SUPPORT OUR STARS
WE
LOVE
ORCHARD
LANE
STARS
OUR
We all want our children to do well in life. We hope they become kind, connected, and capable adults. We'd also love for them to be successful, however we define it. For now, a big part of that means navigating the social, emotional, cognitive, and academic demands of school. Here are some ways we can support our students at school.
Send Children to School Well Prepared
Let's do what we can to ensure our children get enough sleep the night before and breakfast on school day mornings. Remember the school supplies: charged ipad, completed homework, water bottle, snack, and appropriate clothes for recess. (Young students often need help or reminders when packing their backpack.) Finally, students who attend school regularly perform better than students with more absences. Aside from sick days (when children should be home to rest and recover), let's aim for daily attendance.
Enthusiastically Support Education
Some kids don't talk much about their days at school. Let's be curious anyway. See if we can find out something that happened each day: who they hung out with, what they learned, how they felt, what they did at recess -- anything interesting or new. We can use teacher notes and graded assignments for more information about how our kids are doing. If we're available, we can volunteer to help out in the classroom. When we talk about Orchard Lane staff (and teachers in general), we'll do so with respect. We'll let our children know how important it is to participate and work hard in school and show our kiddos that we value education.
Promote Our Values and Orchard Lane Values
Children should know that we expect kind behavior at school -- and everywhere else for that matter. Let's periodically remind our students what this means. Let's see if they can explain what it might look like to be a good citizen at school, to include others and do the right thing. Let's read the school pledge and discuss what kindness, respect, responsibility, perseverance, and integrity mean.
Pay Attention to Screen Time
Kids use screen time to learn, gain skills, and be entertained. Their screen time can even be helpful to us, allowing us to complete work or chores with fewer interruptions. But, there are downsides. Studies have found relationships between children's exposure to media and negative outcomes such as poorer sleep, increased attention and behavior problems, and reduced academic performance and well being. More screen time might mean less time spent in nature, less time connecting with others, and less time to explore, create, play, and read. While it's not always easy, it's a smart move for our children's health, wellbeing, and school success to put some thought into both how much and what our kids are watching each day. This could include supervising our children's internet use, using parental controls, and talking to our kids about what kind of screen time is considered safe and appropriate in our households.
Consider Children's Mental Health
To help support our children's mental health, let's encourage them to play, spend time outdoors, and connect with loved ones whenever they can. Positive experiences (such as games, laughing, being silly, and having fun) offset stress. When our schedules allow, let's maintain consistent daily routines and include time for relaxing and unwinding together at the end of each day. Let's talk to our children's pediatricians if we have concerns about their mental, as well as physical, health.
Practice Compassion
Wouldn't it be great if all our children brought home stellar grades and glowing behavior reports and our homes were filled with harmony and joy? In reality, our kids don't always live up to our hopes or expectations. Sometimes we need to take action and correct course. Other times, we need to cut ourselves -- and our children -- some slack. High standards are great, but so is compassion and forgiveness. The same goes for teachers and staff. If we question something happening at school, let's do so calmly and politely. Ask for more information, share our concerns, and focus on positive solutions. Give teachers and staff the benefit of the doubt and always assume the best of intentions. Remember we share the same goals. We all want to see our stars shine!
Make Room for Reading
Kids spend the first few years in school learning to read. They'll spend the rest of their lives reading to learn (and be entertained, inspired, understand others or feel understood, and more). Reading is a huge component of all learning, so being a skilled reader will help our kids in all subject areas. In fact, according to experts, reading is the most important thing we can do to set our kids up for academic success.
So, let's read to our kids. Or read with our kids. Or listen to audiobooks together. Or listen to our children read to us. Let's read together as a family. Let's read independently in the same room. How about if we let our children catch us reading? We might encourage our kids to read to a pet, younger sibling, stuffed animal, or overgrown plant. Let's read the classics. Let's read new releases. Let's read fiction and nonfiction of all types and genres, and picture books and chapter books and graphic novels. The specifics don't matter. Let's just make time to read!
