Parents, here is some help with getting your sons ready for success in the coming school year:
Summer Learning: www.education.com has tons of customizable and printable worksheets for students from kindergarten through high school. Print out a few from last year’s grade and encourage your son to dust off the cobwebs and review the material. Or if he is up to speed from last year, give him a few worksheets from the next grade to let him know what is coming. Be careful not to overdo it– you don’t want him to feel overwhelmed before he starts the next grade. Take the time to go over what he works on, and let him know how proud you are of him for focusing on this now.
Reading Aloud: Boys can be reluctant readers, and one way to encourage reading is to read aloud to them (at any age) and have them read aloud to you. Choose a book that you can finish this month which you know will appeal to your son, and make a plan to read it aloud together. Maybe a short classic like Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”. You can read together outside, on the beach, or before bedtime. You may be surprised to find yourself enjoying the book as much as your son does.
Khan Academy: GCP has been singing the praises of the Khan Academy video tutorials for many years. The site has expanded tremendously, and now includes a parent section which instructs and encourages parents to engage with their children using Khan Academy tutorials. Spend some time this month trying out some subjects with your son. You can find Khan Academy here.
School Year Resolutions: The Parent’s Toolkit, found here, is encouraging parents to make resolutions to support our students in the coming school year. Check out the resolutions parents (and students) have already made, and add some of your own. You can enter to even win back to school gift cards with your resolutions. GCP has always encouraged parents to consciously make plans to support their sons in the year ahead, and this is a great way to do it.
Back to School Planning: Boys are not always known for their strong organizing skills, so unless your son is a super self starting organizer, take some time thinking about what kind of system will work best for him this year before you head off to buy school supplies. Your son should be fully involved in (if not leading) this process; it will do no good for you to research the “best” organizing system for school supplies if he has no intention of using it. Ask him to think about what has been the most effective system for him. Go online or to the store with him and choose items which support that system. Check with his school as they may have suggestions for school supplies as well. If your son is clueless about what works for him, feel free to make suggestions and get him to buy into a system that you know will work. The student organizing tips found here may be helpful.