Education starts at school and continues at home. There are plenty of things that you, as parents, can do at home to help your child along a strong developmental path. Here are some helpful tips to give your child an advantage at home, which will transfer to the classroom.
Read, Read, Read
Reading is an important cognitive function for children to learn. Take every opportunity you can to read with your child. Make the kitchen, living room, and their bedrooms, into “reading zones” and devote some time every day to reading short stories, homework, or anything that is particularly challenging for them. You might think this is only important during the early years but high school students need to see their parents reading for fun. Discus books with your teen and encourage dialogue. You might both find a genre you didn't know you loved!
Make it Fun!
All kids love to have fun and you can make even high school skills fun by letting your teen help in a variety of things in your daily activities. They can help you plan menus and grocery lists and by consulting sale papers they are learning functional reading skills as well as necessary budgeting skills. When you plan even a short vacation ask them to calculate the distance to your destination on google maps and then help you decide how much gas will cost for the trip. They can practice their research skills by finding fun activities close too home to spend some quality family time.
Embrace Technology
Computers, tablets, and mobile devices have access to all sorts of educational resources that can help your teen learn in a collection of different ways. From games to writing to reading, technology offers a number of different ways to engage teens as they learn. It's likely your teen is more proficient than you think in this area.
Encouragement is Golden
Remember to encourage your teen through every learning process. Positive reinforcement goes a long way in helping a developing mind absorb information. Mistakes should not be cause for concern. Instead, view them as learning opportunities and help your teen realize where, and how, they can improve.
Be Prepared
It is never too early to be preparing for the future. Make certain you are having dialogue with your teen about what their plans are for the future. Keep a check on the school calendar about test dates and make sure your teen is has a good nights sleep and a filling breakfast. These scores will help in their collegiate search. It is also important to encourage your teen to be involved. When they are seniors and filling out college applications you will be glad you encouraged involvement when you start to add activities and honors.