The best inheritance parents can give to their children is a few minutes of their time each day.
M. Grundler

Parent Notes || Teacher Ideas || Cool Kid Stuff || Mercury-7 Team || Pentathlon
MGMS || E-Mail || Main Menu

Page Contents

When Student Grades Slip

Some reasons why school often is a different challenge in seventh grade (recommended reading)

The Move to Middle School

More thoughts on the transition your child experiences

The Fast Pace of Childhood

Read about today's children and the speed of life

Getting Involved In Middle School

Parent involvement shouldn't stop when middle school starts

The Busy Parent's Guide to Involvement in Education

Contains suggestions for getting involved with your children, with their teachers and in your community.

Some Interesting Links for Middle School Parents

Places you might want to visit on the web.

When Student Grades Slip 

Reprinted from the Houston Chronicle

When good students slip, it's often because requirements have changed

By DR. YVONNE FOURNIER
Scripps Howard News Service

Dear Dr. Fournier: I read with interest your article in the Thomasville (Ga.) newspaper. I am the mother of a 12-year-old daughter who is in the seventh grade. She has always been an "A" student who has not had to work hard for her grades. However, since she started school this year, the story is a little different. So far her actual grades have not been bad (As and Bs), but when we average her test scores, they end up being Cs and Ds. Luckily for her, classroom participation and completing homework assignments are figured into her grades.

My husband and I are helping her study each night but feel that our study methods may not be the most appropriate for her. Unfortunately, she seems rather uninterested in studying and unconcerned about her grades. I feel that since this is the first time she has really had to work hard for good grades, she is at a loss for how to handle the pressure.

The Assessment: When "good students" suddenly have difficulty in school, parents often assume that it's due to lack of motivation. While this may be true for some children, it's certainly not the case with the majority of students I have worked with through the years.

Parents and children must be aware that the purpose of education changes at certain grades. When the purpose changes, the methods must change, too. Students cannot continue to do more of the same and expect different results.

Middle school is a major transition for students and parents. As you adapt to the new requirements, remember one important rule: If you do something and it doesn't give you the desired result, doing more of the same thing just makes you fail that much quicker.

In grades one through six, children are taught basic skills and given the opportunity to practice and repeat these skills until they master them. "Basic skills" include reading, writing and arithmetic, but they also include decoding words and meaning, understanding the difference between fact and opinion, identifying the main idea and support information, grammar, punctuation, and language formulation with logic and sequence, just to name a few.

Basic skills are learned through repetition. That's why, regardless of grade, most textbooks start with a review of what has been taught before. It takes all of elementary school for our children to practice these skills until they become automatic.

In grades seven and eight, the purpose of school changes. Basic skills are assumed to be in place. Now students must use those skills to access information and demonstrate ownership of the information by "translating" it in a unique way.

Here are a few examples of how elementary and middle school differ:

In elementary school, students are asked to memorize a poem. In middle school, students are asked to read the poem and interpret what the author is saying.

In elementary school, students are asked to memorize the dates of the American Revolution, the major victories and who led the battles. In middle school, the above is a given; students are now held accountable for explaining why we had a Civil War.

In elementary school, students are asked to write a book report. In middle school, students are asked to identify with a certain character and explain why the character is important to the book.

Many children do well in elementary school because they develop basic skills quickly. Repetition works. However, the students also fall prey to the belief that repetition - or having a good memory - is the key to success as they move up to middle school. This is the common downfall.

What To Do: To find the best learning strategies for your child, begin by recognizing that the destination is different. Help your daughter develop the main skill she needs not just for studying, but for learning: paraphrasing.

Unless your child is able to read, write and do math through explanations of her own, you are headed for problems.

Instead of working with her to read and answer questions, use your time together to discuss what she is learning. Make sure your daughter understands and can explain the cause-and-effect relationship of important events. Challenge her to ask, "Why?" and help her develop confidence in her own answers.

Middle school is a major transition for students and parents. As you adapt to the new requirements, remember one important rule: If you do something and it doesn't give you the desired result, doing more of the same thing just makes you fail that much quicker.

Copyright by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company

The Move to Middle School

The Transition from
Elementary to Middle School

B Y
Sari Waxler, M.Ed.

