By Heidi Brewer – East Valley Parenting Advice Examiner

1. The most important tip for parent-teacher conferences is to show up. Involvement from the home is very important to a child’s education. Parents may learn things about their child or their school day that they didn’t know. They will also get ideas for how to better help their child succeed in school and tips for what they can do at home. Be informed of the date and time of conferences by checking your child’s backpack or asking your child about notes from school, especially towards the end of the quarter or semester.

2. Stick to your scheduled time unless prior arrangements have been made with the teacher. When you are late, please know that there may be another conference scheduled immediately after yours, therefore you may not get the full scheduled time with the teacher.

3. By the same token, don’t stay beyond your scheduled time as it may have a domino effect causing each conference following yours to run late. Many teachers are happy to meet with parents at other times to continue the conversation if necessary. All you need to do is ask.

4. Make sure your child’s teacher knows that you are willing to work at home with your child. Ask about specific strategies, activities or ideas you can do at home. Follow through and then follow-up with the teacher later.

5. Have specific input for your child’s teacher. For example, your child may tell you that he or she is bored in class. Try to get to the root of the problem before conferences. The conversation will be more fruitful if feedback is specific such as, “My child seems to have mastered the material in mathematics, what would the next level be?” or “My child does not seem to be very engaged with the learning, have you noticed the same thing in your class?”

6. Work together to come up with a game plan for behavior or academic issues. Students experience the highest levels of success when school and home environments are all working toward a common goal.

7. Try not to act defensive about your child. Don’t forget, your child’s teacher spends 6 or more hours a day, five days a week with your child and knows certain aspects of them very well. Some children are responsible, mature and self-controlled at school and only let down their hair when they get home, others are just the opposite. Be open to the idea that the teacher may see a different side of your child than you do. And on the other hand, make sure the teacher knows what makes your child unique and special to you.

8. Ask about volunteer opportunities. Many teachers could use the extra help in the classroom or perhaps the PTA organization wants your help. The more involved with the school you are, the more you are part of the community of people helping children, including yours, to succeed.

9. Make sure you know how to contact the teacher if issues should arise. Always try to contact the teacher before you go to the principal. The issue may be a simple misunderstanding that can be easily explained or it may be a problem that can be quickly solved. If not, you, the teacher and the principal can work together to help unravel the issue.

10. Even if the conversation became heated or uncomfortable, try to leave the conference on a positive note. It’s highly important for your child’s success in school that the lines of communication are open between teacher and parent. Make sure not to burn bridges as you do not want to miss out on hearing about all the growth and development your child is experiencing at school. Keep in mind that you can always come back at a later time when things have cooled off.

It’s that time of year again!  Time for kindergarten registration and screening at the area public school districts.  To be eligible to attend kindergarten, children must turn five years old on or before Sep 1, 2012.  Information for each specific district is listed below.

Douglas School District

Badger Clark Elementary
Mar 5-9  8:30am-3:30pm

Registration will be by appointment only and children must be present.  Please call   923-0080 to schedule an appointment by Weds, Feb 15.

Parents are responsible to bring their child’s certified birth certificate, immunization records, proof of residency and parent/guardian photo ID.  If these documents are not presented when you come for your appointment, the school will not be able to register or screen your child.

Rapid City Area Schools

Feb 27-29        Early Childhood Screening at Kibben Kuster
Mar 1-2            Pinedale
Mar 5-6            South Canyon
Mar 7-8            Canyon Lake
Mar 12-14        Meadowbrook
Mar 15-16        South Park
Mar 19-21        Robbinsdale
Mar 22-23        Wilson
Mar 26-28        Black Hawk
Mar 29-30        Horace Mann
Apr 2-4             Early Childhood Screening at Kibben Kuster
Apr 5,11-12      Grandview
Apr 13, 16-18   Valley View
Apr 19-20, 23   Rapid Valley
Apr 24-27         Knollwood
Apr 30-May 2   Corral Drive
May 3-4            General Beadle
May 7-10          Kindergarten Pick Up Screening and Kibben Kuster

Parents whose children will be attending these schools will need to call their respective home school two weeks before the earliest pre-registration date listed above to set up an appointment for their child to be screened.  Plan to attend with your child for approximately one hour.

Parents should bring their child’s certified birth certificate, immunization records, Social Security number, and parent/guardian photo ID.  Kindergarten registrations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis during screening.  If enrollment at a school exceeds class size maximums, children will be reassigned to the nearest school with available space.

Meade School District

Piedmont Elementary
Apr 26  11am-6:30pm
Apr 27  7am-2:30pm
Call 787-5295 to schedule an appointment.

Sturgis Elementary
Apr 18  11am-6:30pm
Apr 19  7am-2:30pm
Apr 20  8am-3pm (preschool only)
Call 347-2610 to schedule an appointment.

Parents should bring their child’s certified birth certificate, immunization records, Social Security number, and parent/guardian photo ID.  Plan to attend with your child for approximately one hour.

Are you interested in an opportunity to have a positive impact on the life of a young child? Then sign up to be a classroom volunteer at Badger Clark or Francis Case Elementary School. Teachers are looking for individuals to work one on one with students to help with reading and possibly math and other subjects. In order to provide some stability to the students, interested individuals need to be able to commit to volunteering, as consistently as possible, every week through 24 May 2012 (minus the OREs and ORI). The list below shows the days and times needed for each of the four grades.

