Yes, we are in our fourth week. For those who think in those terms, it is now one-eighth of the school year completed. It all moves way too rapidly. Friday marks the end of the four weeks and next week mid-terms will be sent out. We mail only to those students who are experiencing major difficulties. It seems like the first mailing is always the worse. I don't know if it takes longer than 4 weeks to get back in the school way of thinking or once a mid-term makes it home, things get serious.
Stay in contact with your child's teacher. No, that does not mean you need to become one of those helicopter parents we hear about in the suburbs.Responsibility is a taught and learned skill. Pre-12 year olds (in general) have great difficulty with responsibility. Students older than that have problems with responsibility if someone else is always taking the fall or bull dozing the path or just being scared about the possibilities. Children find their way when there is a teaching/learning moment. Sometimes those can be painful to watch.
By this time you and your child have developed a pattern of homework and study time. You and your child have developed some type of time management scheme that makes sense for all of your family. By this time, you know how much pressure to put on your child and when to back off. No two children are exactly alike. What works in one home will not work in another. What seemed to work for one child does not mean the next will have the same reaction. One thing is for sure, the rules of parenthood are not simple or straight forward.
Communicate. Talk to your student. Ask what happened in school today. Most of the time you are going to a grunt and rolled eyes, but is communication. Keep the lines of communication open. You would be surprised at how many families don't even grunt at one another. Yes, it is a treat if there are actual words and phrases that seem to sound like sentences. Take what you can get.
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