Springtime is right around the corner. In the school business, springtime brings with it all the energy of planning for the next school year. While educators focus on the details of that new school year, hundreds of parents like you are also concentrating on details-details that will be a part of your child's life in the years to come.

Transition from one level (elementary) to another (middle school) is a "hug" experience. Although imagining your child walking the halls of that middle school with older, more experienced classmates can be anxiety producing, understanding the process helps alleviate unnecessary fears.

Come travel the corridors of a typical middle school and experience a sneak preview of the years to come!

In those hallways you might see a student body of greater diversity. Students will come to the middle school from a number of feeder elementary schools, each with its own culture, rules, unique student body and expectations.

This diversity is largely responsible for a sort of charm that is uniquely middle school charm-bodies that are suddenly quite tall to those that still look like young children, clothes that look like everyone else's clothes to outfits that are unique in their fashion statement. You might notice fewer parents around the school as students acquire those beginning signs of independence and choose to handle their business on their own. Your middle schooler might borrow forgotten lunch money from a friend rather than call you to bring it to school!

Middle school presents social situations that will also feel new. Suddenly there will be after school activities like football games at large stadiums, Valentine's dances on Friday evenings and choir competitions at a school across town. Each of these new opportunities will be accompanied by challenges for your and your preteen.

Does your preteen have interests or skills that fit the extra-curricular activities? Is she willing to learn something new (like playing an instrument) in order to fit in with a particular group? Does he know how to dance?

The excitement of all the new possibilities may bring with them some anxiety. Your child may act out the anxiety by being moody or short-tempered. And, even though you will be coping with your own set of frazzled nerves, it will be important for you to exhibit calmness and, in so doing, communicate to your middle schooler that you will be solid and dependable while they experience the challenges and opportunities of their new school.

If ever you need an objective adult to tell you that your child's moods and behaviors are perfectly "normal," call the middle school counselor and attend programs that the counselors offer. You are not alone!

As you turn from the middle school hallway and into a classroom, you will experience the academic differences that await your child. In place of a primary teacher, plus several special interest teachers (art, music and physical education), you will find between six and eight teachers with whom your child will interact. Each teacher will present a unique set of classroom expectations and academic standards. Though child-centered, the middle school teacher also has the task of fostering responsibility and independence in your preteen. Forgotten homework or stuck lockers present opportunities for students to learn how to solve problems. Teachers may seem less available to rescue their students from these opportunities. Not to worry!

Magically, all middle school students master the challenge of lockers, adjust to the consequences of being tardy to class and juggle the various assignments and expectations from their teachers.

Your task, Mom or Dad, is to support the new levels of expectations that come from the teachers - while at the same time staying gentle and supportive when your child stumbles, falls and attempts to meet the challenges. The very process of managing many new and different people, of coping with the stress that is a natural consequence of facing anything new and of learning from the mistakes that will be a part of the middle school experience is exactly what makes middle school so important. These skills, if developed during grades six, seven and eight, will ensure a successful high school experience built on a solid foundation of self-confidence.

A middle school principal once described his students as "fire ants with backpacks." He was referring to the fact that they routinely ran to their destinations. The principal's description holds true in more ways than one!

Middle schoolers' emotions also "run" back and forth, more quickly than the average adult can follow. The feel passionately. One moment their world may feel as if it is coming to an end; later that same day they will tell your that they had an "awesome" day at school. Self-consciousness is a quality that most share - painful self-consciousness. Your child may beg for a particular pair of tennis shoes or jeans with more intensity than he has ever communicated before.

That intensity should signal you that he wants to be a part of "all the other kids." Peer acceptance is probably the single most important challenge your middle schooler will face. You will begin to notice that your child looks to his friends for the advice and counsel you used to provide. Your opinions about her hair or outfit will become much less important that her friend's opinions. You might even feel a bit left out.

Developmentally, your child is doing exactly what he ought to be doing. He is preparing to leave your home one day and live as an independent and self-sufficient adult. But before you yank in the welcome mats too quickly, know that your preteens still need you very much. They will hear what you tell them without giving you the first clue that they are listening. They will value your opinions while at the same time acting as if nothing you have to say matters to them.

Leaving the security of the elementary school and walking onto the middle school campus will indeed be a "huge" experience for your family. Hundreds of "little fire ants" make the journey each and every year, most of them with resounding success.

And, as difficult as it may be to believe, you and your children will live to share the wisdom of your particular journey with those who will follow behind you. Reach out and ask for help or support when you need it. Your school's counselors have nurtured generations of children through the middle school experience and can assure you that your feelings, concerns and challenges are all part of the package that is middle school.

Good luck!

Sari Waxler, M.Ed., has 22 years of experience as a professional educator with the Austin Independent School District. She has taught both middle school and high school English and served as a counselor for students in grades six through twelve.

Fast Pace of Childhood

Reprinted from The Houston Chronicle

Today's kids living in the fast lane: Always stimulated,they can't relax

By MELINDA SACKS
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Roller coasters shooting through the air at 80 miles an hour? Big deal.

Giant-screen movies so realistic the blood almost spatters your clothes? So what.

Sega and Nintendo games violent enough some parents ban them from the house? Boring.

When a child's senses have been stimulated to the max almost since birth, life can become a series of yawns. No pace seems too fast, no image too vivid or violent, no experience too exciting.

But therapists, teachers and parents want a time out. They're concerned about whether this ongoing sensory salvo - and the subsequent lack of down time - has consequences that no one has yet thoroughly studied or understands.

"My concern is that children are being swept up into a faster and faster pace," says Ronald Dahl, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Sure, baby boomers grew up with television, fast cars and loud music, too. But the level of intensity, the speed of delivery and the constant bombardment by myriad forms of media have reached a peak. Studies show that by 12, the average child is spending three hours a day in front of the TV set.

Many of these same children then watch their own parents tear through life at break-neck speed. The message becomes "the good life equals the fast life."

"It's mind-boggling, the speed of life today," says marriage and family counselor Julie Anne Thomas of the Adult and Child Guidance Center in Santa Clara, Calif. "Over-stimulated children need to be removed from the situation so they can calm down. You have to take them by the hand, or unplug whatever appliance they are attached to. As adults, we know we need quiet time," she adds, "although sometimes we don't have the common sense to take it. Children have to be taught."

For psychiatrist Dahl, the revelation came when he stepped off one of the fastest roller coasters in the world, which his 9-year-old son had finally grown tall enough to ride. To Dahl, the face-stretching velocity was breathtaking, so he was taken aback when his son commented in a ho-hum voice, "I've been on more exciting rides."

It is the children suffering from the extremes of constant over-stimulation and lack of quiet time who end up in Dahl's office with such symptoms as insomnia, anxiety, irritability and hyperactivity. While there are not yet any studies quantifying these children, Dahl and his colleagues at Stanford University and the University of California-San Francisco agree it is on the rise and worth researching.

"No one paid much attention to down time," notes Stanford professor of communications Don Roberts, "until they noticed we didn't have it anymore."

Even his own children, Dahl observes, seem immune to the constant stimulation that's an integral part of American culture - from increasingly fantastic video games to rocket-paced movies, Pentium chip computers and ever-more sophisticated high-tech toys that "use up as many batteries as it would take to power a small village," Dahl notes.

Kids say they just want to have some fun.

Danny Nissenbaum, 11, plays Nintendo 64 games such as Starfox and Turlock on his home machine whenever he gets the chance. But he'll still opt for the video arcade on weekends. "Maybe I'd get bored after a while," he says. "You have to keep playing different ones."

Jordan Loya's mom doesn't like television or video games, but once a year she brings her five home-schooled kids to the arcade. There, 10 year-old Jordan moves nonchalantly from game to game.

"It's fun," she says after shooting some tanks in a mock battle. "I like to play when I have time. But I also like to read books."

No one seems worried about children like Jordan, who still list their favorite activities as reading and playing outside. It is the ones who sit transfixed for hours in front of "the blue glow" of video and computer screens, or who race from one high-intensity activity to the next without pause, that are cause for concern, says Dahl.

The result of all the feverish activity, he says, is a growing sub-population of apathetic, burned-out kids who are almost incapable of becoming interested in anything normal or ordinary. "Why do children immersed in this much excitement seem starved for more?" Dahl wonders in an editorial he wrote for Newsweek last December.

