Helpful Hints
The 10 Best Ways to Help Your Child Be Their Best:
1. Read to, or with, your child EVERY day! Let them see you read as well.
- Encourage reading in any way you can.
2. Make math a part of everyday life.
- Look for patterns, count, sort, estimate, measure, do mental math, use elapsed time, etc.
3. Reinforce good listening skills.
- Listen to understand, speak to be understood.
4. Practice following the school rules.
- Reinforce asking politely, sharing and problem solving.
5. Keep the teacher informed about things at home that might affect your child at school.
- New baby, vacation, family illness, etc.
6. Make sure your child is ready for school each day.
- Reasonable bedtime, nutritious breakfast, proper clothing for the weather, lunch, backpack, supplies, etc. (Please let us know if you are struggling to provide any of these things. We can help.)
7. Encourage responsibility and independence.
- Let them pack/unpack their backpack, clean-up their messes, participate in chores, etc.
8. Talk about how things are the same and different.
- Utilize the skills of compare and contrast, same/synonyms, opposites/antonyms.
9. Ask your child about school each day, sound genuinely interested, showing that your family values education.
- Develop a routine after school or at dinnertime.
10. Show your child how to be organized.
- Children who are organized find it much easier to succeed in school. Teach organizational skills through example.
*Most of all encourage your child to challenge themselves, but love them for any accomplishment they achieve. They should know how proud you are of them for trying their best.