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Tips to help your child succeed in school

Published August 22. 2016 04:00PM

How can you ensure your child heads off to school this fall with the best possible foundation? Follow these 10 tips and watch your child thrive.

1 Enforce healthy habits: You can't perform well when you don't feel good. To help your child have the best chance at doing well in school, make sure she follows healthy habits at home. Choose a bedtime that will give your child plenty of sleep, and provide a healthy breakfast each morning. Encourage exercise, and limit the amount of time she spends watching TV, playing video games, listening to music or using the computer.

2 Stick to a routine: Most kids thrive on structure and will respond well to routines that help them organize their days.The key is to make it the same every day so your child knows what to expect.

3 Create a "launch pad": Veteran parents know it's important to have a single place to put backpacks, jackets, shoes, lunchboxes and school projects each day. Some call it a "launch pad," while others call it a "staging area." Our area is a hook by the back door.

4 Designate a space: At school your child has a desk or table where she works.A designated homework space often makes it easier and more fun for children to complete assignments at home. A desk is great, but a basket of supplies and a stretch of kitchen counter work just as well.

5 Read, again and again: It is often said that children spend the first several years learning to read, and the rest of the lives reading to learn.Try to sit down with your child to read a little bit every day.

6 Learn always: Your child may be past the preschool years, but home education is still a critical part of his overall learning experience.Look for ways to teach your child throughout the day.

7 Take the lead: Children learn by example. Let your kids "catch" you reading. Take time to learn a new skill and discuss the experience with them. Sit down and pay bills or do other "homework" while your kids do their schoolwork. If you display a strong work ethic and continually seek out learning opportunities for yourself, your kids will begin to model that same behavior in their own lives.

8 Talk often: Do you know how your child feels about her classroom, her teacher, and her classmates? If not, ask her.

9 Show interest: Don't limit your support to your child; extend it to her teachers as well. Meet the teachers and stay in regular contact by phone or email so that you can discuss any concerns as they arise. Not only will it pave the way for you to ask questions, but it will also make the teachers more comfortable with calling you if they have concerns about your child.

10 Expect success: Perhaps the most important way you can support your child's efforts at school is to expect him to succeed. That doesn't mean that you demand he be the best student or the best athlete or the best artist. Rather, let him know that you expect him to do "his best" so that he'll be proud of what he can accomplish.

If you make that expectation clear and provide a home environment that promotes learning, then your child will have a greater chance of becoming the best student he can be.

This article was featured in Healthy Children Magazine.

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