Darlene Styer, owner of Styer Family Day Care in Dublin, Calif., sees the daily results of kids whose lives move at warp speed, she says. And after 23 years in the business, she, too, is beginning to worry.

"I believe people are so afraid somebody else's children are going to get ahead that it's push, push, push," she says. "I watch my neighbor and her children and they are never home. It's in the car, drive here, drive there. Everything is Game Boy (a handheld video game) and popping in the videos and instant entertainment. My own niece is 2 and she doesn't go to bed until 11:30 at night. Another mother I know has to give her 3 -year-old daughter sleeping pills to get her to slow down at bed time."

Thomas suggests, as an antidote, encouraging children to listen to relaxation tapes, spend time alone reading or even gazing at a fish tank. All are preferable to watching television or playing computer games if the goal is quiet time.

Copyright by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company

Getting Involved In Middle School

Parent Involvement at the
Middle School Level

This article was prepared by ACCESS ERIC, with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education and is in the public domain.

Many parents who are actively involved in the education of their children at the elementary school level become less involved when their children reach middle school. However, parent involvement in a child's education during the middle school years (ages 10 to 14) is just as important in a child's success at school as it is in earlier grades. If the school doesn't have a formal participation plan for parents, it is important that parents take the initiative to continue their involvement and collaboration in their children's school.

What Is a Middle School?
Middle schools are schools that group students between the ages of 10 and 14. In some parts of the country, children from fifth to ninth grades are grouped together; in other parts, seventh- and eighth-graders are in one school. One of the most common middle school arrangements groups children from sixth to eighth grades.

What Are Middle Schoolers Like?
As children grow, they begin to experience physical, intellectual, and emotional changes. The way they learn, feel, see the world, and relate to other people becomes different from when they were younger. These changes, along with demands from present-day society and peer pressure, create conflicts and tension in the adolescent, which are reflected in their behavior in school and at home.

Young people at this age show a good number of contradictions and conflicts, which is normal. There is no "model" adolescent. All young persons are individuals with strong and weak points and with positive and negative qualities. There are some common characteristics that should be kept in mind in order to understand and help the middle schooler in daily activities at home and at school:

• Adolescents have high levels of physical and emotional energy, which may contrast with long periods of idleness, generally disapproved of by adults.
• They take risks, are curious, and love danger and adventure, yet their feelings can be hurt easily. This is the time when they feel immortal, but they worry a lot about what their friends think about them.
• They want to be independent from their families, and at the same time, they need to be pampered and protected.
• They withdraw and want a private life, and at the same time, they worry about being accepted by their peers.
• They demand privileges but avoid responsibilities. At the same time, they are developing an awareness of social problems and the welfare of others.

Adolescents from other cultures sometimes face an additional burden as they develop their identities and try to comply with the requirements of home and school. On one side, they have the values and customs of the home that the family wants to maintain, and on the other, they have to respond to the demands of their peers and teachers, who have a different set of rules.

Why Is It Important For Parents To Be Involved at the Middle School Level?
The results of recent research are very clear: When parents are actively involved in their children's education, they do better in school. The academic level of the parents, their socioeconomic level, and their ethnic or racial origin are not determining factors for academic success. It is essential for parents to have a positive attitude regarding education, and to demonstrate trust that their children can do well.

How Will Your Children and Your School Benefit From Your Involvement?
When parents become involved, both students and school benefit:

• Grades and test results are higher;
• Students' attitudes and behavior are more positive;
• Academic programs are more successful; and
• The schools, as a whole, are more effective.

The participation of all parents, including those with limited knowledge of English, is important to the academic achievement of their children. Such participation has many positive consequences for the family, the school, and especially for the young adolescent:

• The family has the chance to understand the school system better.
• The teachers can understand students who come from other cultures more easily.
• The students receive support from adults in order to confront the problems of adolescence-particularly where these problems are accentuated by the conflicting cultures of home, friends, and school.
• The school can become the natural extension of the home, aiding in the preservation of families' cultures and values.

