer for school activities—chaperone a school dance or field trip, help with sports events, etc.

4. Serve on school committees that involve parents.

For more ideas and resources for parents, visit the National PTA web site at www.pta.org.

Tips For Parents: www.learningfirst.org

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Resources!

Opening the Pathways to College Financing

Increased federal education funding combined with record low interest rates for students loans mean that the college dream is becoming a reality for more and more students.

The Education Department’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs are the largest source of financial aid in the nation, providing nearly 70 percent of all student financial aid to cover expenses for eligible programs at participating institutions, including (but not limited to) four-year or two-year colleges or universities, career schools and trade schools. Financial aid can be used to pay tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation.

The FSA Web site http://studentaid.ed.gov offers great fact sheets and brochures on such topics as:

• Stafford Loan Forgiveness for Teachers
• Military Scholarships
• Myths about Financial Aid
• Repaying Your Student Loans

Many FSA brochures also are available in Spanish. For more information, visit http://studentaid.ed.gov or call 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). Spanish-speaking customer service representatives are available.

What Top Researchers Say About Reading

By Ed Kame’enui, Marilyn Adams, & G. Reid Lyon

Parents can have a strong positive influence on their child’s reading. Research has shown that enjoying books with a child for even a few minutes a day can make a measurable difference in the acquisition of basic reading skills, and that everyday activities—such as a trip to the grocery store—can be turned into enjoy able learning experiences.

The following is a list of eleven ways in which parents can encourage the development of the skills needed by children in order for them to become good readers.

1. Create Appreciation of the Written Word

• Find time to read aloud with your child every day. Typically, parents play an important role in developing this skill by reading to children and showing how important reading is to their daily life. Lap time with picture books and stories can strongly motivate your child to enjoy reading. Try to make these books available for your children to explore and enjoy on their own as well.

2.Develop Awareness of Printed language

• Teach about books. When reading aloud to your child, let your child open the book and turn the pages. Point to the words as you read. Draw attention to repeated phrases, inviting your child to join in each time they occur.
• Point out letters and words that you run across in daily life. Make an obvious effort to read aloud traffic signs, billboards, notices, labels on packages, maps, and phone numbers. Make outings a way to encourage reading by showing your child how printed words relate to daily living.

3. Learn The Alphabet

• Play alphabet games. Sing the alphabet song to help your child learn letters as you play with alphabet books, blocks, and magnetic letters. Recite letters as you go up and down stairs or give pushes on a swing. A-B-C, dot-to-dot and letter-play workbooks, games, and puzzles are available at most toy stores. Many engaging computer games are designed for teaching children letters. Make sure these toys are available even when you are unable to play along.
• Watch Sesame Street with your child. Show the child how to sing along, answer the riddles, and engage actively in its fun.
• Make writing materials available to your child and encourage their use. Help your child learn to write his/her name and other important words or phrases. Gradually, help the child learn to write more and more letters. At first, most children find it easier to write uppercase letters.

4. Understand the Relation of Letters and Words

• Teach your child to read these words every place they are seen. Draw attention to these and other frequently occurring words as you read books, with your child. Challenge the child to read these words as they arise or to search them out on a page. Play word-building games with letter tiles or magnetic letters. Have the child build strings of letters for you to read.

5. Understand That Language is Made of Words, Syllables, and Phonemes

· Sing songs and read rhyming books. Sing the alphabet with your child, and teach your child songs that emphasize rhyme and alliteration, such as “Willaby Wallaby Woo” and “Down By the Sea.” Emphasize the sounds as you sing. Play rhyming games and clap out names. Jumble the wording or word order of familiar poems and challenge your child to detect the error. Talk like a robot, syllable by syllable.

· Play word games. Challenge your child to play with words. For example, ask your child to think of words that rhyme with bat or begin with /m/. What would be left if you took the /k/ sound out of /k/ sound out of /m/ and ilk; and /s/,/a/ , and /t/. Which of these words starts with a different sound—bag, candy bike? Do boat and baby start with the same sound?

