in the Greene County School System
March 2006
Competition can teach your child valuable skills
Some children avoid competition. They’re uncomfortable being compared to others.
But by competing, children can gain valuable skills. They learn to handle conflict and work cooperatively. They learn to overcome challenges and experience success.
These skills can help your child succeed in school. So encourage your child to participate in sports, recitals, debates or other competitive activities.
To guide your child’s competitive experiences:
Let your child choose from several competitive activities. Tell him to stick with it for a few months. If he doesn’t like it, he can try something else.
Make sure the coach or instructor’s style is right for your child. Does he intimidate or humiliate? Steer your child toward activities that help him feel good about himself.
Monitor your behavior. Don’t get overly excited about a foul ball, missed note or referee’s call. You’ll make the competition unpleasant for your child and harm his self-esteem.
Praise your child’s efforts—no matter the outcome of the recital or game. Assure him he’ll do even better next time if he keeps working hard.
Reprinted with permission from the March 2006 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2006 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Carl Pickhardt, Keys To Developing Your Child’s Self-Esteem, ISBN: 0-7641-0847-6 (Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 1-800-645-3476, www.barronseduc.com).
Working With Your School
Continue to communicate with your child’s teacher
Children whose parents are involved in school earn higher grades. They are also more likely to graduate and go to college.
Research supports these facts. So make sure you’re as involved as you can be. Particularly, communicate regularly with your child’s teacher:
- Write down questions to ask the teacher as you think of them. Keep a list in one place.
- Find out if the teacher uses weekly themes. If so, connect activities at home to those themes to support learning.
- Ask the teacher to explain what and how your child is learning. For instance, does the teacher use whole language, phonics or literature?
- Ask the teacher for help understanding test scores. Ask what you can do at home to work on areas that need improvement.
- Let the teacher know if your child will be out of school. Find out what work your child will need to make up.
Reprinted
with permission from the March 2006 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition)
newsletter. Copyright © 2006 The Parent Institute®, a division
of NIS, Inc. Source: Rosemarie Clark, The School-Savvy Parent: 365 Insider Tips
To Help You Help Your Child,
ISBN: 1-57542-072-4 (Free Spirit Publishing Co, 1-800-735-7323,
www.freespirit.com).
Encouraging Reading
Increase literacy skills with fun reading, conversation
Research points to two simple strategies that can make your child a better reader:
- Make reading enjoyable for your child.
- Hold family discussions. Exposure to new words and the flow of conversation improves children’s vocabulary and comprehension.
Here’s what you can do:
- Choose books that reflect your child’s interests. Take him to the library to select what he likes.
- Show your child that you enjoy reading. Read books, newspapers, catalogs and magazines in front of him.
- Get your child to talk about what he’s reading. Sit with him and ask questions.
- Start discussions of interest to your child. Vary topics from day to day. Get him to share his thoughts and opinions.
Reprinted with permission from the March 2006 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2006 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Catherine Snow & Patton Tabors, “Intergenerational Transfer of Literacy,” Family Literacy: Directions in Research and Implications for Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Education, www.ed.gov/pubs/FamLit/transfer.html.