How To Make Family Dinner A Daily Routine?

The primary moments for a family time now happen in the car, instead of at the dinner table. Families are involved in all kinds of activities, sports, and work. According to research by the University of Minnesota, in the past 20 years the number of families who eat dinner together regularly has declined 33%. It has gone so far that we even have an American National Eat Dinner Together Week, from October 1st to 7Th. Stacy DeBroff has some ideas for getting the family eating together:

1. Studies show that teens who dine with their families five or more times a week are twice as likely to receive A's in school as those who have family dinners two or fewer times. This should be a motivator for most families.


2. To make family dinners a priority, resolve to eat dinner together at least four times a week even if it is take-out pizza.


3. Make a scheduled time for dinner and try to stick with that time. If it has to later on some days plan simple meals for the late nights.


4. If you have to eat late because of scheduling, have your child grab a snack to hold them until dinner.


5. Have members of the family make up favorite menus and have the children participate in making the meals.


6. Children love having time as a family and conversation should be light, catching up, sharing tidbits from the day, laughing together, and building intimacy as a family.

How Can We Be On Time For School?

It is extremely important for your child to be on time for school every morning. The morning route will prepare your child for the day and settle them down for the morning lessons. In order to be on time in the morning do as much as possible the night before. According to, "The Mom Book Goes to School", there are somethings you can do to decrease stress on school mornings:

1. Load the car with the items you and your child need for work or school.

2. Place coats, bags, lunch boxes by the door, so you can grab them easily.

3. Design a shelf, basket, or area in which family members can place items.

4. Check the calendar in case your child needs sneakers for gym or a snack for a field trip.

5. Have your child pick out the clothes to wear the night before or lay out two outfits to choose between .

6. Set clocks ahead by ten minutes to help you stay on time in the morning.

7. Keep breakfast simple. Make hot breakfast items like, pancakes, French toast, and bacon ahead of time and reheat them. Keep muffins, fruit, or granola bars if you are running late.

8. Keep child-sized cups of milk and juice in the refrigerator so your child can get it.

9. If you are a coffee drinker, prepare you coffeemaker and set out mug, cream, and sugar.

10. Make getting dress a game or contest. Who can get completely dress first.

11. Mount an outdoor thermometer where your child child can easily see it, and teach your child how to read it and dress appropriately.

12.Banish TV in the morning to avoid wasting time.

What If My Child Is Constantly Forgetting?

According to "The Mom Book Goes To School", being proactive, especially if you know your child is prone to misplace or forgets things. If your child loses things a lot, ask the teacher to set up email system that let the parents know what projects and homework are assigned. It really is your child's responsibility to keep up with classwork and homework, and let your child know that. Some children need more assistance and below are somethings you can do to help your child:

1. Put complete identification, including phone number, on you child's belongings.

2. At the beginning of the school year create a resource list with the names and phone numbers of homework buddies. Make a note of which friend have a home fax machine in case of forgotten homework assignments.

3.Design a spot by the front door where everything for school goes the night before. (Examples; gym clothes, books, homework, projects, permissions slips)

4. Organizing completed work into the right spot should be an evening ritual.

5. Put sticky notes as reminders in places your child will notice them.

6. Mark on a calendar to remind your child of what is need on what days.

7. Consider buying copies of your child's heavier textbooks to keep at home.

8. Have a special place where your child does all school work. Have all materials and let your child help organize the space.

How Can I Help My Child Become More Responsible?

All parents should teach responsibility at an early age. Your children cannot rely on you do to everything for them. While molding values and guiding decisions are an important part of parenting, you mist have realistic view of your child's strength sand weakness. At some point you must move over and give our child room to grow. According to Stacy DeBroff, a child that is independent and responsible at home will apply the same qualities at school. Below are somethings you can do to help your child become more responsible:

1. Assign chores (Examples: doing laundry, washing dishes, feeding pets, cleaning room, taking out trash)

2. Give your child an alarm clock and let your child be in charge of waking up.

3. Let your child pick out what to wear to school as long as it is reasonable.

4. Let you child learn from mistakes. If your child chooses to get up fifteen minutes late, then let the child deal with possibly missing breakfast or running to the bus.