What Can Parents Do To Support Education at Home?
There are many ways that parents can demonstrate to their adolescent children that they are interested in academic success and that they are available to offer support and protection when there are problems. Here are some suggestions:

• Talk with your child about what happens at school every day. Ask often if there are messages from the school.
• Spend some relaxed time with your children. Share a meal or a snack. Tell them often what you like about them.
• Listen to and share their worries. Support what you believe to be good about the school and offer your help to change any school practices that you believe could be harmful to your child.
• Avoid scoldings and arguments when your teenagers bring bad news home. Listen to their reasons and offer your help to improve the situation. It helps if your children know you believe they will be successful.
• Value their education by encouraging homework and reading. Help your children choose a good time and place to do their assignments and special projects. Provide the necessary materials and give them your unconditional support.

What Can Parents Do in the Middle School?
The way that parents become involved in the middle school can be somewhat different from what they were accustomed to in the elementary school. Generally, the building is larger, and it could be located farther from home. A middle school student may have several teachers, not just one as in the elementary school. The schedule is probably more complicated.

Don't be surprised if your teenagers feel embarrassed when you go to their school. It is not uncommon for them to resent their parents' presence at school. Here are some suggestions to increase your involvement:

• Get to know several teachers, not just one. Don't wait for a problem to talk to them.
• Keep in touch with the guidance counselors. They generally know all of the students in the school, and they can keep you informed regarding the progress and behavior of your child.
• Read all information on school policies and curriculum carefully. Normally, schools send this information home at the beginning of the school year.
• Review your child's school records each year. It is your right, and you should know what information is in the file.
• Keep informed about your child's grades and test results, especially in any subjects in which he or she has problems. Ask for help if it is needed.
• Request periodic meetings with the teachers. If you don't speak or understand English, ask for a translator or bring a bilingual friend or family member with you. Request information concerning programs that the school offers for students with limited English proficiency. Be sure your child is placed in the program that best meets his or her needs.
• Get to know other parents and form support groups to work on problems and issues of mutual interest.
• Answer notes and other correspondence the school sends. If you do not understand these messages due to language problems, ask the principal to send them to you in the language you understand.

(Most of this information has been taken from "The Middle School Years: A Parents' Handbook," published in 1991 by the National Committee for Citizens in Education.)

Where Can Parents and Teachers Obtain More Information
About Middle Schools, Adolescence, and Parent Involvement?

The ASPIRA Association, Inc.
1112 16th Street NW, Suite 340
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 835-3600 (English and Spanish)

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education
University of Illinois
805 West Pennsylvania Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801-4897
(217) 333-1386

The Busy Parent's Guide

The Busy Parent's Guide
to Involvement in Education

Dr. Linda Albert
National PTA and JCPenney

Parent involvement-your involvement-in education increases your children's chances for success in school. Studies show that children whose parents are involved in education are more motivated in school. Motivated students are more likely to participate in class, more likely to complete homework, and more likely to achieve academically. In short, motivated children become students with good chances for bright futures.

When you participate in your children's education, say hello to the warm feeling of satisfaction you get when you know that you've helped your children. The easy and effective tips that follow will show you how to get involved even if you are a busy parent with little time to spare from your work at home or at your place of employment.

Inside this booklet, brought to you through the combined efforts of the National PTA and JCPenney, you'll find many ideas for getting involved with your children, getting involved with your children's teachers, and getting involved with the school community. Start first with the ideas that appeal to you most and will easily fit into your schedule, and then add others as time permits. The good news is that no matter how little time you have, you will find a number of things in these pages that you can do to help your children.

The important thing to remember is this: Involved parents do make a difference.

Getting Involved With Your Children

Put on a happy face.

At the end of a busy day your feet may hurt and your head may pound, but when your youngsters come running to you full of enthusiasm about something at school, put on a smile and match their excitement. When you put them off with "Later, later," their joy in the accomplishment disappears.

Table talk.

Talk about what your children are learning in school while at the table eating supper. After the meal is finished, pass around any papers they've brought home for everyone to discuss and admire.

Don't stow it, show it!

Instead of stowing school papers and artwork in a forgotten drawer, show it off. Use a wall, the refrigerator door, or a bulletin board for the display. Take a minute now and then to look at the changing displays with each child and talk about how proud you are of the work that's exhibited. When papers are taken down from the bulletin board, preserve in a special folder for periodic review.

Change "Whatdja get?" to "Whatdja learn?"