6. Learn Letter Sounds

• Sound out letters. Point out other words that begin with the same letter as your child’s name, drawing attention to the similarities of the beginning sound. Use alphabet books, computer games, or car games such as, “I’m thinking of something that starts with /b/” to engage the child in alliterative and letter-sound out rhyming words as you read or challenge the child to do so for you. Play word games that connect sounds with syllables and words. For example: If this spells cat, how do you spell hat?

7. Sound Out New Words

• Point out new words. As you encounter them, say the sound while touching each letter in a new word. For example, say “s-u-n” and then blend sounds to create the word. In practicing new words, use predictable words with common sounds and spelling, like fun or sat instead.
• If you encounter words with unknown meaning or with complex spelling, encourage your child to try to sound out the words. However, if too many words require this kind of attention and effort, it is best to find an easier book.
• Play spelling games with your child. After your child begins pronouncing words, encourage spelling by saying each sound in the words and then writing the letter that goes with the sound.
• Encourage your child to spell. After your child has learned to pronounce words, have the child say each sound.
• Independent writing. Encourage your child to use inventive or independent spelling. At this stage, the child will tend to omit letters and confuse letter names with letter sounds, producing such spellings as LFNT for elephant, BN for bean, and FARE for fairy. Use correction wisely. What you should be most concerned about is the child’s sensitivity to the sounds that need to be represented.

8. Identify Words in Print Accurately and Easily

· Help your children to read easy, enjoyable stories as often as possible. It is likely that your child will enjoy reading more and learn more from reading if you sit together, taking turns reading and encouraging discussion. In the beginning, invite the child to read well-chosen words. Gradually, as the child becomes able, take turns with sentences, speakers, paragraphs, and pages. At the end of each section or story, revisit those words that caused trouble. Rereading the entire story over several days, and again weeks later, is a powerful way to reinforce this learning.

9. Know Spelling Patterns

· Now it becomes useful to point out the similarities between words such as will, fill, and hill or light, night, and sight. This is also the time to help your child learn the correct spelling of the words he/she writes.

10. Learn to Read Reflectively

· Pause for discussions as you read. As you read stories to and with your child, stop frequently to discuss their language, content, and relevance to real life and other knowledge. Pause to explore the meaning of new words, using them in other sentences an contrasting what they mean with words that have similar meanings. Make an effort to revisit new words and concepts later, when the book has been put aside.

When reading stories, pause to discuss the various characters, problems, events in the story, and invite your child to think about how the problems might happen next. When resuming a story, ask your child to review what has happened so far, drawing attention to looming mysteries and unresolved conflicts. In reading expository text, invite the child to marvel at the creatures or events described and to wonder about details or connections not mentioned by the text.

11. Above all: Read, read, and re-read

Excerpted from: Learning to Read/Reading to Learn: Helping Children wit Learning Disabilities to Succeed. (1996). National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators. ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for Exceptional Children.

“The single most important thing a parent can do to help a child learn to read is to transmit a love of reading.

Phyllis Hunter

National Fellow of the Institute of Learning

Reading Homework Tips For Parents

Have your child read aloud to you every night.

Choose a quiet place, free from distractions, for your child to do his nightly reading assignments.

As your child reads, point out spelling and sound patterns such as cat, pat, hat.

When your child reads aloud to you and makes a mistake, point out the words she has missed and help her to read the word correctly.

After your child has stopped to correct a word he has read, have him go back and reread the entire sentence from the beginning to make sure he understands what the sentence is saying.

Ask your child to tell you in her own words what happened in a story.

To check your child’s understanding of what he is reading, occasionally pause and ask your child questions about the characters and events in the story.

Ask your child why she thinks a character acted in a certain way and ask your child to support her answer with information from the story.

Before getting to the end of a story, ask your child what he thinks will happen next and why.

A List of helpful math Web Sites

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/ interactive on various topics (**used for probability)

http://www.nwlincx.org/mtlincs/Reggies/Math.htm list of websites for math games

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/

http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/patterns/index.html patterns

http://www.math.com/students/puzzles/puzzleapps.html games puzzles

http://www.kidsbank.com/ money

http://www.kidsmath.com/

http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/sbeck/interactive_curriculum_sites.htm#Math massive list of sites

http://www.escapefromknab.com/ Escape from Knab

http://www.kidscom.com/games/crunch/crunch.html games for A, S, M, D