It’s important to teach your child to be a good sport, but don’t limit it to athletics. Good sportsmanship is also important in life. And you play a key role in helping build this respectful behavior at home so your child can be successful in school. To encourage sportsmanship on and off the field: • Emphasize respect for others—family[…]
Consistency is the key to successful discipline, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also be flexible. If your child’s bedtime routine includes lights out at 8:30 p.m. sharp and you never, ever veer from it—even on special, once-in-a-blue-moon occasions—your routine may be too rigid. It’s important to build in a little flexibility. For example, has your child been studying hard for a test? Why[…]
You want your child to be a responsible student. Giving him chores at home is an important way to help develop a sense of responsibility that will transfer to responsible behavior at school. Here are some tips: • Make sure he has the knowledge and supplies he needs. If he’s learning to make his bed, for example, practice together until[…]
Although disciplining children can be a tough job, it can be summarized in three simple steps: Be firm, be fair and be consistent. Consider what this might look like: 1. Be firm. Your rule is: No TV before homework is finished. Your child has put off her studies and now she doesn’t have time for her favorite show. She[…]
It’s neither hard nor expensive to make your website one of the most helpful sources of information about your school. With very little time and expense, you’ll see increased school support from parents and the community—and spend less time answering the same questions over and over again, time that can be better focused on improving[…]
Issuing genuine invitations is the secret to getting parents to understand that you really do want and need them to get involved in their child’s academic success. Parents need to know that you really are inviting them to be involved. Yes, you are polite and smiling when you invite them, but often parents think you don’t really mean[…]
Decades of research support the connection between parent involvement and factors that affect school success. Research shows that when parents and families are involved, their children are more likely to be motivated, earn higher grades and graduate. These children are also less likely to miss school, get suspended, act violently or use illegal substances. Here are 44 proven ideas school leaders can share with parents to help[…]
Discipline is often a parent’s greatest challenge. Good discipline is critical to student success—and experts know it’s best taught by parents at home. Thankfully, there are discipline basics you can rely on throughout your child’s life to help you along the way. Research indicates that being a nurturing parent—not too harsh and not too lenient—helps[…]
Right now, when getting a good education has never been more important—and when school resources are stretched as thin as most of us can ever remember—it is essential to make sure that parents and families are fully engaged in the education of their children, both at home and at school. There is no question that[…]