If You Have a Spacey Smart Kid, Try This

Recently a friend of mine lamented that her daughter already knew most of the material the teacher presented in class and was spacing out during lessons. Her daughter didn't like school because she was usually bored. I said, "Try using a contract." Usually teachers use contracts to help unruly kids get their behavior in line, but contracts work great for smart kids, too.

Here's how it works:

• Find out the current classroom theme, and set up projects to go with the theme to do outside of class. This will help to keep your child engaged at school.
  
• Brainstorm ideas with the teacher on thematic activities that your child can do when other children are still working, and your kid is all done.
• Write it out. List activities and expectations on your child's skill level with a space for quick teacher comments.
  
• Ensure the teacher that you plan to make this quick and easy. The time crunch to fit in all the curriculum can be daunting without an added individual contract. Come to an agreement when your child can share finished projects with classmates, either in a small group or during an already scheduled sharing time, for example.
  
• Make a copy for the teacher to read and give input. She has professional expertise that will help you revise activities and make them work better. It's also important to get a teacher to buy in.
• If the teacher is overwhelmed and can't support the contract at school, go over goals and projects with your child at home after school or after dinner. Insist, diplomatically, upon having activities for your child to do if assignments are finished early while other students are still working. Idle kids get into trouble.
  
• Ask the teacher to allow your child to display outside projects in the classroom, whether the teacher can squeeze in the time for sharing them with the rest of the group or not.
  

Using a form I've come up with, my friend wrote out a contract with her daughter at home. Since the classroom themes are winter and nature, my friend and her daughter went on a nature walk where they collected items that represented signs of the season: a branch without leaves, a nut from a squirrel's hidden stash of food. The little girl glued them to a chart and added winter pictures she drew and photographs she cut from magazines. Then she sounded out the name for each item and labeled them. With her mom's help, she used a children's picture dictionary to correct the spelling of the words and made up her own spelling list. On her regular assigned sharing day, she showed her classmates the work she did at home. Her teacher found a spot for the chart on the bulletin board. When other kids are finishing up assignments, this little one practices reading sight words and winter words. So far, my friend's daughter is enjoying the projects, she is much more in tune with what goes on in the classroom, and she's much happier in school.

Share ideas you've tried to get your smart kid engaged in school.

For an example of a contract and a copy of the form, email me, and I'll send it along!

Kindergarten Nightmare

When our oldest daughter was in kindergarten, she told me she wanted to kill an old man we knew because it was time for him to die. After the initial freak out over raising a sociopath, I discovered this was a delayed reaction to the death of her beloved 13-year-old dog. Licorice had been in the throws of advanced stage cancer, so we'd put him out of his misery. If the pets we cherish get "put to sleep" when ill, why not people? Her daddy and I explained the difference between animals and people, at least as far as laws and society. It took some time, talking and tears, but our little girl eventually accepted that her black, furry snuggle buddy would never come home, and we can't choose when a human being's "time is up."

Sarai told me that her five-year-old son, normally a mellow boy by nature, started off this kindergarten year by smashing a banana into another boy's back. He ended up in the principal's office the first week of school! An only child, her little one spends most of his time with adults. Please and thank you roll off his tongue, and he gets a kick out of helping with family chores. But other kids can be so frustrating. They sometimes don't answer his questions, or they push their way in front of him in line. His mommy, daddy and the teacher met with him to set some ground rules and teach this little guy elementary school etiquette. Sarai worried she was a terrible parent, so I told her about our kindergarten nightmare - and she laughed.

Share a favorite story, so the rest of us might giggle a bit in remembering that kids do strange things, and it's not the end of the world.

Start Your Engines: Breakfast the body's morning fuel

Did the kids have a rough time rolling out of bed this morning? Sometimes that morning rush means skipping breakfast. But humans need those calories to get their brains and bodies in gear, to turn the key and put a foot on the gas. A study in Bloomington, Minnesota found that eating breakfast in the morning before school meant fewer visits to the school nurse, less behavior problems, greater attention span and higher student achievement.

So make sure your children throw something down, even on crazy mornings -- maybe a cup of yogurt or a Cliff Bar on the run.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199903/03_pugmiret_breakfast/

Higher test scores from adequate sleep

"Mom, I wan't to just watch this show!" Don't listen. A recent study shows test performance can improve as much as 23% when children get adequate (8 hours or more) sleep a night. Tuck 'em in now.

Read to your child

Not sure what to do? Here's a very helpful link, full of tips, from the University of Michigan:

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/reading.htm

Picking up garbage pays better than teaching kids

One job takes 5 years of college, the other requires a commercial drivers license.


http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Elementary_School_Teacher/Salary

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/02/BAGTCQQ1I43.DTL&tsp=1

Helping your child with homework

Why are we more impatient with our own children? Try these tips, courtesy of about.com

• Set goals with not for your child. Then focus on one at a time.
• Make your child aware of his or her improvement. Reward achievement.
• Direct praise to the task at hand.
• Try not to show disappointment if your child doesn't do as well as you'd like.
• Be enthusiastic. Show humor.
• Be prepared to teach as well as help.
• Use concrete, hands-on materials whenever possible, especially with younger children.
• Help your child build associations between what she knows and what she is learning.
• Provide adequate practice to facilitate overlearning.
• Provide variety. Switch from one subject to another and take breaks to keep up attention.
• Encourage creative thinking. This is an opportunity your child may not be getting at school.
• Encourage independence.
• Take every opportunity to build your child's self-esteem.
• Show a positive attitude toward your child's school and teacher. Work with the teacher not against her.