5. Let your child make small decisions will prepare your child to handle important ones as they grow up.

6.Giving your child responsibility does not mean putting everything on their shoulders. Monitor your child efforts and do not give them more than your child can handle.

To get more information on "Getting The Best Education Possible" order my book, "A Parent's Handbook: How to Get the Best Education Possible K-6 Grades", at http://www.besteducationpossible.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/.

How To Help Your Child Love Learning

A child's academic success is base on the experiences at home. If your child see a good work ethic and an interest in school work at home from you, it will make the love of learning easier. In order to help your child develop a love for learning you must involve your child in activities that are of interest and give your child a new and different way of learning. Some suggestions are to encourage a love for learning are:

1. Go to museums

2. Attend concerts

3. Display academic work

4. Display art work

5. Show value to academic successes as well as other talents

6. Give enthusiastic messages about your child's efforts

7. Ask the teacher to suggest activities that you and your child can do together

8. Apply knowledge your child finds interesting to real life

9. Talk to your child about their school work

10. Encourage your child to reach every possible dream

11. Take you child out to experience as much as possible and discuss each experience

12. Encourage you child to collect things of interest

13. Talk about the future with your child and be encouraging

14. Help your child to be independent as possible

15. Read to your child when they are very young and have them read every evening while you are reading

16. You show a true appreciation and love for learning will go a long way

17. Celebrate academic successes with affection and excitement

18. Participate in as many school and extra curricular events as possible

19. Always remember that you are the role model for your child, so if you show a love and appreciation for learning, your child very well may.

Creating An Academically Friendly Home Environment: Part II

According to Amie Parker a teacher from Lynnwood, Washington the biggest factors in a child's success at school is parental involvement at home and school. The children whose parents listen to them read will learn to read the faster. The children whose parents talk with them regularly have the best vocabulary. The children whose parents explore new things with them have the best background knowledge.

In order to develop an academically friendly home environment, Stacy DeBroff believes the following:

1. Allow your child to do what comes naturally. Learning is an active process at all ages, and hands-on experience is a child's central route to discovering the world. All the academic learning, social skill development, and intellectual and emotional growth your child will experience begins with discovering their surroundings.

2. Studies show that close relationships with their young children help those children succeed academically in later years.

3. Parents must actively organize and monitor your child's time.

4. Parents must help and check homework.

5. Parents must discuss the school day with your child.

6. Parents must encourage their children to believe in themselves.

7. Parents must encourage their children to take reasonable risk.

8. Parents must instill a love for learning and encourage a healthy and positive attitude toward learning by always paying attention to your child's questions, interests and sharing your own.

Tomorrow will be ideas on how to help your child develop a for love learning. To read more ideas on "Getting The Best Education Possible", order my book, "A Parent's Handbook: How to Get the Best Education Possible K-6 Grades", from http://www.besteducationpossible.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/

Creating An Academically Friendly Home Environment: Part I

You are your child's first and most important role model. Your child watches your interactions with other family members, listens to you talk on the phone, and absorbs how you respond to those around you. If you value education, your child will as well, and the morals you stress in the home will guilde your child in the classroom, on the playground, on the sports field, and with peers. There are some things you can try to do to help create a acadeically friendly home environment according to the book, "The Mom Book Goes To School":

1. Children who have constant love and encoragement from parents are more like to enter school with the attitude that they can meet any obstacle head on and defeat it.
2. Nurturing your child' curiosity about the world, sending the message that learning is fun, satisfying and worthwhile.

3. Make home a place from which your child feels free to explore, take risk, and approach challenges with a sense of adventure.

4. Foster your child's abilities, chanllenge your child to improve, and provide support when and
where need most.
5. Be supportive of your child's problems and questions. You have the opportunity to show your child the world on a much broader scale then the teacher can.
6. Don't expect the school or the teacher to do your job of raising your child. It is true you and the school must work together for the academic success of your child child, but ultimately your child is your responsiblilty.