Making the Grade in Summer School
Q: There are only a few weeks left in school and we know that our seventh grader will need to make up at least one subject in summer school and is already signed up. Do you have any advice to make sure she does well, or maybe homework tips focused on the short time in summer sessions?This is a good time to help your daughter learn strategies for studying efficiently. For example, our brains learn by connecting new information to information we already know, and we remember that information best if we can review it within 24 hours of first learning it. With this understanding, ask your daughter each day to list three new things she learned in class and ask her to make a connection between something she learned to something she already knew. As she anticipates your questions each day, she will soon develop the habit of reviewing and making connections. This strategy will be especially helpful during a summer session when she will learn a lot of content in a short amount of time. For more study tips, download my FREE Homework Rx® Toolkit, featuring 25 Ways to Make Homework Easier...Tonight! at www.soarstudyskills.com (click on FREE Stuff). You might also want to pick up a copy of my book, SOAR® Study Skills (Grand Lighthouse Publishers, First Edition, $24.95). It's a simple and efficient system for earning better grades in less time. - Susan Kruger in Grand Blanc, MI
When our 14-year-old attended summer school last year, having him go straight to a tutoring service each day after class was one of the best things ever. He not only passed his class with flying colors, he also was confident for the next school year. - Jon Williams in San Diego, CA
From Jodie: Teachers recommend summer school for many reasons. Some are to help students sharpen their skills in various subjects, while others, in the case of your daughter, are to perhaps replace a failing grade. Whatever the reason, of course, it is a shorter and more intense class specifically focusing on the "meat" of the academic subject. With this in mind, you might want to find out who will be teaching the class your daughter has already signed up for. If it's the same teacher who taught the subject in the regular school session, it might be another negative experience for your daughter, though it could be a positive one. If the former holds true, you might think of registering her at a different school where the same class is being taught. Another reason to possibly sign her up at a different location is that if you know of friends of hers that will be attending the same class, and know that your daughter is a social butterfly, having her attend a summer school session at a different school might help her focus better. In fact, she might even take a keen interest in it and quite possibly enjoy it. Either way, as long as she gets her homework assignments done and handed in on time and asks questions on any part that she doesn't understand, she will more than likely do well. The key is to limit her summer extracurricular activities while she is in summer school and to adhere to a regular semester school schedule. Having a daily schedule for bedtime, homework and morning ritual will help.
Can you help?
I see more and more parents today vying for a best-friend status with their kids in what should be a parent first relationship. I have 13-year-old twin daughters who have friends that come over and seem like that they are dying for real parental supervision. They have said repeatedly that they wished that their mom or dad would have more consistent rules, like we do at our house. I’m very tempted to call some of these parents and tell them what their daughters have shared, but I am afraid of being accused of being a "busybody" just wanting to stir up trouble. Should I talk with the parents, who are mostly divorced moms, or just keep quiet?
Please share your tips and help other parents. Send them - or other parenting questions - to: Parent to Parent, 2464 Taylor Rd. Suite 131, Wildwood, MO 63040. Send e-mail to: here or through the ParentToParent.com website. Jodie Lynn's latest book is Mom CEO (Chief Everything Officer) - Having, Doing, and Surviving It All! (Stacey Kannenberg Unlimited, an imprint of Cedar Valley Publishing, $14.95).
©2007 Jodie Lynn
Jodie Lynn is an award-winning internationally syndicated family/health columnist and radio personality. Her syndicated column Parent to Parent (www.parenttoparent.com) has been successful for over 10 years and appears in newspapers, magazines, newsletters and throughout the Internet. She is a regular contributor to several sites including eDiets.com, KeepKidsHealthy.com, ClubMom.com, BabyUniverse.com and is the National Spokesperson for Stacey Kannenberg Unlimited. Lynn has written four books and contributed to three others, one of which was on Oprah and has appeared on NBC in a three month parenting segment. Her best-selling parenting/family book is Mommy-CEO: 5 Golden Rules (2001 Revised Edition). Her latest books are Syndication Secrets - What No One Will Tell You! (March 2006) and Mom CEO (Chief Everything Officer)TM - Having, Doing, and Surviving It All! (May 2006).
NOTE: Mom CEO (Chief Everything Officer) - Having, Doing and Surviving It All is now available at any bookstore. Topics covered: developing traditions and building memories, fitness/exercise, pregnancy, breastfeeding, academic pointers for preschool/ kindergarten to high school, tons of parenting tips and includes quick yummy recipes customized by age.
