Respect Responsibility
Readiness
Principal’s Message – October 2009
Every once in a while, I find an article that I feel is
relevant for parents where their children are concerned. I recently read an
editorial in my local paper that I thought was very timely that I would like to
share with you. I found the article to be good common sense. You may have seen
the column before, as the author was reprinting it from the past.
“Back-to-School Tips For
Parents” by John Rosemond.
Before you read, be informed
that when I use the term “best students,” I am not necessarily referring to
those children who make the best grades. Rather, I mean those students who come
to school prepared to pay attention, accept assignments and do their best,
whatever their best may be. Here, then, are those tips:
- Make it clear to
your child that disobedience is not an option. Teachers
consistently report that the best students are almost always among the most
well behaved. Good behavior begins in the home, not at school, and not even
the best teacher can discipline a child who comes from home not already
respectful of adult authority. Make the rules of proper behavior clear to
your child, and when the rules are broken, enforce with a firm, even hand.
New research finds that a child’s level of self-control is positively
associated with school achievement.
- Assign your child a
fair share of day-to-day housework. Again, teachers tell me that
the best students are usually those who have daily chores at home. It makes
sense, doesn’t it, that a child who comes to school already accustomed to
accepting adult assignment will have fewer problems accepting assignment
from teachers? The more responsible a child is within his or her family,
the more responsibility the child will demonstrate at school.
- Limit electronic
entertainment to nonschool days only, and even then allow no more than five
total hours per week. The research is increasingly
unequivocal: Screen time of any sort decreases attention span. Learning
from a real-life, flesh-and-blood teacher requires being ready to answer
questions, memorizing, conducting independent inquiry, transferring what
you’ve learned to paper, listening to the teacher’s feedback concerning your
work and correcting your mistakes. As for television alone, a recent
researcher once found that truly gifted children tended to watch no more
than five hours of television a week. The national average is 25 hours per
week per child, which is simply to say, if you want your child to be
average, let him/her watch a lot of television.
- Be always interested
in what and how your child is doing in school, but take care not to get
involved in doing his work for him. There is a difference
between interest and involvement. The interested parent says to the child,
in effect, “I am concerned about your education, but it is ultimately your
responsibility.” The involved parent says, “You education is my
responsibility.” Unfortunately, too many well-intentioned parents have
unwittingly accepted/appropriated responsibility for their children’s school
work. The result of this parental benevolence is a child who has difficulty
taking the proverbial bull by the horns.
- If and when your
child’s teacher reports a problem, give the teacher – not your child – the
benefit of the doubt. As a rule, teachers are more committed to
bettering the welfare of children than any other class of professional.
When a teacher says your child has a problem, academic or behavioral, it is
with your child’s best interest in mind. Curb the tendency to become
defensive and listen with an open mind and an open heart. You may learn
something that will help you become a better parent.
Till next time…
Tim Reece