6 Valuable Tips to Help Your Kids Have a Successful New School Year

The period before a new school year begins is challenging for kids as well as parents. It is a mix of anxiety and excitement for the child. As far as parents are concerned, there are a host of factors which they need to work on such as the child’s routine, parent-teacher relationship, family schedule and much more.

So if you too are looking for ways to ensure that your kids have a successful new school year, follow these 6 valuable tips:

 

  1. Always Communicate

Always ensure that the communication between you and your kids is seamless. Kids value your guidance and support. Talk to them in a friendly manner and constantly assure them that you are interested in whatever they do. This will encourage them to talk to you without any hesitation. You also need to form a strong communication channel with their school, especially their teachers. This will keep you abreast of their academic performance and help your kids have a successful new school year.

 

  1. Learn About Their Strengths and Weaknesses

If you know the strengths and weaknesses of your child, you will be able to guide and support him/her more effectively. Some kids might be unable to open up about their strong and weak points. In such cases, the parents need to talk to the child in a way which matches the latter’s age. If the kids aren’t able to tell right away what they are good at, encourage them to find out about their passions and interests.

 

  1. Enroll Them in Online Tutoring Courses

Enrolling your kids in appropriate online tutoring courses before their new school year has many advantages. Good online tutoring helps children brush up the knowledge from previous year as well as provides them a heads up and better understanding of what lies ahead in the new school year. This especially proves to be a huge benefit in case of challenging subjects.

 

  1. Help Them Choose Extracurricular Activities

Children today have a plethora of options to choose from when it comes to extracurricular activities. They can choose from dance, basketball, piano, debate team, soccer, choir and much more. The key here is to not be tempted or have doubts such as ‘If every kid is doing it, my child should also be doing it, right? You need to ask some important questions which will help you make an appropriate choice for your child. Such as:

  • Does the activity correspond to any of my child’s interests?
  • Will my child benefit from this activity in the long-term?
  • What does it cost?
  • Is the activity center far from home?
  • What is the frequency of the classes?

These questions will help you evaluate the relevance of extracurricular activities and ensure that your choice is worth the money, time and efforts.

 

  1. Give Real Life Examples

Learning sinks in quickly when it is applied to daily life situations. Hence, you can kick-start your child’s learning schedule for the next school year by teaching them at home with the help of real life examples. For instance, if the curriculum for their next year includes a lesson on temperature you can ask them to measure the outside temperature with an appropriate thermometer and use the Fahrenheit and Celsius formula to convert it. You can polish their math skills by asking them to create a monthly budget for your household. Or you can also ask them to read the newspaper and write a creative story for any of the headlines of their choice. Such activities will not only help build their interest in subjects but also boost their confidence.

 

  1. Put Efforts to Remain Involved

Get to know your child’s teachers. It’s one of the most important things you can do to stay involved and connected with your child’s school life. Never miss parent-teacher meetings. Try and volunteer at school events. Your child’s teachers can provide you with valuable insights about his/her overall behavior, performance, strengths, weaknesses and much more. Accordingly, you and the teachers can work together to help your child, so that learning becomes fun.

Remember, the success of your child at school is not just the school’s responsibility. As a parent, you too are a major stakeholder in your child’s academic progress. You must work along with the teachers to help your child give his or her 100%.

 

 About Author: Making education simple and easy to comprehend is Dana Jandhyala’s forte. She’s had a long career as an educator where she has taught in several different schools and institutes in multiple countries. Today, she helps students with personalized online tutorials by MySchoolPage that help make concepts easy to understand, making learning fast and fun. She writes to help students study better, and to coach parents so they can facilitate the success of their children.