Tips to Help Your Child Succeed in School

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Parenting Tips to Help Your Child Succeed
in School
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by Alvin Poh

Encourage Your Child To Read

This is the most important thing that you can do to help
your child succeed in school.

There are many strong evidences in various countries,
showed that students who have done well in schools
and later in life are avid readers.

And one example that is very closed to the heart of many Singaporean parents are the achievement of Natasha
Nabila Muhammad Nasir, the top PSLE student in 2007.

In the Straits Times interview last year, Natasha said the
following:

"The secret of my success (being the top PSLE student
in 2007) is reading. I have been reading since I was two
years old and I think that has helped me a lot. Through
reading, I gained a lot of knowledge."

In another interview done by the National Library Board
on her success, Natasha said:

“Through reading, I gain insights to many new things -
current affairs, cultures of other countries and much
more. I also find that reading improves my vocabulary
and this has helped me immensely in my writing skills.”

In many of our parenting talk, I can't emphasis how
importance is for parents to help their kids to develop a
good reading habit as early as possible during their
early childhood years.

If you have a baby, read aloud to him or her right from
the start. Babies love to hear your voice, look at pictures
and touch the pages. As your child grows older, make
reading together part of your daily routine.

Talk With Your Child

Take advantage of everyday opportunities to talk with
your child. For example, talk to your child when you are
walking, riding in a car, eating dinner or shopping.
Children who aren't drawn into conversation or
encouraged to talk often have problems learning to
read, which can lead to other problems in school.

Monitor Homework

Identify a special place in your home for your child to
study. If the space at home permit, have a study room
for your child, otherwise create a study corner when
your child can focus to do his / her home work or do
some serious study without getting distracted by noises
from children playing outside at the playground or from
the TV. Set a regular time and check in once in a while
to see if your child needs help.

Monitor TV Viewing And Video Game Playing

Set limits on the amount of time your child spends
watching TV and playing video games. When your child
is watching the TV, spend time watching it with him/ her
and talk about what you are watching together.

In our home, we seldom watch the programs on TV
because we feel that there aren't many good programs
that are family friendly and suitable for young children.
Generally we either purchase or borrow from the
National Library, DVDs movies or cartoons that are family
friendly and have good education values that help to
build good characters in our children.

I often highlight to parents that they need be aware of
what their children watch on TV. The mass media has a
powerful influence on the mind of your child and their life
values.

Encourage Your Child To Use The Library

I sincerely encourage parents to go to their local library
together with their children regularly. Make it a regular
family outing where you borrow books for your children
and also for yourself. If parents want their kids to be
good readers, they must set an example of being
readers.

Help Your Child Learn To Use The Internet Safely
And Effectively

Today, the internet is an important tool for children to
seek out information that help them in their studies,
school work and communication with their teachers and
friends.

Having said that, the internet also contains a lot of
inappropriate content and contact. Hence it is
importance for parents to guide their children on the
proper use of the internet and teach them how they can
protect themselves from falling prey into the bad guys in
the cyber world.

When your child is still young, spend time online with him
or her so that you can guide your child properly. If you
don't have a computer at home, check to see if your local
library has computers that you and your child can use.

Encourage Your Child To Be Responsible And To
Work Independently

Help your child choose activities that build his or her
knowledge, responsibility and independence; monitor
what your child does after school, in the evenings and
on weekends.

Encourage Active Listening

Listen to your child's ideas and respond. This type of
give-and-take at home is likely to help your child
participate and be interested at school.