Strategies for School Success
When students are self-confident and believe that they are capable of learning, they have taken a crucial first step toward school success. Parents can cultivate school confidence by helping their children view themselves as able learners. Education researchers at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory suggest the following strategies:
- Focus on the positive. Know your children's ability levels and preferred learning styles. School success comes easily for some students, but for others schoolwork is tougher. When kids are encouraged to compete for grades with siblings or classmates, someone is always going to be the loser. Sometimes this is all it takes for a student to give up. Whenever possible, work with each child one-on-one to enhance your knowledge of individual ability levels and interests.
- Set realistic and specific goals. Help your child take small steps toward doing better in school. Work together to create a plan for improvement, and help your child see all the little steps involved in achieving a goal. Or find a long-term project that you and your child can work on together. Along the way, point out your child's step-by-step accomplishments and celebrate all the small successes!
- Get feedback from teachers. Your child's teacher should be able to suggest ways you can help your child with schoolwork at home. Don't hesitate to ask for time to discuss all aspects of your child's school performance, and don't be afraid to speak frankly to teachers. Some problems are complex and may require time and a specific strategy before improvements will occur. Parents and teachers should be partners in assuring student success.
- Teach children that mistakes are a natural part of learning. Children sometimes need to be reminded that it is OK to make mistakes. Make sure your kids understand that without making mistakes, we cannot learn and grow. Tell stories about your own misconceptions or errors to help your child see that even parents aren't perfect. Children also benefit from hearing you solve problems out loud. Let your child hear you talk to yourself as you figure out the best way to handle different situations.
- Offer encouragement for improvement. When children work hard to complete an assignment, they deserve reinforcement for the effort, especially when it is an improvement over a past effort. Be specific when giving praise. For example, "I can see that you are including more detail in your stories" is more meaningful than "I like your story."
- Remember that learning is more than a good grade. While grades are important, there are many ways to measure your child's success with a learning task. Has she asked questions? Does the work represent his best effort? Does she feel good about what she is learning? Resist using grades and tests as the only way to tell how well your child is doing, and instead approach tests and homework assignments in terms of the content and what your child is learning.
This column by Samantha Moores is provided as a public service by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, a nonprofit institution working with schools and communities in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
