Helping Your Children To Be Successful Students
If not now – when? If not me – who? You might be thinking that parenting goes on for a very long time. Though parenting in one form or another never stops, I assure you that your window of opportunity to create a huge positive difference in your child’s life is very small and soon… Continue reading Working with your child so that they thrive not just survive.
You are your own best coaching tool. Watch yourself closely when coaching your child reading, writing, and maths skills becomes difficult and you feel frustrated. The usual trap is to think that they are the one who is reluctant to coach with you, not paying enough attention, or not remembering the work fast enough. Blame… Continue reading Challenges and difficulties when working with your child are inevitable – how you respond is crucial.
here are some very easy ways you can help your child remember maths, spelling, and reading skills and knowledge they have learnt. Recent brain research proves how important these ideas are, but even before research told them it was a good idea good teachers and learners have always used them.
The writing Roles of 'writer' and 'editor' help keep your writer in control of their writing. Dear families. Many of us have a tendency to believe that we know more than our children...and often we are right, but in the case of writing stories our children will know more. Do NOT take over your child's… Continue reading Writing: The first step – planning.
Help your child develop the homework habit Time spent together is precious. As well as homework time to practise the skills that they are learning in school, children need time to play, read, chat with you and with their friends, help out in the house, and have free, unstructured time to explore and enjoy their world.… Continue reading Tips for successfully helping children develop the homework habit.
The days of boring old handwriting drills are gone. Now instead in the place of drills teachers often give a series of short lessons on how to hold the pencil and correctly write letters and numbers, and then they correct students’ hand-grip and writing direction incidentally as they walk around the room. How your child… Continue reading Handwriting – How your child can write more easily
It’s time to get serious and decide a win-win deal together. Take turns speaking and listening to each other. For negotiations to be successful create a situation where your teen will stay comfortable and alert enough to listen closely to you. The most important thing you can do is to keep any of your positive… Continue reading Your teen and you – No 4 – time to create a win-win deal
When it all goes wrong - consequences step up. Consequences step up when your child’s negative behaviours continue beyond acceptable limits after other consequences have been used consistently, and after two strong warnings. Consequences are not punishments! Some or all of these consequences happen immediately and are non-negotiable; but at no point are they a… Continue reading Positive Discipline: When it all goes wrong…what next?
A definition of consequences I like is, 'something that follows as a result for our actions'. We create our own consequences in our lives. An excellent example of this for yourself as a parent is the positive changes you can create in your life when you focus on what you can change rather than what… Continue reading A positive discipline approach: Fair agreements and consequences
Stay respectful with your teen throughout the whole homework negotiation process, and never give up! Don't hurry homework negotiations. Even when feeling provoked, impatient, annoyed, attacked...stay respectful. If the atmosphere becomes tense between you both, slow down the negotiating process, but without intending it to stop. Believe that there is no hurry - that time… Continue reading Your teen and homework : Tips to respectfully negotiate with them
Families as Coaches 