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Teaching Responsibility and Other Traits Useful for Schooling
One of the most important traits that parents should impart to their children is the sense of self responsibility and learning skills. For a school success it is crucial for parents to learn the child how to use the accessible information in learning, how to listen attentively all the teacher says, how fulfill all the homework without reminding, how to be responsible for all the deeds and other useful things in life. Your child should know how to speak to adults - teachers, policemen, salesmen - and learning conversational skills means a lot. Try to praise your child's efforts all the time he or she does his or her best. Always be supportive no matter what is the challenge or the problem your child faces. Talk with Your Child Talking and listening play major roles in children's school success. It's through hearing parents and family members talk and through responding to that talk that young children begin to pick up the language skills they will need if they are to do well. That means listening too: children who haven't learned to listen carefully often have trouble following directions and paying attention in class. Think of talking with your child as being like a tennis game with words-instead of a ball-bouncing back and forth. Find time to talk any place, for example: • As you walk with your child or ride with her in a car or on a bus, talk with him or her about what he or she is doing at school. Ask her to tell you about a school assembly or a field trip. Point out and talk about things that you see as you walk-funny signs, new cars, and interesting people. • As you shop in a store, talk with your child about prices, differences in brands and how to pick out good vegetables and fruit. • As you fix dinner, ask your child to help you follow the steps in a recipe. • As you watch TV together, talk with your child about the programs. • As you read a book with your child, pause occasionally to talk to him about what's happening in the book. It's also important for you to show your child that you're interested in what he has to say. Demonstrate for him how to be a good listener: when your child talks to you, try to stop what you're doing and pay attention. Look at him and ask questions to let him know that you've heard what he said. Monitor Homework You shouldn't be very persistent with that - it is enough to explain to your boy or girl that it will do a lot to do entire things teacher says and that all will help in future (consider relative topics of educational skills and some real life items). Remember that helping with homework it isn't about solving the problems for your child; it's about supporting him to do his best. You may not know enough about a subject to help your child with a specific assignment, but you can help nonetheless by showing that you are interested, helping him get organized, providing a place the materials he needs to work, monitoring his work to see that he completes it and praising his efforts. Let your child know that you think education is important and so homework has to be done. Here are some ways to help your child with homework: • Have a special place for your child to study. The homework area doesn't have to be fancy. A desk in the bedroom is nice, but for many children, the kitchen table or a corner of the living room works just fine. The area should have good lighting and it should be fairly quiet. Provide supplies and identify resources. • Set a regular time for homework. Having a regular time to do homework helps children to finish assignments. Of course, a good schedule depends in part on your child's age, as well as the specific needs. You'll need to work with a young child to develop a schedule. You should give your older child the responsibility for making up a schedule independently. Make sure it is a workable one or teach him how to use properly your child's free time. • Remove distractions. • Don't expect or demand perfection! When your child asks you to look at what is done - show interest and praise when he or she has done something well. If you have criticisms or suggestions, make them in a helpful way. Encourage Your Child to Use the Library Libraries are places of learning and discovery for everyone. Helping your child find out about libraries will set him on the road to being an independent learner. Here are some suggestions for how to help: Introduce your child to the library as early as possible. Ask the librarian to show you around the library and tell you about the services it has to offer. For example, in addition to all kinds of books, your library most likely will have many more resources. Ask the librarian to tell your child about special programs that he might participate in, such as book clubs and about services such as homework help. Let your child know that it is a must to follow the library's rules of behavior. Libraries have rules such as the following that your child needs to know and obey: • Library materials must be handled carefully. • Materials that are borrowed must be returned on time. • All library users need to be considerate of each other. Shouting, running and being disruptive are not appropriate library behaviors. Encourage Your Child to Be Responsible and to Work Independently Taking responsibility and working independently are important qualities for school success. Here are some suggestions for helping your child to develop these qualities: • Establish rules. Every home needs reasonable rules that children know and can depend on. • Make it clear to your child that he has to take responsibility for what he does, both at home and at school. (For example, don't automatically defend your child if his teacher tells you that he is often late to class or is disruptive when he is in class. Ask for his side of the story. If a charge is true, let him take the consequences.) • Work with your child to develop a reasonable, consistent schedule of jobs to do around the house. Younger children can help set the table or put away their toys and clothes. Older children can help prepare meals and clean up afterwards. • Show your child how to break a job down into small steps, then to do the job one step at a time. This works for everything-getting dressed, cleaning a room or doing a big homework assignment. • Make your child responsible for getting ready to go to school each morning-getting up on time, making sure that he has everything he needs for the school day and so forth. Some more upbringing tips: • Regularly do things with your child, like projects around the house, recreational activities, and service projects. Take turns planning activities to do together as a family. • Negotiate family rules and consequences for breaking those rules. • Eat at least one meal together as a family every day. • Don't let anyone in your family (including you) watch too much television. Find other interesting and meaningful activities for your children to do. • Recognize that children need more than just financial support. They also need emotional and intellectual support. Balance family time with other priorities like work, recreation, and hobbies. • Teach practical things. Explore what you child is interested in doing as a career. • Make your home a safe haven, a place kids feel welcome and valued. • Stay in contact with teachers about your child's progress, rather than waiting for report cards. • Remember that you are not alone. Other positive adults in your children's lives include coaches, child care providers, religious education teachers, club leaders, and neighbors. Work with these people to give kids consistent messages about boundaries and values.
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