Sep 14, 09 | Posted by: Sharyl Paley, M.D.

Check in on New School year

Now that school has been in session for a few weeks it is time to check in and see what is going on.  Many kids can have trouble organizing and staying on top of things. If you don’t check in and see what is going on, they might start getting behind and then things cascade. 

This is also the time to check in with the teachers if you have any concerns.  While many parents don’t want to bias teachers, if a teacher is unaware of a concern, he/she will not be able to help.  In today’s budget cuts many teachers have 24 or more kids in the classroom.  This is difficult even for the best teacher, and things can be missed.  I spoke with my youngest daughter’s teacher before school started, and told her I had concerns with her handwriting.  She started watching her the first day, and already we have made huge progress.  Plus, she made my daughter feel good about herself.  Confidence is huge.  If I had waited until she brought it up then we may have had a struggle and my daughter would not have started the year feeling good about things.

This morning I sat with my son and tried to teach him a way to use an assignment notebook.  It is one thing to write down the assignments, but it is another to plan for those long term projects and tests.  Our job as a parent is to help guide them.  We can’t do it all, but we can give suggestions of what may work.  It is also important to set up time every week to go through things.  My son and I decided to check in on Wednesdays and Sundays to see how things are going.  It is great one on one time, and it is a great life skill to teach how to organize.

So remember, check in with your kids.  Set up weekly time to get updates.  Don’t do the organization for them, but help guide them.  And if you have concerns, talk with the teacher now, don’t wait until there is a larger problem.

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