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Love will never reject others. It is the first to encourage and the last to condemn. |
Parenting
Mind Games for Around the House Go on a Letter Hunt Hidden Letters Don’t forget maze and puzzle books. Visit www.scholastic.com for other great summer ideas. Opposite Simon Says Going to Grandma’s with Grammar Math War Does McDonald’s Sell Cheeseburgers Raw? Helping Kids Adjust to a New School Useful tips for parents and educators A new foster or adoptive home inevitably brings many changes for children and families: new preschools or child care settings; new classrooms and new teachers. Making a smooth transition between home and school requires teachers and professionals to help children feel good about themselves and teach them to trust other adults and children. Helping children adapt to new situations can ease foster or adoptive parents’ minds and give them a chance to become involved in their children’s education. Transitions are exciting opportunities for children to learn and grow. Parents and childhood professionals share a role in making children feel safe and secure as they move into new educational settings. Of course, such milestones in children’s lives can cause anxiety, too. Strengthening the ties between educational professionals and families will help create smooth transitions for adults and children both. How foster parents can help:
How teachers or childhood professionals can help:
Copyright © 1996 by National Association for the Education of Young Children. Reproduction of this material is freely granted, provided credit is given to the National Association for the Education of Young Children. COLORS MADE SIMPLE Get one bag of M&M’s and for every color the child gets right, let him eat it! PERSONAL WORKSPACE Create a small workspace for each child in a colored lid clear plastic shoebox, assemble a portable office kit: mini stapler, scissors, tape, glue stick, pencil sharpener, pencils, eraser, ruler, crayons for school projects. Get a lap desk so children can do homework at appointments or in car. ROOM CHAOS Hang a clear plastic pocket organizer on each side of the closet door to store action figures, beanie babies, Barbie clothes, hair accessories, handheld games. . . . all those little step on it in the middle of the night things. ON TRACK SCHEDULE Hang a small wipe board in each child’s room to leave a message or let them know the schedule for the next day. Or if you use a family calendar. Use a different color marker for each family member so it is easy to see WHO has WHAT and WHEN. SPELLING WORDS AND MATH DRILLS
QUIET TIME
Sensory Integration Tip:
Games – They Won’t Even Know They Are Learning
Boost
Grades and Confidence “Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic taught to the tune of a hickory stick.” We are all familiar with this old-fashion limerick. I’m sure every parent has a story reminiscent of the harsh schoolmarm who wears her hair pulled so tightly in a bun atop her head that her lips are pursed in a permanent pucker. I am sure someday our children will have similar stories to relate to their children. However, as parents, we want our children’s experience in school to be positive. We can help our children succeed by putting away the hickory stick, which means keeping our anger to a minimum when our child does poorly in school, and instead work to turn failures into successes. A positive attitude and confidence in one’s abilities are two important factors in whether or not a child will excel in school. How a child perceives him or herself is a major key in this area. Experts have found that self-esteem both influences and is influenced by academic achievement. Positive thinking, and the sense that he or she is competent and effective, will help your child create an academically successful climate. First of all, we need to remember that self-esteem is not something we can teach our children. A child’s self-esteem is established through the result of their achievements, it is not the cause of their achievement. Therefore, learning or accomplishing something makes the child feel good, and confident, which in turn raises their self esteem. We need to give our children opportunities to succeed. One way is by helping our children set goals. It doesn’t have to be anything special. A goal can be as simple as learning to get a kite airborne, or to remember to turn in an assignment on time. It is through success, either large or small, that children build their self-esteem. As parents, we want to compliment our children, we believe that praise will motivate our son or daughter into doing their best in school. However, using too much praise only serves to make the child dependent upon others to approve of everything they do. So, what is a parent to do? Experts say we should encourage our children. Encouragement credits the effort, or progress, the child has made, and when we talk about what the child has done, not how good it is, we help our children recognize their own abilities and progress. This gives the child the opportunity to do well if he or she wishes to, thus nourishing their own self-esteem. Parents everywhere want their children to flourish with healthy self-esteem, and to excel and succeed in school. We can help our children achieve success by making education a part of our family values.
There are many ways that we can help our children improve their study habits, which will aid in boosting their grades, and nourish their hungry self-esteem all at the same time. First, and foremost, but often neglected, is sleep. Children need at least eight hours of sleep per night. They are young, and their growing body needs all the sleep it can get. A child who is up late at night will spend more time fighting sleep than learning. Secondly, a good, nourishing breakfast will help to mentally prepare a child for the challenges faced in class. When it comes to homework, the encouragement and suggestions we can offer our children are endless. Keep in mind, however, that there is no single tool that will work for every child, but there are a number of techniques that have been proven to be helpful. I’ve listed below a few helpful suggestions. Help your child determine how they study most effectively, with minimal distractions, or with music playing softly. Research has shown did most often children study better in a quiet environment.
Should you have a child like mine, organization is a must. My son used to fold pages of notes and stick them in his textbooks, cram them in his backpack, or stuff them in his locker at school. So when it came time to prepare a report, or take a test, he could not find the necessary information he needed. For many children, organizing a loose-leaf notebook is a good start. My son uses what in our family we call the color-coded-pocket-folder-method. Each subject has its own pocket-folder. One side is used for completed work, the other side for work to be done. He labels each pocket-folder with a subject, and places the folders in the order of his schedule. (First period, second period, etc.) My son then color coordinates each pocket folder with a matching color spiral notebook. Each subject has its own color, such as red for Math, blue for English, purple for Band. At the end of each quarter he cleans out unnecessary papers that have accumulated in each pocket folder. An effective way of dealing with long-term assignments, such as reading a book, is to break it down into smaller parts. For instance, if your daughter has three weeks to read and prepare a book report, the task may seem overwhelming. Let’s say the book your daughter has chosen has twelve chapters. She might start by reading one or two chapters a day depending on the length of each chapter. This helps decrease the initial task and makes a daunting assignment more manageable. Another tool we find helpful in our family is a calendar. A large monthly calendar is tacked on the refrigerator door. The calendar helps to organize, and keep track of assignments and when they are due, as well as extracurricular activities, band concerts, and class trips. This is a good way for a child to learn to budget his or her time, as well as track important events, with a little help from Mom and Dad. Parents are a child’s first teachers; we play a major role in influencing and stimulating their young minds. Learning is a lifelong process. We need to plant the seeds now for success, so the rewards reaped by our children in years to come will be abundant. Reprinted from Family Times, vol. 8, no. 1, February 1999. Subscriptions are available for $22 for 8 issues. Write to: Family Times, P.O. Box 16422, St. Louis Park, MN 55416, or call 612- 922-6186. |
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Foster and Adoptive Care Association
of Minnesota |
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