Teachers Needing Volunteers
Kindergarten #1: Fri – 8-9am
Kindergarten #2: Tues, Weds or Thurs – Either 10:30-11:30am or 1:30-2:30pm
Kindergarten #3: Weds or Thurs – 1:40-2:15pm
Kindergarten #4: Mon, Tues, Weds or Fri – 10:15-10:45am

1st Grade #1: Mon or Fri – 11:15am-12pm
1st Grade #2: Tues, Weds or Fri – Either 9-9:30am or 9:30-10am
1st Grade #3: Any day Mon-Fri – 12-1pm
1st Grade #4: Any day Mon-Fri – 1:30-2pm
1st Grade #5: Mon or Weds – 9:15-10am
1st Grade #6: Fri – 12:30-1:30pm

2nd Grade #1: Thurs – 1-2pm
2nd Grade #2: Thurs – 1-2pm
2nd Grade #3: Tues – 8:30-9am
2nd Grade #4: Thurs – 2-2:30pm
2nd Grade #5: Tues – 11am-12pm
2nd Grade #6: Thurs – 10-11am

3rd Grade #1: Fri – 12:45-1:45pm
3rd Grade #2: Tues – 12-1pm

If you would like to volunteer, please email me at chad.canaan@ellsworth.af.mil with the days and times you are available and if you have a grade preference. We hope to start the week of 30 Jan. If you have any questions or concern, please let me know. Thanks for supporting our kids!

By Harris Cooper and Russell Gersten - US Department of Education

• Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework. Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.
• Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available. Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.
• Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don’t let your child leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.
• Be positive about homework. Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.
• When your child does homework, you do homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are related to things you do as an adult. If your child is reading, you read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.
• When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.
• When the teacher asks that you play a role in homework, do it. Cooperate with the teacher. It shows your child that the school and home are a team. Follow the directions given by the teacher.
• If homework is meant to be done by your child alone, stay away. Too much parent involvement can prevent homework from having some positive effects. Homework is a great way for kids to develop independent, lifelong learning skills.
• Stay informed. Talk with your child’s teacher. Make sure you know the purpose of homework and what your child’s class rules are.
• Help your child figure out what is hard homework and what is easy homework. Have your child do the hard work first. This will mean he will be most alert when facing the biggest challenges. Easy material will seem to go fast when fatigue begins to set in.
• Watch your child for signs of failure and frustration. Let your child take a short break if she is having trouble keeping her mind on an assignment.
• Reward progress in homework. If your child has been successful in homework completion and is working hard, celebrate that success with a special event (e.g., pizza, a walk, a trip to the park) to reinforce the positive effort.

DoD Emphasizes the Importance of School Attendance

Research has proven that there is a high correlation between school attendance and academic performance and success, while absence from school is often the greatest single cause of poor performance and achievement. School attendance issues have been identified as a serious issue for children throughout the United States, and military children are no exception. Specific attendance concerns include increased chronic absenteeism and tardiness and excessive early dismissals. While not an issue of formal attendance, but “time in school,” there is also great concern over the number of days military children are missing school during Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves.  These are not issues that public school superintendents can solve on their own. Studies suggest that the most successful efforts to increase daily student attendance included engaging the families and communities.  To increase attendance among military children, the Department of Defense Education Activity  (DoDEA) has developed a comprehensive, multifaceted and integrated informational campaign called, “BE HERE” to highlight the importance of school attendance.

The slogan “BE HERE,” represents a multi-pronged, informational campaign that will leverage DoD leadership to communicate the important message that for students to learn and ultimately be successful, they need to “BE HERE.” Over the past several years, organizations such as the Bureau of Educational Research have provided data leading to some staggering conclusions that may help families understand the possible consequences of absenteeism. These data suggest that increased absences in kindergarten are associated with lower academic performance in 1st grade. By 6th grade above average absence is a clear predictor of drop-out. By 9th grade, missing 20 percent of the school year is a better predictor of dropping out than test scores. [i]

The “BE HERE” campaign will be launched this school year to inform parents and to raise awareness that attendance is critical to student success.  Key messages will focus on the premise that Attendance is Critical to School Success!

• School exposes children to language-rich environments they may not have at home. It also helps children learn vital socialization skills.

• Learning is a progressive activity; each day’s lessons build upon those of the previous days.

• Students who miss too much school fall behind and have a hard time catching up. On average it takes three days to make up for one missed day.

• Good attendance builds habits, essential for success in school and life. Habits developed early are likely to continue – good or bad.

• Attendance indicates an engaged student; absences can signal disengagement.

• Too many students missing too many days slow down classroom instruction and can negatively affect school climate. Teachers end up having to spend too much time on remediation and catch up.

• In states where funding depends on enrollment, good attendance pays. For each day a child is absent, the school loses out on critical funding.[ii]

The campaign takes the unique challenges military children and families experience into consideration with its key messaging. While it is appropriate for families to reintegrate and for students to be out of school for a time, it is also critical to balance this with the educational needs of students.  Extended periods of time away from school can set students back significantly and cause delays in ascension to the next grade and even graduation.  Students of military families need to be in school, but in the situations when they are not, they should have a plan to catch up on educational material missed.

The goal around this campaign is to raise awareness and emphasize the importance of children from kindergarten through twelfth grade being in school on time, everyday, all day.

By Elaine Wilson – American Forces Press Service

The Defense Department has launched a free, online tutoring service for servicemembers and their families.

The site – www.tutor.com/military - offers round-the-clock professional tutors who can assist with homework, studying, test preparation, resume writing and more.

Marine Corps and Army families have had access to the program for more than a year. Seeing the value, Defense Department officials decided to expand the service to encompass all servicemembers and their families, officials said. Continue reading →