A simple way to boost responsibility

File:2010-07-20 Black windup alarm clock face.jpgResponsibility is something on the mind of both parents and students. Parents want their students to be more responsible, and students are always asking for more options to make their own choices and take charge of their life more.

One simple tool can help both parents and students: an alarm clock.

This isn’t earth shattering! Get your student their own alarm clock and have them manage it, setting it for the appropriate time in the morning to take up. It’s a great way to teach responsibility. Maybe they’ll even forget to set it one time and you can teach them the consequences. Mistakes are a good teacher and right now the consequences are a lot smaller than oversleeping for work one day.

Parents, don’t be the alarm clock! This is an area your student can grow responsibility in. And while you’re at it, make sure your student’s bedtime and wake up time is allowing them 10 hours of sleep a night or so. This will give your student the brainpower they need to focus and learn through the day. We all know how it feels to try to get work done when we are feeling groggy.

Originally posted 2018-09-12 16:55:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Don’t quit

Originally posted 2017-01-21 07:07:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Fly

Originally posted 2017-02-25 09:47:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Sick kids: when to send them or keep them home

Sometimes it’s a judgment call about when to keep a sick kid home or send them to school. Kids can’t stay home for every ache and pain, even though they might want to. But sending a legitimately sick kid to school could make matters worse. Here are some guidelines:

When to send them

  • A common cold or runny nose.
  • A cough not associated with a fever, rapid or difficult breathing, or wheezing.
  • Pink eye after symptoms have faded or after 24 hours of treatment from a doctor.
  • Watery, yellow or white discharge or crusting eye discharge without fever, eye pain or eyelid redness.
  • A fever without any other symptoms. The AAP states: “A fever is an indication of the body’s response to something, but is neither a disease nor a serious problem by itself.” A fever is defined as a temperature above 101 degrees.
  • A rash without fever and behavioral changes. (Exception: Call 911 for rapidly spreading bruising or small blood spots under the skin.)
  • Lice, as long as the child has started treatment and has no live lice.

When to stay home

  • A fever over 100° (Fahrenheit)
  • For 24 hours after starting an antibiotic
  • For 24 hours after symptoms of stomach flu have subsided (such as vomiting or diarrhea)
  • A persistent cough or chest pain, or if your child is having a hard time swallowing
  • An earache with persistent pain
  • Crusty, draining and red eyes
  • An unfamiliar rash, or a rash that hasn’t been examined by a doctor
  • Any illness that prevents the child from participating comfortably in school activities.
  • Vomiting more than two times in the past 24 hours.
  • Abdominal pain that continues for more than two hours.
  • Mouth sores with drooling that the child cannot control.
  • A rash with fever or behavioral changes.
  • Strep throat, until the child has two doses of antibiotic.
  • Head lice, only if the child has not been treated or if there is live lice present.
  • Chickenpox (varicella), until all lesions have dried or crusted.

See this source for more details. Our school nurse also has more information at her School Health website.

Originally posted 2020-01-09 17:03:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

When Kids Struggle with Reading

How can I help my struggling reader? How can I get my child to love reading? These are questions that are asked over and over by caring parents that want to help their students to become successful readers.

Reading for at least 20 minutes a night is the standard advice, and it’s a good habit for students to develop. But what if they read out of duty or grudgingly? Love and Logic has a simple suggestion below that still applies in 4th grade and beyond:

After a difficult and frustrating day at work, don’t you wish your spouse would greet you with the following?

Honey, I got an email from your boss. She says that you haven’t been working up to your potential. She also mentioned that your reading is really poor and that you’ve had a bad attitude about completing your projects. That’s why we are going to sit down together and work on some practice samples. Now…I’m only doing this because I love you.

My guess is that few readers would vote for this treatment as an effective way of promoting deeper marital intimacy and improved work performance!

Far too many children struggle all day long with reading…and other subjects. Then they face even more frustration when they get home. When this happens, their reading performance rarely increases, but their disdain for books does!

May I suggest another approach? What if this strategy saved your relationship with your child AND helped him or her develop a much better vocabulary, understanding of language structure, and attitude toward reading?

Read to them, and have fun doing it. Do this even if they’re in high school! Do it as often as possible. Don’t stand over them and force them to read. Don’t nitpick their reading performance. Just enjoy your time together as you read…to them. Take the pressure off!

Read the rest here.

Originally posted 2014-03-15 12:35:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter