Are you a parent that needs some extra help? Have you noticed your child’s grades slipping slightly and you are worried it will progress? You are among the thousands of parents who have a problem and will need a good solution. This solution has led many parents to the idea of a tutor. No matter what subject your child is slipping in a tutor is a responsible consideration for this issue. It can be costly but the rewards are priceless. Now that you know what to do where should you begin looking?
This topic will have a major grasp on the individual needs of your child. If you have a special needs child the tutoring will need to be complimentary to those demands. But no matter what the specifics of the tutoring you just need somewhere to start. This is the fun part. You go from parent to interviewer in ten seconds or less. You have your child’s learning progress in your hands. Parents know best and this means that you are the best person for this job. You know the ups and downs, pros and cons, of your child’s many years of schooling so you know where to point the specifics. The only trouble with picking a tutor can be the extreme cost of most certified tutoring specialists. The deeper your demands reach the deeper they reach for payment and this can become a wage-war.
As long as you know the details you can begin your own bargaining. If you jump straight to the yellow-pages you may be disappointed in the over-all cost and therefore end up thrown off the wagon all together. Do not get discouraged if you have done this. Professionals can be a hefty place to start. When you need this type of help you may want to consider other options for your child. A good place to start would be a visit with your child’s school counselor. Find out other options available through the school such as study groups and like-minded parents who are searching for alternatives as well.
If your child needs more one on one attention than a study-group then you may even find more information on senior study-aid programs within the school. For some senior students they will look for college credit in programs that offer younger children tutoring. They are not only helping, for free, but they are also getting credit for their college. Begin with this idea and search. Some of these college-bound students will even advertise in the schools office or newspaper so investigate your options within the school before searching the high-priced tutors.
If you have children that are old enough to read on their own, then you can use this to actively promote their skills through family involvement, while making fun game-like activities out of reading time. You would be amazed at the average reading level of most children ages 6-10. A large portion of children under the age of ten cannot read at their grade level. It is being noted that they are not getting enough practice in general. By adapting some simple games into your family life you can easily help your child get the practice he/she needs while helping them to excel above their grade level with minimal effort.
A wonderful way to incorporate reading into the family routine is to inquire with your child’s reading teacher about the list of books required by the school for that class. Using this information set up a family book club. This is a neat way to plan the family reading around the studies of your child, but also allowing the child to pick books that interest them outside of school curriculum.
You can use this book club idea to create a reading-chart that effectively gives rewards for a certain number of pages or books that are read within a period of time, including books read as a part of school work. Spend a day with your child creating the chart; ask their opinion in what types of smaller prizes they would enjoy (pizza night, movie rental, stationary, favorite doll, ect) as a simple reward system. Use glue, sequence, stickers, and markers and have them help you in designing the family reading chart. This will be used to mark who has read, how much, and it will be used as your basis for tracking your child’s reading ‘record’.
You can even give your child’s teacher progress-reports from this home reading club, to let them know the progression and the influence that it is having on their school-work and vice-versa. Each month give your child one of the acceptable prizes and gather a family meeting after dinner to discuss the progress with everyone. This is an amazing way to show your child how proud you are, and also bring the whole family closer together by creating a common bond, and an award system that shows your child how hard work, and diligence, pays off with time.
Summertime is closing in but what will happen to all of those projects, papers, and creations that have made their way home from this past school year? You save school projects so that when your child grows up they can look back on their own creations. There are a few simple ways to continue on the path of a practical pack-rat while cherishing treasures from your child’s childhood.
Since scrap booking isn’t the most practical, or timely, way to embellish your kids school work, lets try something with the same organizational ideals just a lot less time consuming.
Buy a notebook that screams out at you (not literally). Take your child and head to the craft store, or retail store, and go to the school or office section. You will need a regular three ring binder. There are so many pre-designed notebooks and personalized options that the notebook alone can be fancy enough. If you prefer making a project out of this buy a regular notebook with a plastic slip cover on the front and back. Buy a thick piece of project paper and designing items to decorate it. Use pictures of your child and make neat frames with construction paper, color with markers, stickers, glitter, and whatever else you feel appropriate. Put the grade, age, school, and any other information on the cover you would like.
Be sure to pick up a plenty-pack of clear page protecting slip covers, made for three ring binders. These will be your greatest resource for filling the notebook. Use the covers to place regular sized papers and projects into the notebook. You can create a dual-page effect by decorating a piece of construction paper that explains what the project is, then slip the project paper in the same slip cover facing the opposite way. There are endless ways to decorate these notebooks but that’s the best part. If your child helps then they will remember creating their own memories as they get older.
The best part of these school year notebooks is that they will be compact, out of the way, and virtually indestructible. Instead of having random papers floating around in different boxes through the years you can have the all centrally located. You could even purchase one very large notebook and create several years of work into one notebook to save a little space. The real purpose is to show your child that you care about their memories and cherish their time in childhood.
If you have noticed any of these signs from your child when it comes to their homework and homework habits you may be dealing with a Homework problem-child. This is a common occurrence that can be solved with a little attention to detail on your part, as a parent.
Does your child perform below their potential at school? Doesn’t finish homework that is assigned? Has average or better intelligence, with no learning disabilities? “Forgets”, loses or doesn’t turn in finished homework? “Forgets” to bring homework home? They act as though they don’t remember what they have been taught by you? Have they been receiving a poor report card lately or they don’t want to help?
These are all signs of homework problems. There are causes to this type of behavior. Some children begin to develop bad homework habits as they become preoccupied with other activities. Television programs and video games can be to blame in some cases. When children are in high school they may become side tracked by their own hormones and sports activities. If some kids find homework difficult they will preoccupy themselves with other activities just to distract themselves and “forgetfulness” can even become a regular game to some kids.
Keep in mind that more pressure brings more resistence. If a child feels less than independent, this will only bring about more of the same attitude towards school and homework.
You can help your child to regain their responsibility for their own school work, and be assured that it is based on punishment.
Get out of the middle in relation to your child’s homework. Remember that homework is between your child and the teacher, and that the purpose is to teach your child to work on his own. The result of the “sink or swim” approach will be an end to any arguments, but your child’s schoolwork may temporarily worsen. This is why planned withdraw from parental pressure is best done in early grades. There is usually an upsurge in their grades anywhere from two to nine months after you begin avoiding the normal “rescue” process.
Avoid the reminders. Repeated reminders, lecturing, and threats only promote rebellion. This is why as parents you should try to give parental encouragement but stay out of your child’s success. You can also schedule a parent-teacher conference to clarify the preferences you want your child to be responsible for. Even encourage weekly progress reports. Try to limit television and video game time throughout the week to give the child more homework opportunity time. Considering simple rules within yourself will benefit your child’s learning ability and help them greater in the long run.