When tests and reports come home, take the emphasis off the grades and focus instead on the information and skills they learned by doing the work. Give children a chance to show what they know by asking simple questions about the subject. Increase your children's knowledge by sharing anything you know about the topic, or by looking it up in an encyclopedia.

Talking texts.

Ask your youngsters to read their textbooks to you while you fix dinner, sort laundry, or drive the car. Any text will do-a reader, a social studies book, even a math book. When they finish a section, discuss any questions the book presents in order to expand their comprehension of the ideas in the text.

Classroom chronicles.

Children who get home before their parents can record descriptions of the school day on cassette tape, while events are still fresh in their minds. These Classroom Chronicles don't replace the time you spend with your children, but rather serve as springboards for discussion when you listen to them with your kids later in the evening.

Family merry-go-round.

When you ask "What happened in school today," and get the answer, "Nothin' much," it's time to hop on the Family Merry-Go-Round. Start a sentence that each person in the family must complete in turn. "The most surprising thing I learned today was . . ." "One of the things I did well today was . . " The sentence merrily goes 'round till everyone has shared their experiences.

"I can" cans.

Give each child an empty juice can covered with contact paper and labeled "My 'I CAN' Can." Whenever your children learn a new skill, be it academic, artistic, or athletic, write it on a piece of paper and stuff it in the can. Review the contents of the cans periodically, and watch your children's self-esteem soar.

Make mistakes okay.

When children can learn from their mistakes, instead of feeling discouraged by them, they are on the road to success. Make mistakes okay by talking about your own errors: "One mistake I made today was . . ." Encourage your youngsters to describe mistakes that they made, and then talk about solutions: "One way I can keep from making this mistake again is . . ."

Getting Involved With the Teachers

Happygrams.

Keep a small pad of brightly colored paper handy, and use it to write a brief note of thanks to the teacher whenever your children demonstrate new skills or express excitement about something that happened in school. The short time you spend on this happygram will greatly enrich your parent-teacher partnership.

Telephone talk.

To keep in touch with teachers between formal conferences, use the telephone for occasional 5-10 minute "catch-up" conversations. Ask teachers before hand for good times to call.

Banish blaming.

Take a "no fault" approach when your children experience difficulties in school. Blaming teachers or classmates only strains relationships. Join forces with teachers to reach a common goal: helping your children overcome difficulties and find success.

Ask for advice.

Teachers like sharing their specialized knowledge with concerned parents, so don't hesitate to ask for advice. Teachers can assist you with behavior problems, homework hassles, and how to reinforce at home what's learned at school.

Lend a hand.

Even busy parents can pitch in when teachers call for help with school projects. Let the teacher know how much time you have and what talents you could offer. No matter how small, your contribution will be a help to the teacher and noticed by your child.

Respond to report cards.

When report cards come home, take time to thank the teachers in a quick note. Teachers usually spend their own evening and weekend hours to write these reports, and your thanks will help them feel appreciated. If you're pleased with your children's progress, say so. If any of the grades or comments disappoint you, ask what you can do to help your child improve.

Beat the clock.

Punctuality counts. When a teacher sets a specific time for a conference, make every effort to be there on time. Teachers often schedule many conferences back to back, and one late parent can throw everyone off schedule.

Be prepared.

Bring a list of questions to parent-teacher conferences. Prepared questions help the conference stay focused and keep you from rambling into overtime. The National PTA has an excellent pamphlet entitled "Making Parent-Teacher Conferences WORK for Your Child." This pamphlet tells you how to prepare for conferences and what questions to ask.

Information, please.

Be sure to give teachers any information about changes in home circumstances that may affect your children's behavior or performance. A death in the family, an extended sickness, a separation or divorce-even the loss of a pet can put a strain on children that spills over into the classroom.

Getting Involved With the School Community

PTA at the school.

Today's PTA has kept up with the changing times. Recognizing that in many families both mothers and fathers work outside the home, the PTA often schedules meetings at night. PTA meetings are still the best way to keep informed about, and involved with, the school community.

PTA at the office.

You can form a PTA unit at your workplace. Though the parents involved would have children in different schools, a monthly brown bag luncheon with planned programs can help everyone stay abreast of the latest educational trends and family issues. Programs can feature speakers from local schools or focus on the various topics addressed in publications, kits and other materials developed by the National PTA.

No excuses.

