Great Northwest Community Improvement Association, Inc.

Helping Kids Beat the Back-to-SChool Blues

Sep 08, 2003

It seems just like yesterday that the school bell rang and classes dismissed for the summer. But already, parents everywhere ar beginning to panic because of the annual battles they will face trying to get their kids excited about the school year. This may be a parent's worse nightmare, but it's one that must be faced given these facts:

Students who have one or more parents involved in their education are more likely to get an "A" and less likely to be suspended, expelled or repeat a grade.

Teacher surveys show that an involved parents are the single most important partners public schools need to help children learn. Also, teachers provide more support and encouragement to children whose parents are involved.

It's a matter of money. According to the Department of Education, students with involved families are much more likely to graduate from high school, and earn and average of $200,000 more in their lifetime thatn high school dropouts.

The best news yet is that parents can easily engage themselves in their child's education efforts by doing the following:

Read aloud with your child every day.

Talk with your child about the value of hard work and the importance of education.

Show your child that you are learning, too. Let them see you reading for pleasure, and talk with them about ideas and events that affect your life.

Check homework every night.

Ask your child about what is happens during the the school day. Don't accept "nothing" as an answer! Instead, try asking,"What was the most interesting thing you learned today?"

Limit your child's television viewing on school nights. Children who watch too much television learn less and get lower grades than students who watch less.