10 best ways for parents to help their children excel in school

Benjie H. Bolos

One of the best ways that parents can help their children excel in school is to be interested in their education. This begins with a strong communication with the child's teacher. Essentially, effective communication means meeting the teacher, being a supportive and courteous participant in your child's learning, and keeping the lines of communication open all year round.

1.Visit and meet the teacher. Go to your child's school, leave your house, or meet your teacher every day. Even if time is limited, a few simple steps will demonstrate your commitment and attention.

2.Find the best time to talk to your teacher. If you're in school, you could run into a teacher and be tempted to ask yourself how your child is doing.

3.Go to the parent-teacher conferences online. Schools also arrange these in the course of a year.

4.Sit down and write brief notes and follow this up.

5.Be kind and courteous. Many teachers are overworked and undervalued. Speaking positively opens up channels of communication so that you can work together to help your child excel in school.

6.Follow the e-mail tag. E-mail is also a convenient and helpful way to communicate with a child's teacher but should follow the same rules for all professional contact.

7.Accept differences of opinion. Often you can really click with a teacher, and sometimes it can seem impossible to keep the lines of communication open.

8.Tell yourself what you can do to help. If there's something you can do to help your child's teacher, offer it to volunteer. Please give the teacher your business card or a note with brief information about what you can do and how to get there.

9.Be a collaborator with a teacher to help your child understand. Kids do well at school when their parents are interested. Around the same time, as our children grow older, teachers expect them to be able to take on more responsibilities and work independently; your child will probably want more and more autonomy as well. Help them build up these skills while still continuing to assist them.

10.Keep lines of communication open all year round.

The author is Teacher

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III at San Isidro Elementary School, Tarlac City