Next time back-to-school night or parent programs roll around, don't make excuses for not going. Your attendance clearly demonstrates to your children how much you care about their education. To make it easier to get out of the house, freeze leftovers or casseroles with "save for back-to-school night" labels.

Know the neighborhood news.

Be sure to read school newsletters to keep informed of the latest developments. If these newsletters tend to get overlooked during hectic evenings and weekends, take them with you so you can read the newsletters while eating lunch at work or on the train or bus. Check your daily newspaper for reports on neighborhood schools and school board proceedings.

Know the national news.

Read Our Children magazine, What's Happening in Washington (both available by subscription through the National PTA), and education related articles in parent magazines to keep abreast of the latest national developments affecting education and families.

Do your bit.

Busy parents who want to volunteer at school but can't usually be present for long periods of time during the day can still contribute their talents. Call the PTA president or the volunteer coordinator and offer to write an article for the newsletter, speak about your career at a student assembly, coordinate a student site-visit at your workplace, or call other parents as part of a telephone tree.

Become a more informed parent.

It isn't easy to raise children with drugs, gangs, and peer pressure against you. If you're doing the job alone, or in a stepfamily, you have even more to consider. Learn what works with today's youngsters by joining one of the many parent education programs that more and more schools and PTAs are offering. When you have effective parenting skills at your fingertips, the time you took to become a more knowledgeable parent will be well repaid.

Tips To Motivate Your Children To Do Well In School

• Take the time to read with your children daily.
• Provide enrichment material, including children's books and magazines, and educational toys.
• Provide quiet, private work spaces where children can study undisturbed.
• Keep your children's work spaces well-stocked with all the supplies they need to complete their assignments.
• Take time to sit down with your children and help them schedule homework into their daily routine.
• Reward good grades with recognition and praise, and avoid the temptation to use money as a bribe for good performance.
• Take advantage of educational events in your community as often as possible.
• Value your children's uniqueness, and avoid comparing them to others.
• Limit the amount of television children watch to one hour on school days and two hours on weekend days.
• Encourage creative thinking by asking your youngsters for help solving problems.
• Encourage your children to practice school skills in real life situations.

About the Author
Parent, educator, and syndicated columnist, Dr. Linda Albert travels around the country helping parents and teachers. Her engaging style and lively presentations have made her workshops and seminars popular with thousands of parents, teachers, and professionals in all fields.

Linda is the author of Coping with Kid, Coping with Kids and School, Strengthening Your Stepfamily*, Quality Parenting*, and A Teacher's Guide to Cooperative Discipline. Dr. Albert also writes a weekly column for Gannett newspapers and is featured monthly in Working Mother Magazine. Linda, a mother of three, lives in Tampa, Florida.

The National PTA and JCPenney, two organizations which care about you and your family, have worked together to bring you this booklet. In recognition of the fact that raising and educating children is more difficult today that ever, The National PTA and JCPenney are proud to offer their assistance in preparing the leaders of tomorrow-your children.

* co-authored

Special thanks to Working Mother Magazine

Some Interesting Links

Family Education - This well-designed, frequently updated site emphasizes parents and parent advocacy. Its parent company is helping school districts in Maryland and elsewhere develop parent-friendly websites.

The WholeFamily Center - The WholeFamily Center is an award winning interactive site which addresses the concerns of modern families. Featuring an on-line magazine, and separate marriage, parenting and teen centers, and discussion of sensitive topics including teen suicide.

Partnership for Family Involvement in Education - A project of the Department of Education with some interesting information and links.

The National Parent Information Network - Operated by two ERIC clearinghouses.

Parents' Place - This commercial site, created by a pair of enterprising young parents, offers free resources, advice, links, and discussion groups about education and other issues of interest to parents. The introduction to an on-line parent/teen communication guide begins: "Without notification and without consensus, your teenager will fire you from the role of manager-parent. It's time to scramble, restrategize and work your tail off to get rehired as a consultant."

Parent Information Centers - Identify parent resource centers in your state or region through this ED link.

Parents for Public Schools -- A developing site established by the national group of the same name.

Parent Notes || Teacher Ideas || Cool Kid Stuff || Mercury-7 Team || Pentathlon
MGMS || E-Mail || Main Menu

This page updated: 7/15/98