As a mother and a licensed marriage and family therapist, here are a few tips to set your child up for success at school. By preparing your child for school, you will be helping both your child and your child’s teacher to be successful. It’s a partnership!
-Teach your child to keep track of their belongings and school supplies.
-Teach your child the basics about respecting other people’s property, keeping their hands to themselves, and taking turns.
-Help your child recognize the importance of being on time by being punctual yourself. Being on time says that school is important. Your teacher will have a schedule for the class that is disrupted when students trickle in.
-Keep a routine at home. Kids feel secure when they know what to expect and can look forward to the enjoyable parts of their routine. A good routine keeps kids from getting too tired, too hungry, worn out, or burned out.
-When kids are receiving an award, get excited with them, dress them in a special outfit, not putting pressure on them, but talking about going up in front of the group for recognition for something they did well. Make it positive without overdoing it.
-Make a regular time and place for homework. Like any chore, expect homework to be completed so your child can move on to a more enjoyable activity. Hours of homework on a regular basis for younger children cuts into family time and stresses the whole family out. Talk to your child’s teacher if your child’s homework is excessive.
-We don’t always have time or resources to do this, but putting effort into how you dress for school says that you consider school to be important and you are ready to learn.
-Kids learn about themselves by the interaction they have with people around them. Be an active listener. Your child will talk to you more and feel they have something important to contribute if they see you making a point to listen to them.
-Be aware of the feelings your child is experiencing. In a compassionate way, help your child identify what they are feeling when something upsetting happens by stating a word that describes it: mad, sad, hurt. When we help kids understand what they are feeling, they feel less overwhelmed, less alone, and more able to make the connection with what led up to feeling this way. Mention positive feelings, too. “You’re in a really good mood today.” Once we are understood, we are more able to move on!
-Have high expectations and give high affection. Children who live with these conditions do well.
-Without a lot of words, correct your child when he does something he shouldn’t be doing. Don’t make it personal like, “You are a bad boy!” Rather focus on the specific behavior, stating a fact without much emotion, “The ball is not for throwing in the house.” Then collect the ball until later and redirect your child’s attention to an acceptable activity.
-Make sure there are times set aside for pleasurable activities and unstructured time together as a family. If we are always stressed, our kids will be stressed too.