Education & Kids

ASK LISA-ANNE 

Q.  I just received the school year calendar from my kids’ school.  On the calendar is a “back to school night.”  What is it and is it important for us to attend?  Also how can I ensure that my kids have a successful school year? A.  Yes, it is important and yes you should definitely attend.  First, you should attend as many school meetings as possible.  They not only keep you informed but allow you to provide your ideas and concerns.  Back to school night is a general meeting that has the following purposes:  you get to meet your children’s teachers, principal and other important staff, academic standards and expectations are outlined, homework expectations are presented, behavioral issues are addressed, parent expectations are outlined, specialty staff are introduced should your child need any services during the school year, your district’s handbook is presented and explained, dress codes are stated and you get to meet other parents and the PTA committee in the school.  Back to school night is not the time for a parent teacher conference.  Most back to school nights occur within two to three weeks of school starting.  Your children’s teachers don’t have anything to tell you, yet.  Your child's teacher will introduce herself and give an overview of students' daily routines, schedules, goals, and activities — some of this may already be written on the blackboard when you get there so the teacher can dive right into the other important things. She will also discuss her homework policy, discipline plan, and any other important information such as if she maintains a classroom homepage and how to contact her.  The lengthiest part of the evening will be spent going over the curriculum and the methods the teacher will use to reach the year's goals. If your child has several teachers for different subjects, you may go from classroom to classroom doing this, usually in the same order your child would, so you experience a mini-day of school.
Some questions you may ask the teachers are as follows: 1.  How much homework do you give?
2.  What grading system do you use? 
3.  How do we communicate with you?
4.  Will you call once you see that my child is struggling?
5.  How do you handle behavior issues?
6.  How do you handle children who may be a little advanced?
7.  What can I do at home to ensure a successful school year for my children?
8.  Can I volunteer in the classroom?
9.  Can I accompany my children on trips?
10. What are school lunches like?
11. Can my child bring a snack?
12. How do you handle special needs students who need extra help?
13. Do you have a reward system?
14. My child is shy.  How will you help him/her to speak up?
15. What supplies does my child need?
16.  Do you send a weekly calendar or is my child expected to remember notices?
17.  Are there specific books used at school that I can purchase for home use?
18.  Can the school send home textbooks for home use?
19.  Can my child gain extra points for extra work?
20.  What can we do as parents to aid in the education of our children in your class?
21.  Can I leave you my contact numbers in case of an emergency?
22.  What is your teaching philosophy?
23.  How do you uplift your students who may need extra encouragement?
24.  How do you reach students who may be below average?
25.  Do you teach via all modalities so that all of the children benefit including visual learners, auditory learners and hands on learners?  What Else Can Parents Do to Ensure a Successful School Year? Focus on the Positives*Talk to your children about what they achieved during vacation. The summer gives a child the opportunity to excel in athletics, explore the arts and form relationships with friends and family. *Be sure to point out the skills that helped your child succeed and explain how these skills can be applied in school.
*Reassure your child that you believe in his or her ability to learn. Don't put extra pressure on your child or make unrealistic demands, which can hinder the child's motivation and potential.
*Play down your child's fears about the coming year and prepare for any potential problems that may arise.
Create an Educational Environment at Home*Set up a quiet, clean, smoke-free and well-ventilated area for your child to study with minimal traffic. Ideally, the area should be closed off to siblings, pets, and free of stereos, TV, radio, telephone, video games and other enticing distractions. *Children should have a neatly organized area with proper seating and a solid flat surface on which to write, paint, draw or type.
*Provide your child with ample materials for school work, including pens, paper, rulers, scissors, erasers, color pencils or markers. The study area should also contain an age-appropriate dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopedias, and children should be given easy access to newspapers, magazines, journals, books and classic literature to support their studies.
*Develop a consistent homework routine early in the school year to help your child keep up and learn effectively beyond the school day. Homework is often the first challenge your child encounters. *Set aside a common "study time" period at home for studying, reading and quiet activities, and do your utmost to avoid and curtail arguments during that time.
