How to Help Your Child Succeed in School

In this global economy with global competition for jobs, our children are competing not only with their fellow American classmates, but with students around the world. There is increasing data and increasing concern that American students may be falling behind several other nations in the world, particularly Asia, in areas of math and science. It is important to ask what we as parents, educators and health care providers can do to help our students succeed.

The most important and most striking influences on a child’s educational success begin at home. The choices parents make and the behaviors they demonstrate serve as role models to their children. Emphasizing the importance and value of a good education and exhibiting and supporting healthy habits to achieve it are critical. Following are several guidelines for parents to help their children achieve educational success.

Read to Your Children When They Are Young. Research data suggests that reading aloud to your children, beginning during infancy, improves the development of language and emerging literacy skills. This results in improved school readiness and greater long-term success in reading.

Severely Restrict Television Exposure Under Age Two. Each hour of television exposure during ages one and two correlates with increased risk of attentional disorders at age seven.

Limit Total Screen Time. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours per weekday of total screen time. This includes TV, video and computer time. Amounts greater than this correlate with poorer school performance and lower scores on cognitive testing.

Monitor Video Content. Studies suggest that exposure to R-rated video content at younger ages contributes to poorer school performance. The greater the amount of exposure and the earlier the age, the worse the school performance.

Remove the Television from the Bedroom. A television in a child’s bedroom limits a parent’s ability to control both time spent watching TV and the content of the material. It can also lead to interference with sleep. Having a TV in a child’s room is associated with poorer school outcomes.

Increase Physical Activity. In surveys of middle and high school students, greater amounts of physical activity were associated with higher academic achievements. In high school girls, both independent physical activity and involvement in team sports were associated with higher grade point averages (GPA’s). In high school boys, only participation in a team sport correlated with higher GPA’s. But, in middle school boys, both forms of activity were associated with higher GPA’s.

Get Enough Sleep. Beginning in adolescence, total sleep time decreases as older kids begin going to bed later and later. Numerous studies have shown that school performance declines when kids get less than seven-and-a-half to eight hours of sleep per night, and the effect is cumulative.

Eat Breakfast. It is well established that eating breakfast before school results in improved concentration, improved memory and significant improvements in test scores.

Avoid Distractions. To get the most out of study time, your child should study in a quiet place with adequate lighting, and the phone and computer should be turned off. Soft, non-stimulating background music may actually be beneficial, but interruptions from phone calls, text messages or computer networking sites adversely affect concentration, conversion to memory and time efficiency.

Communicate and Investigate. Communicate with your child and their teachers. Find out what is going on in school and in each class. Ask your child: What are they studying right now and what did they learn? What projects are they working on? When are they due? What do they need help with? Make it routine to check their school work when it comes home. Then, help them correct answers that were wrong due to lack of understanding or sloppy work.

Get Involved. Volunteer in your child’s class if possible. This shows them that you care and that you understand and support the importance and value of their education. This also facilitates your communication with their teachers and may give you insight into how your child is doing compared to their peers.

Ask for Help Early. Finally, if your child is struggling, be their advocate! Talk to their teacher about your concerns. Ask for additional evaluations or assessments of your child to help identify what their strengths and weaknesses may be. Then ask to work out a plan to help both you and the school know best to teach your child.

At first glance, this may all seem like a lot to remember and keep straight. But if you are reading this, you are already a parent who really cares about their child and cares about their success in school. Perhaps they are struggling right now, or you just want to help instill good habits to insure their future success. In either case, don’t forget that you are the biggest influence in your child’s life and you can have the biggest impact on their future success. Congratulations on your commitment, and good luck!

Dr. Tina Hawley is a board-certified family medicine physician and medical director of PacMed’s Renton Clinic. Dr. Hawley attended University of Washington Medical School and did her training at Valley Medical Center, Renton. She has been in practice for over nine years. Dr. Hawley treats the whole family, from newborns to seniors. Click here for more information about Dr. Hawley.

September 2010

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