How Can I Help My Child Prepare for Standardized Testing?

A tremendous emphasis is being placed on standardized tests in today’s public schools. Not only can they be a make-or-break event for school systems, but it can often feel that doing poorly can hurt your child as well. Even though this isn’t quite the case, you still want your child to do well, and there are ways you can help.

How to Encourage Your Struggling Reader

This issue can cause such anxiety for us parents, especially as reading forms the core of today’s academic learning. When you have a reluctant or struggling reader on your hands, it fills you with anxiety and concern about how best to intervene. When writing my latest book, The Mom Book Goes To School: Insider Tips to Ensure Your Child Thrives in Elementary and Middle School, I raised this issue with the hundreds of elementary and middle school teacher with whom I spoke at length. They jumpstarted my own thinking about my 11-year-old son, Brooks, who used to be able think of at least 100 things to do before picking up a book. His reticence to read had me both feeling concerned, talking indepth with his teachers, and scrambling for what I could do at home to spark his interest. It especially baffled me as I am a passionate reader myself, often yearning for more than a half-hour of bedtime reading for the stacks of fiction that await me on my bedside table. What I learned both validated my reason for concern as well filled me with a wealth of solutions that two years later has Brooks declaring, “You know, Mom, I really love this book I am reading. You would not believe what is happening in it now….”

Transitioning from Another School

By Stacy DeBroff 

Switching schools can be a difficult and stressful time for any child.  Whether your child is moving from elementary to middle school or switching to a school in a new town because of a family move, you can help make sure your child feels comfortable in a new school environment.

Ask your child’s old teacher and his new teacher to talk so the new teacher can get a better idea about your child’s current curriculum and development. Find out about having a buddy assigned to your child to help him learn his way around the school.

Showing Appreciation To Teachers: What Do They Value Most?

When writing my most recent parenting book, The Mom Book Goes to School: Insider Tips to Ensure Your Child Thrives in Elementary and Middle School, I set about interviewing hundreds of teachers across the United States about all aspects of their teaching lives, including talking about the ways they feel most appreciated by both the students they teach and the parents of those students. And the resounding unity of their answers caught me by surprise.

How Can I Help My Child Overcome Test-Taking Jitters?

By Stacy DeBroff

Taking tests in school can take its toll on your child, and the amount of pressure that surrounds them can make him freeze the moment the test is in front of him, causing him to forget everything he has been working so hard to study for the past week. There is hope however, and with a few simple steps, you can ease your child’s tensions and help him get the grades you know he’s capable of.

Motivating Underacheivers

By Stacy DeBroff

Report cards oftentimes reflect a lack of effort more than a lack of skill. Even if your child is a math whiz, he may wind up with poor marks when he doesn't put in the necessary studying hours. When your child receives bad marks, focus on making his schedule more conducive to studying. Set up study times, limit television during the week, and if necessary, cut down on your child's competing engagements to give him more time to concentrate on his schoolwork.