Parents' Page
Important Articles to Help Keep Parents Updated on Their Children's Learning
Third article from www.teachkidshow.com posted October 2011:
Teach Your Child to Work Hard Without Complaining
Posted By Nick Ramsay On March 24, 2008
Work needs to be done whether we like it or not! Much of life hinges on our willingness to work and work hard. Teaching your child to work without complaining is one of the greatest gifts you can give them.
Parents have more influence on their child’s capacity for work than they might realize. As in many other aspects of parenting, the example you set will be the standard your child embraces. Being a willing and cheerful worker will show your child that work is not just something they must do, but something they want to do.
Preschool
Preschoolers are quite easy to convince that work is fun. Making a game of picking up playthings and tossing clothes in a hamper will help your child form a positive association with necessary tasks.
Having your youngster choose their own chore will also create enthusiasm for doing it. Perhaps placing napkins on the table, feeding a pet or helping to fold clothes is enough. Celebrate each small contribution to the family good by saying, “Good job! You did it!”
Young children love to do things with Mom and Dad. Washing the car may take longer if your toddler helps, but the work ethic of caring for what you have will be instilled.
Rewards for jobs do not have to be tangible, but some of them should be. A coin for the piggy bank, an extra book at bedtime or a great big smile will bring the message home that what they do is appreciated and important.
Main points to address:
Grades K-3rd
Young school age children are ready for more complex jobs. Most 5 and 6 year olds can follow directions in order to complete a multi-step task. School reinforces the work ethic as everyone is expected to do their job.
Having your youngster take care of their own clothes, clear their own plate and pick up toys and books should be a matter of routine. Not deviating from set ways of running the household will help your child approach tasks consistently.
It is important to let kids know how vital they are to the family. Tackling tough jobs together can show your child the benefits of not giving up until the work is clearly finished. A family garden is a lot of work, but has obvious rewards at harvest time!
Kids this age need frequent breaks. Have a glass of lemonade together and then get back to work. Celebrate a finished job by taking a walk in the park or baking a cake together.
This is a good time to involve your child in a team sport or group activity where others are dependent on their participation. Doing their part while encouraging team mates will teach your child to help others do their best without complaining.
Again, rewards for set chores can be given to help your youngster know the value of a job well done.
Main points to address:
Grades 4-6th
Older children can do many chores independently and well. But children this age will often volunteer to do jobs they are not ready for. Take these opportunities to work with them and teach as you go. A little praise will go a long way, as your child is already becoming aware of what “a job well done” is.
Receiving rewards remains important. Of course many self-care and assigned chores should be done just because they are necessary. But some tasks, particularly those that may be time or effort intensive need to have a clear reward at completion.
One counter to complaining about a particular job is to assign a second job to the complainer. Another way, which actually can be fun, is to charge any complainer (Mom and Dad included!) a set amount for each complaint. Watch the complaints diminish!
You will need to continue “whistling while you work” if you want your child to remain a willing worker. They may visit homes where work is not cheerfully done. Hold the family value of shared responsibility and helpfulness before them. It will become their standard!
Teach Your Child to Work Hard Without Complaining
Posted By Nick Ramsay On March 24, 2008
Work needs to be done whether we like it or not! Much of life hinges on our willingness to work and work hard. Teaching your child to work without complaining is one of the greatest gifts you can give them.
Parents have more influence on their child’s capacity for work than they might realize. As in many other aspects of parenting, the example you set will be the standard your child embraces. Being a willing and cheerful worker will show your child that work is not just something they must do, but something they want to do.
Preschool
Preschoolers are quite easy to convince that work is fun. Making a game of picking up playthings and tossing clothes in a hamper will help your child form a positive association with necessary tasks.
Having your youngster choose their own chore will also create enthusiasm for doing it. Perhaps placing napkins on the table, feeding a pet or helping to fold clothes is enough. Celebrate each small contribution to the family good by saying, “Good job! You did it!”
Young children love to do things with Mom and Dad. Washing the car may take longer if your toddler helps, but the work ethic of caring for what you have will be instilled.
Rewards for jobs do not have to be tangible, but some of them should be. A coin for the piggy bank, an extra book at bedtime or a great big smile will bring the message home that what they do is appreciated and important.
Main points to address:
- Make work fun.
- Work with your child so they have an example of quality work and willingness.
- Reward your child with praise and (occasionally) small tokens.
