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Help your child be successful in school

HOPE's Single Mother Forum in August was well-attended, as many moms came to hear tips on preparing children for school. Here are ideas on how you can help them adjust to school:

• Go to school before the open house or conferences to meet the administrators and faculty (including cooks, engineer, assistants, tutors, etc.) under less stressed circumstances. Use a vacation day, floating holiday, comp time, or lunch hour.
• Fill out emergency contact cards completely.
• Complete your lunch applications and turn them in.
• Get your child a city library card (free resources for school projects).
• Send all your child's school supplies when asked.
• Teach your child his or her legal name, and each parent's legal name.
• Ask for your child's schedule (gym day, art day, etc.)
• Start or participate in a room parent phone chain, field trip parents, etc. (knowing parents and students controls bullies and altercations in class)
• Ask your child how school was each day
• Put your child's name on everything (caps, coats, backpacks, folders, etc.)
• Volunteer to call other parents, help in the lunchroom, pass things out at open house, or bring snacks for conference night, etc.
• Introduce yourself to the bus driver (speaker said she used to give him breakfasts 3 mornings a month)
• Make a homework chart on a calendar at home and keep informed of any special projects, grades, etc.
• Start your child's day with breakfast and end the day with at least 8 hours of sleep. Pediatricians recommend that a five- or six-year-old get 10-12 hours of sleep each night, and a seven- or eight-year-old about 10 hours. And no school-aged child should get less than 8 hours of sleep.

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