What is the earliest memory you have of being in school?

What is the earliest memory you have of being in school?


Excitement?
Fear?
Wonder?
Rejection?
Joy?



How do you feel about your years in school? If you have
happy memories, chances are you can help your children be
excited about learning and have good memories, too. If you
disliked school, it's harder, but you can do lots of things to
help make school a better experience for your children than it
was for you.

The good news is that every child in every family has the
power to succeed in school and in life, and every parent,
grandparent, and caregiver can help.

But how do we help our children succeed? How do we give
them the power? The most important thing we can do is be
involved with our children's education even before they are in
school, then stay involved once they are in school.

This book is about what we can do in our own homes, right
now, that will help our children go to school wanting to learn.
It includes:

* Basic information on what we know about success in school;

* Activities for children ages 5-11 to help them acquire the
skills to succeed;

* Questions and answers about when to talk to the teacher
and how to handle parent-teacher conferences.

Success in school takes hard work, planning, a few basic
skills, and the will to want to succeed. How do we pass these
ideas on to our children?

What we know about success in school is a combination of
common sense mixed with new ideas about learning.



We do know the following:

1. Where our children learn is important. We can find
inexpensive and easy things to do at home--where our
children first start learning--that will make them want to
learn. We can also strengthen our ties with the community
and the schools, where learning continues.

2. What our children learn from us is important. What we say
and do can build their maturity and self-confidence.

3. How our children learn from us is important. All of us
teach our children every day, whether we realize it or
not. We can make sure we show them a variety of ways to
learn.

Now, how do we take these facts and turn them into ways to
help our children do well in school?