Back to School

January 12 2016

Back to school day is only a week or so away. How can you help your child this year at school?

What you will learn:

3 key ways to help your child succeed at school
Why 5 minutes reading a day is vital to success

Are you ready for back to school?

As you prepare your child to go back to school, take time to talk about the changes for the new year but also what will remain the same. When working on transition to a new year level many things will remain the same. There may be a few unknowns at this stage, like new students, a new teacher, maybe even a new school but every class will be working on maths and English skills.

Teach your child to be independent. This will depend on your child’s age. It would not be appropriate for a Prep child to pack their own lunch but they can put things in their bag. In class children are asked to manage their belongings and their work. It may take longer initially for you to direct your child what to do but those minutes will pay off when they know the routines and you will be out of the gate quicker.

Resilience is often mentioned in the parenting media circles. What does that really mean? Students who are resilient bounce back from disappointment, manage small differences with their peers and are generally more tolerant. As a parent, just stand back for the small stuff and let your kids handle it, they will suprise you. Obviously, step in and guide them through the major issues.

Finally, when you are trhinking about back to school, please find time to read each day with your child. The research is over whelming that children who read more do better at school. Reading needs to be a mix of leveled readers appropriate to your child’s level and reading interest books with an adult where the book is too advanced currently. Reading is the key way we learn vocabulary and about the world around us.

Need help to support your child with their learning in the early years. Check the Tutor Dude site for fun, simple games to help learning. Activities have been designed to be done with a supportive adult. While students can learn from apps whilst working on their won, research supports greater learning when interacting with others and developing their vocabulary and deep learning.