Easy Education Tips for Your Family This Year
Parents everywhere rejoice as schools return to session. While you might homeschool your children, you are no longer solely responsible for keeping the littles busy, which no doubt delights your employer.
However, the classroom bell doesn’t signify that your responsibilities disappear. As a parent, you can do much to ensure your child succeeds academically. The following ten easy education tips for your family can help you make the school year successful.
1. Get Organized
You swear you want to be more organized, and you have given your kids a million lectures on using their planners. Why not kill two birds by writing in your agendas together?
After school, sit down and have a snack while reviewing your daily to-do lists. Write down your tasks for the following day and an estimated time frame for completing each one. Review the previous day’s work and adjust your schedule accordingly.
2. Encourage Innovation Learning
If your school doesn’t provide a planner, why not pick up a science kit when you go back-to-school shopping? Innovation learning mimics the habits of real-life scientists and engineers, and you can encourage these in your child.
If your budget is tight, look for ways to incorporate these principles into daily life. For example, if you need to repair a sagging shelf, where should you put the supports for maximum strength?
3. Attend Parent-Teacher Conferences
Teachers lament parent-teacher night often because the parents they need to address the most fail to appear. You might not fall into that category, but do make every effort to attend.
These meetings allow you to share your child’s strengths and needs while getting insight into how they behave away from home. If you actively played a role in your child’s spring homeschooling, you might have noticed them squinting at the screen and take them for glasses. You could remain unaware of how other factors, like social awkwardness, impact their progress.
4. Upgrade Your Technology
If you haven’t shown your essay-writing English scholar the magic of Google Drive yet, you should. You could save them a ton of frustration from losing their essay if their computer crashes before hitting “save.”
If you continue to struggle financially, look into free resources for which you may qualify. Although many such programs remain stretched thin due to the pandemic, you could score a free laptop or webcam for online learning.
5. Investigate Supplemental Instruction From Home
Maybe your little angel returned to a traditional or modified-traditional schedule. You can still enhance their learning with supplemental activities at home.
You can take a virtual tour of museums like the Louvre to deepen art appreciation. Some science centers now feature online camps, and some home improvement stores offer virtual webinars if your school did away with shop classes to focus on academics.
6. Visit the Library
Your local library remains a treasure trove of educational and recreational materials. Now that they are reopened, albeit some on shorter hours, why not plan a visit?
While your kids attend story hour, sign up for a computer class to increase your savvy. Make family game night more original by renting a few that you haven’t played while you visit.
7. Read Together
Relatively few people immerse themselves in the joy of reading anymore. Help your child develop the love by bringing back the bedtime story.
For older children, why not look into joining a book club? You can find online versions if you hesitate to send your not-so-little ones to socialize with strangers in public just yet.
8. Involve Yourself in Extracurriculars
Some schools have implemented variations on some fall sports, and others offer clubs to make up the lack. If your little one shows interest, sign them up.
If your child says nothing strikes them as attractive, see if they would like to join in an activity with a friend. Think beyond football and field hockey — archery and golf allow you to maintain social distancing.
9. Keep Open Communication Lines
The pandemic hasn’t evaporated, even though people wish it would go away. Your children may have ongoing anxieties, but they’ll only talk to you if they feel safe.
Bring back the family dinner, at least a few nights per week. Ban electronics from the table and, instead, ask open-ended questions about your child’s day. For example, instead of inquiring, “How was school,” which evokes a one-word answer, say, “tell me about what you learned today.”
10. Praise Effort as Well as Achievement
If all you praise are straight A’s or winning soccer matches, your child learns that they only have value when they succeed. This perception can set them up for anxiety disorders.
Instead, recognize when your child makes an effort. You don’t have to give a standing ovation merely for completing a homework assignment. However, when they spent three weeks pounding out a 10-page essay, they deserve more than an “attaboy.” Recognize their time-management ability and reward their effort with a treat — like ice cream.
Follow These Easy Education Tips for a Better 2020-21 School Year
If you want your child to succeed, you should take an active role in their learning. Follow these easy education tips for a successful 2020-21 school year.
