Welcome Back! the quintessential school year greeting. Although the beginning of the school year is exciting, I never slept well the night before school started as I experienced a nightmare each year. In my dream, I entered through the school doors and was greeted by the school principal who would always say, “Welcome back to school. By the way, Ms. Kuck, we’ve changed your teaching assignment for the year. You’ll be teaching calculus.” Needless to say, calculus was not my college major nor minor and that terrified feeling caused much restless sleep. But that calculus nightmare and first day jitters were always replaced by excitement as the first class of students walked through the door and I met them. My greatest desire and work was to help each of those students succeed. How can we, as parents, help our students be successful this school year?
1. Think and talk positively about school and school personnel.
Several years ago I read an article about the way in which adults talk to students about school and the author’s assertion was that most of what adults say is negative rather than positive. Listen to yourself for one day as you talk to your students about school. How much of it is positive? What do you say about assignments, teachers, principals and other students?
Each of use wants our children to have the best teacher and school experience and talk about school is a frequent neighborhood conversation topic. A wise woman with five children in school, ranging from a high school senior to a first-grader said, “I’ve learned that just because a teacher was ‘great’ for one student doesn’t mean that that experience will be duplicated for another child.” Each child is special and needs something and perhaps the first-year teacher, or the “strict” teacher, or the “I-haven’t-heard-anything-good-about him” teacher will be able to provide exactly what your student needs.
Our attitude affects our children and that of others and the best help a school can receive is a positive attitude from its students, parents and community.
2. Be prepared.
This idea comes from a friend in Tooele, Utah. She creates a “Homework Box.” This box contains any type of material that may be needed during the school year to complete homework from a daily math assignment to a social studies project. She purchases school supplies when they are on sale and places them in the box. Only “students” can use the Homework Box. (Mom and dad are not allowed to use any of the material for work or church projects-not even if they promise to replace it!) She purchases pencils, pens, erasers, poster board (buy twice as much as you think you’ll need and it will be the right amount!), paint, construction paper, cardstock, markers, crayons, etc. This does two things, (1) you and your students are prepared for homework, especially in a crisis like “Mom, I have a social studies report and poster due tomorrow!” and (2) creates an excitement for homework time. This friend occasionally places some new supplies or treats in the box, so the students never know what they might find in the box.
3. Set up morning and evening routines.
Students need to come to school ready to learn and that includes breakfast and a happy attitude. Happy students picked their clothes out the night before, fixed their lunch, and organized their backpacks with homework and permission slips. Morning is NOT the time to try on three different outfits and find the field trip permission form. For more help on developing routines, see FlyLady at http://www.flylady.net/.
4. Find opportunities to expand your children’s learning and your own.
When teaching French, I encouraged my students to practice speaking French with their parents. Students would say, “But my parents don’t know French!” and my reply was always, “Teach them-two educations for the price of one!” School studies become more relevant and meaningful to students if they see an application outside of school. How can you enrich your student’s school experience?
· Become the student and let them teach you.
· Plan a weekend vacation around a student’s course of study. (i.e. visit the county on which your fourth grader must report)
· Write poems for family home evening.
· Make cookies together using fractions.
5. Call upon the powers of heaven.
Pens, pencils and notebooks are necessary school supplies but spiritual school supplies are vital and often overlooked, including personal and family prayer. In Alma 34:24-25, Amulek tells us to “Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields that they may increase.” As parents and children, “Cry unto him over the assignments of your classes, that ye may master difficult concepts. Cry over the tests of your knowledge that your knowledge may be made manifest.”
Prayer will help when nothing else will. Each child should begin the year with blessing from their father, home teacher or another priesthood holder. Don’t forget mom too. She may need the blessing more than anyone to help her survive homework, projects, conflict resolution, test cramming and more. President Kimball taught: “No mother would carelessly send her little children forth to school on a wintry morning without warm clothes to protect against the snow and rain and cold. But there are numerous fathers and mothers who send their children to school without the protective covering available to them through prayer—a protection against exposure to unknown hazards, evil people, and base temptations.” Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pg. 122-123.
Welcome Back! and have a great year!