Grades K-3rd
Young school age children are ready for more complex jobs. Most 5 and 6 year olds can follow directions in order to complete a multi-step task. School reinforces the work ethic as everyone is expected to do their job.
Having your youngster take care of their own clothes, clear their own plate and pick up toys and books should be a matter of routine. Not deviating from set ways of running the household will help your child approach tasks consistently.
It is important to let kids know how vital they are to the family. Tackling tough jobs together can show your child the benefits of not giving up until the work is clearly finished. A family garden is a lot of work, but has obvious rewards at harvest time!
Kids this age need frequent breaks. Have a glass of lemonade together and then get back to work. Celebrate a finished job by taking a walk in the park or baking a cake together.
This is a good time to involve your child in a team sport or group activity where others are dependent on their participation. Doing their part while encouraging team mates will teach your child to help others do their best without complaining.
Again, rewards for set chores can be given to help your youngster know the value of a job well done.
Main points to address:
- Young school age children are ready for more complex tasks, but still need adult presence and encouragement.
- Take short but frequent breaks during longer tasks.
- A family project, such as a garden, has built in rewards.
- Participating in team sports can teach your child to try their best without complaining.
Grades 4-6th
Older children can do many chores independently and well. But children this age will often volunteer to do jobs they are not ready for. Take these opportunities to work with them and teach as you go. A little praise will go a long way, as your child is already becoming aware of what “a job well done” is.
Receiving rewards remains important. Of course many self-care and assigned chores should be done just because they are necessary. But some tasks, particularly those that may be time or effort intensive need to have a clear reward at completion.
One counter to complaining about a particular job is to assign a second job to the complainer. Another way, which actually can be fun, is to charge any complainer (Mom and Dad included!) a set amount for each complaint. Watch the complaints diminish!
You will need to continue “whistling while you work” if you want your child to remain a willing worker. They may visit homes where work is not cheerfully done. Hold the family value of shared responsibility and helpfulness before them. It will become their standard!
Second article from Education.com posted September 2011:
Character Education: Good Hearts Lead to Good Grades
By Keren Perles
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” So said Martin Luther King, Jr. about the role of education in society. Proponents of today’s character education programs in schools agree with his assessment, and they work to teach students about essential life skills and values that go beyond the blackboard.
But that’s not the only benefit of character education. Research shows that character education programs can actually improve academic achievement. For example, one 2003 study looked at more than 600 California state schools and found a correlation between the character education of a school and its academic scores.
Another study, this one published in School Psychology Quarterly in 2008, found that social-emotional competence, which is closely related to character education, strongly influenced the academic skills of almost 300 third-grade students that were included in the study. More importantly, a recent meta-analysis of over two hundred different studies has found that character education truly does have a positive effect on academic achievement, increasing achievement test scores by 11 to 17 percentage points.
Rutgers Professor of Clinical Psychology Maurice Elias, who has researched this topic extensively, stresses the importance of character education in the classroom. “It is clear,” he says, “that a successful school is going to be a school that is concerned with the character of its students.”
Character Education and Academic Achievement
But how exactly does working on character and social-emotional learning help students succeed in the classroom? To understand this, you need to look at the list of components that are discussed in most character education programs.
For example, students are taught social awareness, including how to cooperate, work in a group effectively, and take turns. These skills are important for use in groupwork in the classroom. Character education also emphasizes responsibility and respect, both of which are necessary for classroom success. After all, if students don’t take responsibility for their schoolwork or for handing in their homework on time, and if they are unable to act respectfully towards the teacher and towards other students, they will likely struggle to stay afloat in the classroom.
In addition, students in a character education program learn how to manage their own feelings and deal with them appropriately. “That’s so important,” Elias maintains. “Some kids come from difficult home environments. If they can’t deal with those feelings once they get to school, their learning is going to be limited, no matter how smart they are.”
Not only does character education give students the tools to work well in the classroom environment, it can also give them the tools they will need to understand the actual content they are learning. Here are a few examples:
Why Is Character Education So Important Today?
If you look at the history of modern American education, you see a certain trend. “The No Child Left Behind Act has been around for ten years,” says Elias. “And for ten years we’ve focused on academics to the exclusion of nearly all else. When it hasn’t worked, our response has been to increase our focus on academics even more.” The nation has spent an extraordinary amount of money on improving the academics in the classroom, and teachers have been forced to teach content, content, and more content. In the minds of many character education supporters, it’s time for a change.
