Continued from last week
4. Support your child academically: Find out how your child is doing. Ask the teacher how well your child is doing in class compared to other students. If your child is not keeping up, especially when it comes to reading, ask what you or the school can do to help. It’s important to act early before your child gets too far behind. Also be sure to review your child’s report card each time it comes out.
5. Apply for special services if you think your child may need it: If your child is having problems with learning, ask the school to evaluate your child in his or her strongest language. The teacher might be able to provide accommodation for your child in class. If the school finds out your child has a learning disability, he can receive extra help at no cost.
6. Make sure that your child gets homework done: Let your child know that education is important and that homework needs to be done each day. You can help your child with homework by setting aside a special place to study, establishing a regular time for homework and removing distractions such as the television and social phone calls during homework time.
7. Find homework help for your child if needed: If it is difficult for you to help your child with homework or school projects, see if you can find someone else who can help. Contact the school, tutoring groups, after school programs, churches, and libraries. Or see if an older student, neighbour or friend can help.
8. Help your child prepare for tests: Test plays an important role in determining a student’s grade. Your child may also take one or more standardised tests during the school year, and your child’s teacher may spend class time on test preparation throughout the year. As a parent, there are a number of ways that you can support your child before and after taking a standardised test, as well as a number of ways you can support your child’s learning habits on a daily basis that will help her be more prepared when it’s time to be tested. To be continued
