In our daily lives it’s easy to get caught up in all the tasks that we have to do. It’s very easy to push our children’s schooling to the back of our minds because after all that is why they’re in school- to have their education taken care of. However, it’s important to make sure we don’t cast off the responsibility for that education to the schools completely. There are some simple things we can do as parents to help our kids get the most out of their time in school.
Check in with their teachers. Try to make an effort to make those parent-teacher conference nights and/or keep in touch in some manner with the teachers. If you can’t make it to a conference night see if the teacher has time another day or try to communicate via phone or email. This will let the teachers know that if your children need additional help in any area (discipline, learning troubles, anything) that you can be called upon to assist.
Ask your kids how their school day went. To keep their minds active even after coming home see if they can recall what they learned that day in school. Ask them about their homework and see if they need any help with it.
Make sure they eat breakfast and lunch. For some families this is sometimes a difficult issue but most public schools (at least in Florida) have reduced or even free breakfast and lunches available for students based on financial need. Keeping our kids fed is important for helping them stay focused in class.
Set a bed time and keep it. Having a good night’s sleep is also a great way to keep your kids focused during the school day. It’s hard to learn when you keep falling asleep throughout a lesson.
Monitor progress. Get a school calendar at the beginning of every school year that will let you know when progress reports and report cards will be coming out. Plug those dates into your calendar and check in with your child to see it on those dates. If possible get quiz and test dates as well so that you can make sure your child is studying for those assessments.