Disrespect, irresponsibility, and other character flaws are the bane of today’s society. Children absorb these character flaws as if through osmosis, purely by looking at those around them. In Elias’s opinion, this starts with political leaders and governments who act disrespectfully towards teachers, forcing them to conform to test prep that doesn’t help and negatively labeling the ones who are less successful with raising their students’ test scores. “Why should children respect people who are so publicly disrespected?” Elias asks. The answer? They don’t. How Does Character Education Work?
If you’ve never seen character education at work before, you may wonder what it actually entails. In truth, it looks almost exactly like any other form of high-quality instruction. The teacher explains a concept to the class, they discuss how to apply the concept, and they use experiential learning – such as role playing or groupwork – to ensure that they understand what they have learned. But character education is not limited to actual instruction time.
Everyone needs to be onboard with this initiative in order for it to work. Kids are usually receptive to the idea, but teachers also need to agree to create a school climate that will enable the program to succeed. That means, for example, that teachers do not only preach respect, they also practice it – towards students and towards each other.
Child psychiatrist Dr. James P. Comer has said that character actually gets caught like a cold. Supporters of character education, as well as the research that stands behind them, maintain that their programs can help children to succeed not only in the classroom, but in life.
Character Education: Good Hearts Lead to Good Grades
By Keren Perles
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” So said Martin Luther King, Jr. about the role of education in society. Proponents of today’s character education programs in schools agree with his assessment, and they work to teach students about essential life skills and values that go beyond the blackboard.
But that’s not the only benefit of character education. Research shows that character education programs can actually improve academic achievement. For example, one 2003 study looked at more than 600 California state schools and found a correlation between the character education of a school and its academic scores.
Another study, this one published in School Psychology Quarterly in 2008, found that social-emotional competence, which is closely related to character education, strongly influenced the academic skills of almost 300 third-grade students that were included in the study. More importantly, a recent meta-analysis of over two hundred different studies has found that character education truly does have a positive effect on academic achievement, increasing achievement test scores by 11 to 17 percentage points.
Rutgers Professor of Clinical Psychology Maurice Elias, who has researched this topic extensively, stresses the importance of character education in the classroom. “It is clear,” he says, “that a successful school is going to be a school that is concerned with the character of its students.”
Character Education and Academic Achievement
But how exactly does working on character and social-emotional learning help students succeed in the classroom? To understand this, you need to look at the list of components that are discussed in most character education programs.
For example, students are taught social awareness, including how to cooperate, work in a group effectively, and take turns. These skills are important for use in groupwork in the classroom. Character education also emphasizes responsibility and respect, both of which are necessary for classroom success. After all, if students don’t take responsibility for their schoolwork or for handing in their homework on time, and if they are unable to act respectfully towards the teacher and towards other students, they will likely struggle to stay afloat in the classroom.
In addition, students in a character education program learn how to manage their own feelings and deal with them appropriately. “That’s so important,” Elias maintains. “Some kids come from difficult home environments. If they can’t deal with those feelings once they get to school, their learning is going to be limited, no matter how smart they are.”
Not only does character education give students the tools to work well in the classroom environment, it can also give them the tools they will need to understand the actual content they are learning. Here are a few examples:
- A large part of character education is about exploring feelings and motivations, and good literature is all about feelings as well. “When kids lack sophistication in terms of analyzing feelings, they don’t get anything out of literature and find it very boring,” explains Elias. “In the video world, feelings are right there for you, even exaggerated, and very easy to figure out.” In other words, character education can actually lead to better critical thinking skills, which can in turn affect students’ interest in and enjoyment of literature.
- Character education programs also teach students problem solving skills, including analyzing a problem, setting goals, and thinking through both the long-term and short-term consequences of an action. This understanding of why people took the actions that they did, and the consequences that those actions had, can add a new dimension to the study of history, civics, and literature.
- Hands-on science projects can only be truly beneficial for students when students are able to utilize good planning skills. In order to execute an experiment, they need to plan well, anticipate obstacles that may crop up, and organize their information in a logical manner.
Why Is Character Education So Important Today?
If you look at the history of modern American education, you see a certain trend. “The No Child Left Behind Act has been around for ten years,” says Elias. “And for ten years we’ve focused on academics to the exclusion of nearly all else. When it hasn’t worked, our response has been to increase our focus on academics even more.” The nation has spent an extraordinary amount of money on improving the academics in the classroom, and teachers have been forced to teach content, content, and more content. In the minds of many character education supporters, it’s time for a change.