*Schedule time to help your children by answering their questions, explaining concepts, extending lessons and proofreading papers, reports and projects. For younger children, start a routine of checking what is in their bags to help keep their materials neat and organized.Form a Partnership and Develop a Plan*Make time to get acquainted with your child's teachers and relay to your child any academic goals you discuss with the teacher. These partnerships will help ensure that the student, teacher and parent are all striving toward a common goal and will form a basis for resolving academic challenges that may arise during the school year.
*Think ahead and plan for possible challenges. If your child struggles with a subject, secure additional help at the beginning before a problem becomes overwhelming. Some parents choose to spend time working one-on-one with their child, while others may hire an individual tutor or enroll their child in one of the many after-school educational programs.
Balance Your Child's Lifestyle
*Avoid overbooking your child in sports, dance, skating, karate, music, second language training and other organized activities. One leisure and one educational activity a season may be sufficient.
*Be there for your child by attending plays, field trips, school events, teacher meetings and homework sessions.
*Give your child up to two hours a day of "quality time" to engage in learning, reading or even playing together.
*Let your child play, be a 'kid' and develop creativity independently.
*Try not to make your child fulfill "your" dreams by forcing them to be the 'gifted,' 'artistic,' 'athletic' or 'beautiful' children. Marie Rippel at www.bellaonline.com/about/reading Tips For Students With Special Needs! 1. Help Your Child Deal with Transitions.
Is your child making the transition from preschool to kindergarten, from elementary to middle school, or from middle school to high school? Plan to take your child to visit the new school or classroom before the first day of school. 2. Reread your child’s IEP.
Do you understand what the school agreed to provide? Do your child's teachers understand what they are to provide? 3. Meet with your child’s teacher(s) to discuss your child’s special needs.
Take a picture of your child to the meeting. Teachers are more likely to take a personal interest in your child and remember your child’s special needs if s/he has seen a picture of your child. 4. Take extra copies of your child’s IEP to the meeting with the teacher(s).
Never assume that teachers have had time to read your child’s IEP before school begins. Teachers have many things to do as they prepare for the first day of school. The teacher may not understand how important the IEP is to your child’s success. Leave a copy of your child's IEP with each teacher. 5. Make a List of Important Things About Your Child.
Make a list of the five most important things that the teacher(s) need to know about your child. Explain why these things are vital to your child’s success. Leave a copy of the list with each teacher. 6. Prepare to Deal with Potential Problems Early.
If your child is in general education classes, prepare for the teacher(s) who wants to see how your child “gets along” before making any changes in the way they run their classrooms. Teachers often take this position because they want to give their students a fresh start. You may need to explain why your child may fail unless the teacher understands his/her unique needs and provides the necessary services, accommodations and supports. 7. Resolve Old Concerns and Issues.
If you have concerns or issues that were not resolved during the last IEP meeting, request another IEP meeting immediately. Try to resolve these issues and concerns before your child begins to have problems this year. 8. Get a New Assessment. Consider getting your child's skills tested very early in the school year. Where are your child's skills on standardized educational achievement tests? Use these scores as baseline data. You can compare these scores with scores obtained at the end of the year to measure your child’s progress. 9. Go to your school’s Open House. In addition to giving you another chance to meet with your child's teachers (and make a good impression), teachers often explain their classroom rules during Open House. When you attend, you have a chance to see if your child may have trouble understanding the teachers' rules. You will also be in a better position to explain these rules to your child.  10. Get a bound notebook. Use the notebook as a “contact log” to send messages to the teachers. Write a sentence or two to the teacher(s) every day. Do not make your child the bearer of messages about problems at school. Make an extra copy of your log often in case the notebook is lost.  Pat Howey www.wrightslaw.com.
Do You Have Education Questions?  Ask Lisa-Anne Lisa-Anne Ray-Byers is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist who has worked in education for over two decades.  She holds graduate degrees in speech-language pathology and multicultural education.  She also holds certification in educational administration.  She is the author of the book,
They Say I Have ADHD, I Say Life Sucks! Thoughts From Nicholas.  You may contact her at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or by visiting her website at www.AskLisaAnne.com.