Beat the Winter Blues How did your child do in the first half of the school year? Were you pleased with his or her performance, or do you think there is room for improvement? No matter what letters appeared on the report card, now is the perfect time to get excited about learning and improving grades.

This can be accomplished by creating an atmosphere in your home that encourages learning. Here are a few tips to help you get involved with your child's learning process and help motivate him or her this semester.

• Have a family reading time at least once a week. Utilize Book Adventure, a free Sylvan created interactive, reading motivation program that can be found at http://www.bookadventure.com/. Students choose their own books from more than 7,000 titles, take short comprehension quizzes and redeem their accumulated points for small prizes. Book Adventure also offers teacher and parent resources and tips to help children develop a lifelong love of reading.
• Set aside a specific time for homework and studying. Take advantage of this quiet time to sit with your child and work on your paperwork. This visually demonstrates the importance of "work time" to your child.
• If homework was a struggle during the first semester, set up a reward system for the rest of the school year. For example, deposit change in a small jar when homework is complete. As soon as the jar is full, treat the whole family to something everyone will enjoy.
• Refresh your child's study space. Make sure that all materials are easily accessible and in adequate supply.
• Create study plans. Have your child do his most challenging assignment first, while he or she is most focused, then have him or her work on easier tasks. Finish the homework session with a fun activity.
• Search the Internet with your child to learn more about the topics being covered in school.
• Invite your child to participate in cooking or shopping to strengthen his or her math skills.
• Get your child organized inside and outside of school. By being organized, your child will have plenty of time to complete all assignments, and he or she will also learn the value of time management.
• Talk to your child's teachers. Find out if your child needs extra help in a specific subject in order to keep up with the class.

For more educational resources for children in all grades, please visit http://www.educate.com/.

Labels: education

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