Disrespect, irresponsibility, and other character flaws are the bane of today’s society. Children absorb these character flaws as if through osmosis, purely by looking at those around them. In Elias’s opinion, this starts with political leaders and governments who act disrespectfully towards teachers, forcing them to conform to test prep that doesn’t help and negatively labeling the ones who are less successful with raising their students’ test scores. “Why should children respect people who are so publicly disrespected?” Elias asks. The answer? They don’t. How Does Character Education Work?
If you’ve never seen character education at work before, you may wonder what it actually entails. In truth, it looks almost exactly like any other form of high-quality instruction. The teacher explains a concept to the class, they discuss how to apply the concept, and they use experiential learning – such as role playing or groupwork – to ensure that they understand what they have learned. But character education is not limited to actual instruction time.
Everyone needs to be onboard with this initiative in order for it to work. Kids are usually receptive to the idea, but teachers also need to agree to create a school climate that will enable the program to succeed. That means, for example, that teachers do not only preach respect, they also practice it – towards students and towards each other.
Child psychiatrist Dr. James P. Comer has said that character actually gets caught like a cold. Supporters of character education, as well as the research that stands behind them, maintain that their programs can help children to succeed not only in the classroom, but in life.
First article from Education.com posted August 2011:
What to Expect in Third Grade by Julie Williams
Your child has scaled the cliffs of early reading, shot the rapids of adding and subtracting, and mined for gems in the world of writing. In other words, first and second grade are over. What could top all that?
Well, in fact there’s a giant step waiting in third grade. Kids will still read, write, and do math, of course; but the way they do them will start to shift. This year, and increasingly in fourth and fifth grades, kids move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn,” and from “learning to write” to “writing to communicate.” Teachers will still guide them closely, but they’ll be introducing another goal too: working independently. In most schools across the country, you’ll especially notice this change in new assignments coming home. Has your child had homework before? By third grade, you can generally expect it, and expect that it will count.
So how does this look in your child’s classroom? Specific details vary from state to state. To be sure what’s going on, check your state’s standards on the Department of Education website, and ask your teacher, as well, about the curriculum plan for the class and grade. For a general overview, however, here are some themes to expect:
Reading: Picture books—especially long ones—may still be on a few third grade classroom shelves, but “chapter books” are the rage now, especially when they come in series form, like the “A to Z Mysteries” or the “Magic Treehouse” books. This stage gets less attention than first grade reading, but it’s just as important. Having learned to go from pictures to the “code” of words, the task now is to go the other way: to read words and make mental pictures. Your best parenting strategies? Encourage your kids to read, read, read; and afterward to talk, talk, talk, about the stories. Don’t push on reading levels, however: it’s important that kids learn to read independently on their own, and an “easy” book still gives valuable practice. Harder stuff will come all too soon.
Writing: The third grade shift in reading runs directly parallel to a change in writing, as kids now expand their early skills into paragraphs, short essays and stories that make a point. Their “writing to communicate” may still take some wild birdwalks, but by the end of third grade, expect significant progress. One warning: if your child does not seem to grasp written sequence and is consistently confused and upset about this new level of difficulty, consult your teacher. This may be due to earlier gaps or it can be the result of problems with perception that have not appeared until now. Either way, you and your teacher can work together to keep progress smooth.
Math: Third grade takes off from first and second grade fundamentals, and it’s a marvelous time for most kids. During the year, expect that they will fully master addition and subtraction of numbers between 0 and 12; and that they will move on to understand and use multiplication, early fractions, and even some decimals. As you help kids move into these exciting new levels of abstraction, it’s especially helpful to anchor them in real-life materials and discovery exercises. Ordering pizza? Go wild dividing it into fractional pieces. Counting allowance? Multiply weekly amounts and start calculating monthly or even yearly income. You’ll certainly have fun—but you’ll be building lifelong intellectual connections as well.
Science/Social Studies: “Reading to learn” opens an exciting new world for young scientists, as they start to consult references and learn new stuff. Specific topics in these areas tend to vary by state, but you can expect plenty of work using the scientific method and testing hypotheses about the physical world, as well as about geography and world cultures. This year, more than in previous ones, you’ll also see writing and math blended in, as kids graph and calculate scientific observations and then write up their conclusions. Want to help at home? Give kids some time and space to mess around with science, especially in nature; now is also a great time to subscribe to kids’ nature magazines such as Ranger Rick, or National Geographic Magazine for kids.
If you’ve noticed that curriculum starts to have more weight in third grade, you’re right. If you have concerns about your child's progress, be sure to talk with your teacher; schools expect that kids will advance unevenly at times, and they are prepared to help. Some kids find the transition stressful. More often, however, third graders find themselves standing more firmly than ever in the world of school. After three years of being “little” in elementary school, third graders are now among the “big” kids. Ask them and they’ll tell you: that’s pretty cool.
Julie Williams, MA Education, taught English and History for seventeen years at Aragon High School in San Mateo, California. For the last five years, she has worked in classrooms with primary-level students learning to read. She is the mother of two young sons.
What to Expect in Third Grade by Julie Williams
Your child has scaled the cliffs of early reading, shot the rapids of adding and subtracting, and mined for gems in the world of writing. In other words, first and second grade are over. What could top all that?
Well, in fact there’s a giant step waiting in third grade. Kids will still read, write, and do math, of course; but the way they do them will start to shift. This year, and increasingly in fourth and fifth grades, kids move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn,” and from “learning to write” to “writing to communicate.” Teachers will still guide them closely, but they’ll be introducing another goal too: working independently. In most schools across the country, you’ll especially notice this change in new assignments coming home. Has your child had homework before? By third grade, you can generally expect it, and expect that it will count.
So how does this look in your child’s classroom? Specific details vary from state to state. To be sure what’s going on, check your state’s standards on the Department of Education website, and ask your teacher, as well, about the curriculum plan for the class and grade. For a general overview, however, here are some themes to expect:
Reading: Picture books—especially long ones—may still be on a few third grade classroom shelves, but “chapter books” are the rage now, especially when they come in series form, like the “A to Z Mysteries” or the “Magic Treehouse” books. This stage gets less attention than first grade reading, but it’s just as important. Having learned to go from pictures to the “code” of words, the task now is to go the other way: to read words and make mental pictures. Your best parenting strategies? Encourage your kids to read, read, read; and afterward to talk, talk, talk, about the stories. Don’t push on reading levels, however: it’s important that kids learn to read independently on their own, and an “easy” book still gives valuable practice. Harder stuff will come all too soon.
Writing: The third grade shift in reading runs directly parallel to a change in writing, as kids now expand their early skills into paragraphs, short essays and stories that make a point. Their “writing to communicate” may still take some wild birdwalks, but by the end of third grade, expect significant progress. One warning: if your child does not seem to grasp written sequence and is consistently confused and upset about this new level of difficulty, consult your teacher. This may be due to earlier gaps or it can be the result of problems with perception that have not appeared until now. Either way, you and your teacher can work together to keep progress smooth.
Math: Third grade takes off from first and second grade fundamentals, and it’s a marvelous time for most kids. During the year, expect that they will fully master addition and subtraction of numbers between 0 and 12; and that they will move on to understand and use multiplication, early fractions, and even some decimals. As you help kids move into these exciting new levels of abstraction, it’s especially helpful to anchor them in real-life materials and discovery exercises. Ordering pizza? Go wild dividing it into fractional pieces. Counting allowance? Multiply weekly amounts and start calculating monthly or even yearly income. You’ll certainly have fun—but you’ll be building lifelong intellectual connections as well.
Science/Social Studies: “Reading to learn” opens an exciting new world for young scientists, as they start to consult references and learn new stuff. Specific topics in these areas tend to vary by state, but you can expect plenty of work using the scientific method and testing hypotheses about the physical world, as well as about geography and world cultures. This year, more than in previous ones, you’ll also see writing and math blended in, as kids graph and calculate scientific observations and then write up their conclusions. Want to help at home? Give kids some time and space to mess around with science, especially in nature; now is also a great time to subscribe to kids’ nature magazines such as Ranger Rick, or National Geographic Magazine for kids.
If you’ve noticed that curriculum starts to have more weight in third grade, you’re right. If you have concerns about your child's progress, be sure to talk with your teacher; schools expect that kids will advance unevenly at times, and they are prepared to help. Some kids find the transition stressful. More often, however, third graders find themselves standing more firmly than ever in the world of school. After three years of being “little” in elementary school, third graders are now among the “big” kids. Ask them and they’ll tell you: that’s pretty cool.
Julie Williams, MA Education, taught English and History for seventeen years at Aragon High School in San Mateo, California. For the last five years, she has worked in classrooms with primary-level students learning to read. She is the mother of two young sons.