Dear parent,
The year is ending, but this school year is not quite at the halfway point. You now probably have a very good idea of how the year is going for your children. So much of the success that children have in school is due to the study habits that they have. This is true whether they are just starting school or are in college. Bad study habits eventually can lead to poor performance in school.
Why don’t you have your children in fourth grade and beyond take the following quiz to see if they have any bad study habits? A “yes” answer to any question shows a problem or a potential problem area where you or they may wish to make a New Year’s resolution to turn things around. One caution: If it appears that your children have several bad study habits, do not have them try to change too many of them with their resolutions. Just one or two resolutions may pay big dividends in improving their study habits.
• Are you using Facebook or other social media while studying? If so, your grades are probably lower than those who concentrate on their school work.
• Do you frequently copy classmate’s homework? Depending on classmates does not help you learn a subject.
• Are you a negative thinker who does not believe that you can master certain subjects? If so, chances are you may never master those subjects.
• Do you eat while you study? Fixing and consuming food may take too much time away from your studying. Instead, fix a small snack before your study session.
• Do you try to get all of your studying done in one long study session? Short breaks can pay dividends.
• Do you take frequent breaks while studying? Too many breaks indicate a short attention span.
• Do you frequently study with groups of your friends? This can be an effective study habit, unless your study time is just fun with friends.
Pros and cons of e-books in classroom
Dear teacher,
Now that we are in the age of electronic books, what are the pros and cons of using them in the classroom? Do they really help kids learn to read?
Dear parent,
There hasn’t been a lot of investigation into the use of ebooks in the classroom. The features that really help children learn to read have not truly been identified. There are those with animated characters, just text, narration, games, and much more.
What has been observed is that ebooks can serve as a motivational force for children with a low level of interest in reading, especially when the ebooks have both narration and animation. Furthermore, ebooks have been shown to increase fluency when stories are read to students, as they hear proper intonation and pronunciation. They also have been effective as instructional tools when new vocabulary is introduced by the teacher before the story is read.
The time to change tutors
Dear teacher,
How long should we stick with a tutor when little or no progress has been made over the past two months?
Dear parent,
The big question is whether the teacher and tutor have been working together — talking about exactly the help your child needs. Talk with the teacher and find out if more time is needed for your child to bring up his work to grade level or if it could be time to find another tutor. Before making the decision to find a new tutor, consult with your child: Does he like working with the tutor? How helpful does the child feel the tutor has been?
Some children may need a great deal of help in some subjects to catch up with the work being done in the classroom. In this case, progress will not be apparent immediately. Results of a good tutoring program should usually be seen in 10 to 20 weeks.
First grader having trouble with math
Dear teacher,
My first-grader is having a difficult time handling addition math facts even though she practices on drill sheets every night. I’m afraid that if she doesn’t get it soon, her road ahead in math is going to be very rocky.
Dear parent,
It is early still to give up on your daughter getting addition. What she needs is a lot of practice with real objects. For example, to illustrate the math fact 3 + 2 = 5, show her three coins and ask her to put down two more. The next step is for her to count the coins to get the answer. Then she should write what she has done as the math fact 3 + 2 = 5.
Once your child understands what addition does, she is ready to move on to using addition flash cards. If she can’t solve a problem in three seconds, she should lay out the problem using coins or markers, or even count it out on her fingers or use a number line.
Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher.com or ask them on the columnists’ website at www.dearteacher.com. © Compass Syndicate Corporation, 2014.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate
