A timer or clock can help students that lose track of time to pace their work and to take breaks at reasonable intervals. Some students will work for 10 minutes and lose track of time thinking they have worked much longer, and expect a break. Also some students will plan on a short break and lose track of time. A 5-minute break becomes a 30-minute break! This is the same psychology used by casinos to get people to gamble. Casinos hope the gamblers will lose track of time by not having any clocks on the walls. Use the timer to plan out how long they should work before taking a break, how long their break will be, and how long until the next break. Keep this process going until all homework is completed.
Happiness
Happiness is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.
Back To School Success #5: Divorce
If a student lives in two separate homes due to their parents being divorced, sometimes the moving back and forth can cause problems completing assignments. Sometimes children will leave textbooks at one house and forget to take them to the other parent’s house. A solution to this problem is to ask the school if your student can receive 2 copies of each book (1 for each home). This creates a lot less stress for the child and they will always have the resources they need at both homes.
Report Cards
Report cards can be stressful for many students. If your child’s first term report card does not have the grades you would have hoped for, it does not pay to panic and add to the stress. Some children and their parents outrageously consider a bad report card a death sentence. This is simply not true. A report card can be used as a tool to help a parent have a clearer vision of what strengths and weaknesses their child has. Then once a weakness is on the radar, a parent can begin to address the problem.
There are many factors that go into the grades your child received on the most recent report card. Over the next several days we will take a closer look at first term report cards and what you can do to help your student improve future report cards.
Michigan State Board of Education Policy: Student Options for Animal Dissection
Michigan State Board of Education Policy: Student Options for Animal Dissection Coursework
The Michigan State Board of Education recognizes that a growing number of students have moral, ethical, religious, or other objections to animal dissection and that modern nonanimal teaching methods (e.g., interactive computer software) are available. The State Board of Education also recognizes that these alternative teaching lessons may be more effective and less expensive. Consistent with the recommendations of leading science education organizations, to accommodate these students and create an inclusive learning environment, any K-12 student who objects to dissecting animals or animal parts should be permitted to opt out of dissection activities without fear of reprisal.
School districts should establish a written policy stating that options are available for students who object to dissection activities, and that upon written request, the school will permit a student who objects to dissection activities to demonstrate competency through an alternative method.
Teachers shall provide these students with an alternate project (i.e., completing modules on interactive computer software) that does not involve participating in or observing dissection and through which they can learn and be assessed on the material required by the course. The alternate project should be selected by the teacher and entail a comparable amount of work to the dissection activity.
No student shall be punished or discriminated against based up on his or her decision to opt out of animal dissection activities.
A student who is reluctant to voice his or her concerns about animal use in a particular course, or who thinks these concerns have not received proper attention, may seek assistance from their principal.
Solution To Family Fighting
The most common time of day for family fights is dinnertime. Studies found parents and kids were at the most highly charged from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This may be due to parents just returning from work and everybody is hungry. To reduce fighting, hold off on difficult topics until everyone’s looked through the mail, eaten, and changed clothes.
Homework Strategy
Having a ton of homework can be overwhelming for a student. Students (and adults) may be paralyzed with fear as to how to get all of the homework completed. Have your child identify and start the hardest assignments first. This way their brain will be the least tired and most focused.
Acne & Dairy Connection
One cause of stress among teenagers is acne. It can be a great source of humiliation and scarring for many. Unknown to most, diet may play a big factor in this condition. In fact, dairy products are the leading causes of acne according to studies. Research found that cow’s milk produces and stimulates hormones linked with acne.
Sibling Fights
When siblings between the ages of 3 and 7 are together they tend to fight 3.5 times per hour. Studies show that these fights tend to last a total of 10 minutes. Check back tomorrow for ways you can reduce sibling arguments.
What Children Want The Most From Parents
Do you think you know what children want the most from their parents? Toys? Vacations? Money? Time together? Surveys show that children want for their parents to be less tired and stressed. This response beat out spending more time with their parents and wanting a bigger allowance. If you can reduce your stress and exhaustion, you may improve your relationship with your children.