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How Parents Can Help Many times parents ask teachers what they can do at home to help their child. There is no magic to helping your child. Some simple things can make a difference. Check the agenda daily. There are assignments on the board everyday, and your child is tasked with the responsibility of copying those assignments. If this is a problem, ask the teacher to sign the agenda. This needs to be the responsibility of the student who must bring the agenda to the teacher for a signature. The parent should sign, so that the teacher knows the parent is checking, too.
Review all homework. Check the math. If there are problems with wrong answers, insist that those are corrected. You can star or circle the problem that your child found difficult. That will help the teacher with planning your child’s math instruction. Math tests are based on previous instruction – topics covered in class. You can help prepare for math tests by making sure that your child completes the homework. Review past chapters in the math book and give additional practice to any problem areas. For instance, decimals are of particular difficulty to many fifth graders and are areas of constant review.
Study for all tests. Studying for tests in science and social studies should begin a week ahead of the test date. Study guides are given and the test date is on the assignment board. Your student needs to use 10 to 15 minutes nightly (weekends, too) to reread all text material and should be able to answer any questions that go with the text. The study guide should be divided into manageable parts. Each section is studied until the student has full grasp of the topic. Review goes on in the classroom, too. However, a good test grade depends on study at home.
Read. The more a student reads, the better reader (s)he becomes. Accelerated Reader (AR) is an integral part of the reading program, and each student has the responsibility to accomplish those AR reading goals: book point goals and comprehension goals. Each fifth grader should read every night. Parents are encouraged to read with them. Share the book by reading some of the book aloud to your child. This makes wonderful memories for both of you.
Ask questions. Keep in touch. Get in the habit of asking about school. Be prepared for the familiar answer of nothing went on today. However, dig for information. Ask about each subject, recess, friends, the bus, the book that the teacher is reading to the class. If there is misunderstanding about a topic covered in class, email or send a note.
Monitor the computer. Our students live in a world that is not as friendly or as safe as it was. Their safety depends on all of us asking questions, checking on them at anytime. It is not a question of trust. It’s question of safety. Don‘t be fooled into thinking that because you “know” your child that their computer time is safe. Check those IM exchanges, and look at the web sites they have visited. Be wary of some of the game sites. Predators find their victims by pretending to be children or young teens.
We are on the same team. Teachers want the same things for your child. We want them to work to their potential, acquire good work habits, form lasting friendships, learn compassion for the less fortunate among us, and enjoy the brief time that is childhood. To accomplish these goals requires that both home and school work together to help your child succeed.
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