Pro-Teach

If you want your child to be an outstanding student, don't limit learning to the walls of his classroom. Although the skills he's learning there are crucial to his intellectual and social growth, your child needs your help to really unleash his potential. His renewed joy in discovery will transfer to his schoolwork, so you'll boost his academic achievement too!

Fill your child's world with reading. Take turns reading with your child, or establish a family reading time when everyone reads his own book. It's important to show your child that it's not only a school task. Demonstrate how important reading is to you by filling your home with printed materials: novels, newspapers, even posters and placemats with words on them. Children can learn to read by living in an environment that's rich in words.

Encourage him to express his opinion, talk about his feelings, and make choices. He can pick out a side dish to go with dinner and select his own extracurricular activities. Ask for his input on family decisions, and show that you value it. One of the things valued in school is class participation and having practice at home expressing his feelings is good for self-esteem and self-confidence. Your child will be more likely to be engaged with the material he studies if he's comfortable asking questions and drawing his own conclusions.

Show enthusiasm for your child's interests and encourage him to explore subjects that fascinate him. If he loves horses, offer him stories about riding or challenge him to find five facts about horses in the encyclopedia. Make sure he has the tools he needs.

Provide him with play opportunities that support different kinds of learning styles — from listening and visual learning to sorting and sequencing. Have supplies that encourage open-ended play and do more than one thing, such as blocks — your child will develop his creative expression and problem-solving skills as he builds. He'll need lots of unstructured play time to explore them. Although sports activities and language clubs are valuable experiences, too many scheduled activities can add too much stress to your child's life, and distract him from exploring the pleasures of learning at his own pace.

Point out the new things you learn with enthusiasm. Discuss the different was you find new information, whether you're looking for gardening tips on the Internet or taking a night class in American literature. Let her see you in action: choose an activity that's unfamiliar to you both, such as playing tennis or speaking Japanese, and schedule a lesson or pick up a couple of instructional DVDs. Parents are the single most important modeling agent in a child's life. If you demonstrate that learning is a lifetime adventure, your kids will get the message.

Ask about what he's learning in school, not about his grades or test scores. Even if he doesn't do well grade-wise compared to the other students, he might still be learning and improving, and you don't want to discourage that. Have him teach you what he learned in school today — putting the lesson into his own words will help him retain what he learned.

Help your child organize his school papers and assignments so he feels in control of his work. If his task seems too daunting, he'll spend more time worrying than learning. As he gets older and has more responsibilities, things can get very painful. So check in with him regularly to make sure he's not feeling overloaded.

Celebrate achievements, no matter how small. Completing a book report calls for a special treat; finishing a book allows your child an hour of computer or video games. You'll offer positive reinforcement that will inspire him to keep learning and challenging himself. If a child feels as if he is successful regardless of what it is, it builds him up and makes the next challenge easier.

Focus on strengths, encouraging developing talents. Even if he didn't ace his math test, he may have written a good poem in English class. In addition to a workbook for math practice, give him a writing journal. When he knows that he's talented in one area, he'll be confident enough to try to achieve in others.

Turn everyday events into learning opportunities. Learning is building from what you know and connecting it to new facts. Encourage your child to explore the world around him, asking questions and making connections.