5 Tips To A Better School Year

The beginning of a school year is hard on everyone.  It is even harder for smart struggling students and their parents.  Below are 5 Tips to make the 2006/07 school year better

1-    Use a Visual Calendar every day and keep it visible
2-    Make it a goal to have your child get a good nights sleep
3-    Make the early morning work -- make sure they are fed, calm and ready to go
4-    Work with their teachers to proactively deal with known concerns and to address issues ASAP
5-    When doing homework -- do it in a quiet place, stay calm, and have your child drink plenty of water  

Visual Calendars/Making The Morning Work
A  visual calender shows the items that need to be done and crosses them off when they are done. For example, in the morning it might read:

Goal - Out of the house with a smile by 8 am
7:10 first wake-up call
7:15 out of bed
7:20 get dressed
7:30 eat a healthy breakfast -- healthy helps
7:40 wash-up, brush your teeth
7:45 do warm-up exercises
7:50 to 7:58 enjoy
7:59 take back pack out to car, get in and buckle up
8:00 drive off with a smile

Each day you can cross things off as you do them -- You will be amazed at how kids can do things when they are visual and there are fun items on the schedule.

If they are on medications that makes them drowsy, we strongly recommend giving it to them as early as possible -- we have known parents who got up at 5:45, given their child their meds and gone back to sleep -- it worked great.

Get a Good Nights Sleep
Our students often have trouble getting to sleep.  The challenges that prevent this are:
1-    Not enough physical exercise 
2-    Too much going through their minds
3-    Parents have tried and eventually give in

Again we would use a visual schedule for after school and we would include:
-    Play time right after school, if possible, to get rid of extra energy -- free play is OK and Yoga, Karate, or Music/Dance are even better.
-    Try and get homework done before dinner, if possible.
-    Have a calm time - either playing a game, playing with the dog, singing, or doing something calming before they go to sleep.
-    Set a clear time to brush teeth, wash up and get to bed -- keep to it.
-    Support your child by staying in their room if necessary to get them used to going to sleep -- if classical music helps in the background that is even better.
-    Give them a high five the next morning if they have done well.

Work with Teachers to Create a Win-Win Relationship
Getting your children back to school is hard and teachers have a more daunting challenge -- working with 20, 25 or even 30 students.

If you can establish a good rapport, great -- if your child has an IEP or a 504 Plan  (i.e. Public School Accommodations) do not assume the teachers have read it -- you may want to sit down with the teacher and:
-    Make sure accommodations that have been agreed to are provided.
-    You both understand the other's perspective
-    You meet the teacher more than half way -- the teacher has agreed to sign your child's planner to make sure they have the right assignment written down and you agree to sign off that it was done and put in a place your child can find it, DO Your Share Everyday.

Teachers really appreciate it when you help

Homework can be an incredibly stressful time for parents and students.  We recommend;
-  Doing homework in a relatively quiet environment -- background classical music works -- phones and cell phones should not be answered unless absolutely necessary.
-  Making sure your child has water both before doing homework and every 15 minutes takes a sip.
-  Stay calm yourself -- we have seen homework time reduced by 50% when parents set the model by staying calm -- students do not choose to not understand -- they need your help. 

We are 3D Learner, Inc. We started as very frustrated parents and professionals; then migrated to doing more traditional tutoring; and now see the benefits of a holistic approach that addresses:

1-     Teaching children the way they learn best

2-     Addressing vision and attention issues

3-     Helping children with both the right accommodations and test taking skills

Mira Halpert M.Ed. and Mark Halpert are parent-educators who have developed the 3D Learner Program ® and speak nationwide on Parents and Professionals Helping Students Beat Dyslexia.  To learn more, you can either visit their website at www.3dlearner.com or call Mira and Mark Toll-Free at 1-866-411-2578

» left by Jan Hayner

4 years 258 days ago.
39 fans.

This is a very good article Mira. More parents need to look at the outlook for the childs point of view. Unfortunately, they forget what it was like when they were that age. Parents and teachers working together can make the learning experience a win-win-win situation for child, parent and teacher; that's what I call rewarding.

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