“For parents, support is key.”

Here are a few tips for parents on how to help children handle school stress.

*Be involved.  Kids do better if their parents are involved in their school life.  Don’t just ask if they did their homework...look at it.

*Look for positives in your child rather than negatives.  Bring out their strengths!

*If your child seems troubled, be there to listen and support...not to preach.

*Listen to what the teachers tell you about your child to find out more about the stressors of school.

*Self-esteem is vital!  Help them feel important at home and they will feel better in school.

*See your child for the individual he/she is...expect realistic goals...be patient...kids need personal space to develop their own personalities, but they also need structure and rules to learn stability.

(By psychotherapist J. Donohue, and psychologists Dr. H. Susser & R. Higgins)

What a child

feels about self

determines

what and to

 what degree

anything is learned.

May every child

be given

the essence and dignity

of self

by one caring and giving

teacher.

For it is of this sowing that the harvest comes.

I Am An Individual

I am an individual.

I have dignity and worth.

I am unique.

I deserve respect and I respect others.

I am part of the human family.

I have something special to offer the world.

I am committed to a peaceful world for all of us.

I make a difference and so do you.

I can accomplish whatever I set out to do, and so can you.

I am the key to peace.

                                                 ~ Naomi Drew

_______________________________________________________

Words that can help kids

I/We love you!                             Thanks for your help

That’s great!                                  You’re such a good 

Good job!                                    You do _____ so well!

You look terrific!                        Just do the best you can.

You’re very special.                       Give it your best.

I like your smile.                           You are what matters.

Don’t give up.                               We can do it together.

Let’s talk about you.               You made/make me happy

I/We want to help you...                    I’m/We’re so proud of  you.

I/We believe you can!                Believe in yourself         

                                                        because I/We believe in       

                                                        you.    

How Parents Can Help

Read to your child...Listen to your child read.

Play games with your child.

Help your child get a library card from the public library.

Encourage your child to go to the library often.

Go to the library with your child and help them pick out books.

Talk to your child about subjects that are interesting to him/her.

Listen to your child.

Set aside special “reading time.” Let your child know that you look forward

to that time together.

Write notes to your child.

Encourage your child to keep a scrapbook about a subject that interests

him/her.

Limit your child’s television watching: select certain shows to watch....the

t.v. is          on when the show is on and off when the show is over.

Read and discuss your child’s school work.

Provide materials such as paints, markers, crayons, etc. for creative

projects.

Help your child make a telephone directory of the names and numbers of

his/her friends.

Ask your child to add a sentence or two in a letter you write to relatives.

Give your child specific duties to perform on a regular basis at home.

Let your child help you prepare dinner.

Subscribe to a children’s magazine (in your child’s name).

Look up words in the dictionary with your child.

Discuss road signs with your child.  Discuss their meanings.

Show your child how to use a ruler or tape measure around the house.

Show your child how to count change.

Give your child a special place to put things he/she must take to school in

the morning.

Show your child how to tell time.

*Tell your child EVERY DAY that you love them “so much.”

SICK

“I can not go to school today,” said little Peggy Ann McKay.

“I have the measles and the mumps.  A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry.  I’m going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks.  I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox

and there’s one more..that’s seventeen.  And don’t you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut, my eyes are blue..it might be instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke.  I’m sure that my left leg is broke.

My hip hurts when I move my chin.  My belly button’s caving in.

My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained.  My ‘ppendix pains each time it rains.

My nose is cold, my toes are numb.  I have a sliver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my spine is weak.  I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth.  I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow’s bent, my spine ain’t straight.  My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I can not hear.  There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is....what?  What’s that you say?

You say today is...Saturday?  G’Bye, I’m going out to play!”

                                                      ~ Shel Silverstein

Different Drums.....Different Drummers

If I don’t want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is

wrong.

Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.

Or yet if I act, or fail to act in the manner of your design for action, let me

be.

I do not for a moment, at least, ask you to understand me.  That will come

only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, your parent, your child, your friend, or your

colleague.

If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or

actions, then you open yourself.

Know that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and

might finally appear to you so right ~ for me!

To put up with me is the first step to understanding me.  Not that you

embrace my way as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated

or disappointed with me in my seeming waywardness.

And in understanding me, you might come to prize my differences from you,

and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.

For Your Student. Successful Study Tips.

1.      Study in a suitable place ~ the same place everyday.  Be comfortable.

2.      Collect all the materials you’ll need before you begin.

3.      Don’t wait for inspiration to strike...it probably won’t.

4.      A well-kept notebook can help raise your grades.

5.      Make a careful record of your assignments.

6.      Use “trade secrets” for successful study. (flash cards, memory tricks,..)

7.      Read information aloud.

8.      One secret of remembering is “over learning.” (go beyond barely

recalling the facts)

9.      Don’t wait until the day before a test to study...do a little each day.

10.    Write down page numbers of things you don’t understand.

11.    Do the hardest subject first when you are feeling freshest.

         ~ take a break every 15-20 minutes

         ~ have a book buddy to call if you need help

12.    Do something fun when you finish.  (It’s a reward for a job well-done)