Parent Awareness Month come to a Celebration of YOU!

Saturday, March 19th, there will be a celebration of YOU the parent at Schuler's Book Store in Grand Rapids MI on 28th Street SE.
From 10am-1pm there will be info, resources, speakers Door Prizes and Refreshments. Sponsored by Parents Empowering Network, Leap2Success, Healthy Kent 2020, Grand Rapids Upward Bound and Michigan Family Resources Head Start, this event will be fun and informative and a needed hug or pat on the back for you. Make it part of your month to refresh yourself here.
Leap 2 Success will be there with information and suggestions on books you can get right there at Schuler's to help you in your journey.
See you there!

March is Parent Awareness Month!

Look around your community for things to do to celebrate parenthood and support you in your walk. Today's parent support tip:
Find two parents in your younger child's classroom or older student's booster organizations or PTO. Contact them, go ahead don't be shy. Let them know you are getting to know parents in the school.
It doesn't have to be about volunteering. It can be about being connected to a parent network that helps get your kid on the radar of more adults. And you in the loop.

Your child is watching your attitude/Parent teacher conferences are about them

Remember, you are attending the conference to learn more about your child. And, the fact that you are making the effort to go shows your child you are invested in them not only for the soccer shoes, tennis racket or the tutor, but the time you take to talk with the people who spend a majority of your child's day with them. Actions do speak volumes and words about your efforts are mega-hertz louder than you think. Be aware of how you talk about the conferences and yes, it may be a busy day, but positive words about getting to the school are so much better than a negative comment about the time it will take, or the news you might get. Model responsibility and grace and most of all interest in what your child spends 8 hours a day doing. If they know you notice, the behavior they want to exhibit will probably be positive. Put in the time with a smile. Your child will notice.

Parent/Teacher Conferences: When 10 minutes isn't enough

Sometimes there seems to be more information to share than the allotted 10-15 minutes plugged in for Parent/Teacher conferences. Both you and the teacher know this and try to get as much info in as possible. Sometimes the results are blips of bad news, or quickly reviewed strengths and some goals. All of this is a good place to start. Take a step back and view the conference as a check up point and a springboard for more in depth communication later if you are feeling that there is more you'd like to discuss. Pressuring the teacher into discussing difficult things in their tight schedule will be counter productive. Build the relationship with your child's teacher as a team surrounding the child, and have a list of concerns and positives you'd like to have a chance to talk to the teacher about. If you feel there is more to discuss, ask to schedule a meeting with the teacher when you both have more time. Connect via e-mail and schedule a meeting based on the conference "Springboard".

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher conferences are around the corner. Ever feel like you are just sitting there listening..sort of? Go in prepared with some questions. How? Talk to your kids. Ask them about two good things at school and two things they'd change. Older kids can be approached with more direct things like, 'I'm going to your conferences in a week. Anything I need to know? How's it been in Mrs. Jones' class? What's your best class? One you don't like as much?"
Then formulate questions for the teacher. Have some positives to say also and always ask if there is anything you can do at home.
More tomorrow about how to prep for that conference you are dreading.

The Exam Aftermath

If your kids have finished their exams they are probably a mixture of relieved and possibly apprehensive. The relief of having the exams behind them may dwindle for some who are worried about how they performed. Keeping a posture of moving forward and changing things that can be changed is a good stance to take. Encourage effort, reflection and new direction where needed. Whatever you do avoid shaming with "I told you so" or "If you had just...." Work forward with actions for the future. No blaming, no shaming. And for those who excelled: celebrate with praise for their efforts and actions.

It's time to start checking in with your children

It is getting busier by the day I am sure. With earlier mornings for off to school, homework, sports, fitting in family dinners and time together it can be hard to capture moments to truly connect with your kids. So much of our time is spent "directing" ( "time to get in the car. Get your things ready for school. Make sure you do your math etc") that we think we are communicating but we are missing the connection.
Finding out what is going on with your child takes effort but it becomes easier with practice. So often we hear ourselves ask "How's school?" "Do you like your teachers?" Or we use the online school sites to check homework assignments and test scores, and begin conversations around missing work or low grades.
Take some time to ask open ended questions like:"What is Mr. Jones like?" "What are you talking about in Science now?" "How do you feel about your homework load?" "What can I do to help you with school?'
There are many ways to find out if your child is struggling in school, loving school or having challenges with time management and even social interactions just by asking questions like you would in a conversation rather than an inquisition. When you do check the online site and see good grades and completed homework, make sure to mention that.
Here's to helping your child Leap 2 Success