Mr.
Reimer's:
What’s a Parent
or Guardian to Do?
You can not learn for your child (quickly becoming a young adult); no matter how hard you try, you cannot do it for them. Ultimately it is your child who must take the necessary effort and learn for him/her-self. It will be their achievement. It will be their success. But what you can do is set the right environment and guide them through this part of their lives. In effect you are a project director (that analogy is for all you business people and members of charitable organizations). You set the environment to support learning: make sure they have a quiet place to study. But more important, you provide values, beliefs, goals and expectations that you demonstrated and taught your child. These serve as guiding lights for them. Remind them of these, be a role model, and act according. Children learn as much from what we do, as from what we say.
You have provided them other
skills throughout the years: responsibility, organization, time
management, achievement,
prioritization, work ethic. You will not likely be the subject matter expert,
but as project director, you can check to see that they are doing the
above effectively. If they are struggling, help guide them to the resources
which will help them overcome whatever problem they are having. Check in with
them to see just how they are studying or working:
* Do they study at a regular time each day?
* Do they study at the same location each day?
* Are distractions removed from this study
environment?
* Are they staying on top of their work, and know
what quizzes, projects, tests are upcoming?
* Are they using good study habits and using a
variety of resources available?
* Can they explain to you what they are learning
(explaining is more difficult than doing, so it is a good check on
understanding)We want them to be not just
effective, but also efficient. One tenet I repeat in my classroom is “Work
Smart, Not Hard”. Periodically I do follow-up and say that sometimes you must
work both smart and hard.
Continuing with the analogy, your child is his/her own project manager; the project's result being the grade they earn and information they learn from the course. Periodically everyone should check to see how they are doing in progressing toward a goal. For any goal, if you are on track, then you keep doing what has worked. However, if you are not on track, you must change something. I do a skit early in the year about this; it makes most students laugh, but it is an important point. Since they may not yet be a good project manager, you should periodically check in with them. Let them do the legwork if possible. They know their grades, they know their goals, and they know if they are on track. You can help advise them on solutions as needed.
One of the hard things in the above is to find the balance in letting them be responsible. If you hover, you will not be effective. If you ignore, you will not be effective. But each person is different. Each person may be different with different subjects. Each person may be different at various times of the year. A good project director monitors, but only intercedes when needed. Easier said than done.
Finally, be a cheerleader. Motivate! Be positive. Celebrate success. Celebrate improvement. Success is not measured as being the best or earning straight A’s. Remember, for a student who previously earned Ds, a C is a success.
Here's more info for you: Education World Article
