If your parents have been your main motivation for getting homework done until now, high school is the time to let them off the hook. College life is right around the corner so practicing the self discipline needed to perform well in all aspects of high school can be a tremendous benefit when you are on your own.

Establish a homework time for each day, just as if homework were a class you must attend. Devote a certain amount of time to study each of those times even when you do not have homework. This will help you stay in the habit of hitting the books, keep you current with the material in all your subjects, and make homework easier. Plan your home work by subject and be flexible to allow extra time for larger assignments and study time before tests.

If you have a classmate or teammate schedule several joint homework times weekly. Know you have made a commitment to someone can help you devote the time to our studies. In addition another person can help you study and vice versa.

Make your homework time inaccessible to others. Shut off all distractions including your phone during your designated study time. Keep your scheduled homework sessions limited to one hour increments. If more than one hour is needed break up the time and take breaks of at least fifteen minutes between study times, and yes, you can turn your phone back on and check messages during breaks!

by David McLeod
Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

Place yourself in your child’s shoes, or at least in their position. Remember when you had a big test and how you felt? If you cannot remember back that far, like many of us, think about the last time you took a driver’s test, face a bookkeeping or tax audit, or had to appear in court. The anxiety can often be overwhelming and even disturb your sleep the night before.

Here is how you can help:

1) Help your child have a relaxing evening the day before the test.
2) Make sure they get a good night’s sleep two days before the test as well as the night before. Making sure the pupil is rested two nights before test day will help in case this child does not sleep well the night before.
The time of day the testing takes place is important in relation to food intake.
3) A light breakfast that includes protein is considered wise.
4) If an afternoon test ensure your child will have a lunch with a small amount of protein and not too heavy on carbohydrates and sugars.
College cramming has been shown to help test score for students who have been studying regularly.
5) Most people cannot learn a new subject the day before a test so helping your child study some each day and keep up with homework is step one.
6) Creating a review sheet of the main points of the test material and going over that the evening before and if possible once in the morning the day of the test can be beneficial.
Practice with your child in different ways.
7) Read subject material with your child.
Take any practice test included in text books.
9) Create practice tests with multiple choice, true or false, problem solving, and essay questions as appropriate. You can model these from the textbooks or previous tests from the same class.
10) Spend one on one time practicing and involve other family members when possible.

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

Gardening with kids encourages their interest our earth, conservation, and preservation. You can teach children how the world’s eco-system works from a garden. Preschoolers can catch insects, blow the seeds off dandelions, and create planting holes, water, and plant seeds. For younger children, the seeds, insects, and water are interesting. Science, math, and spelling can all be incorporated into garden learning.

This is a simple hands-on project that presents many learning opportunities.  Planning your outdoor garden includes subjects such as considering each plant’s needs, soil type, sunlight exposure, drainage, and water access.  Let your child choose what they would like to grow.

You can teach respect for nature and how growing plants provides oxygen and recycling helps earth. You can choose to plant flowers, fruits, vegetables, or a tree. Teach kids how each insect plays a part in nature. Older children might be interested in farming technology, horticulture, or plant biology.

Education is much more than sitting in a classroom all day. You can teach your children how to learn outside the classroom and form a bond with them as a teacher. Gardening can be a fun and educational activity. You can instill an enthusiasm for nature in them that will carry on for a life time.

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.

Students usually get new computer passwords and locker assignments at school each year but not always. High school students have a tendency to forget these even on their own computers.

High school students often have items that go with them from year to year such as athletic equipment, laptops, art supplies, watches, and so on. Many have a tendency to misplace these items over the summer and forget where they are when the new school year begins.  The last thing most students want to think about at the end of a school year is starting the next grade however, making a list of these items and where they are can save time and money at the end of summer.

High school students can forget their organizational skills.

High school students can forget their study habits over summer break.

These students often have deadlines for class registrations and need to complete paperwork and enrollment forms over the summer that they forget about. This can lead to changing class schedules and not getting in to desired classes because they are full.

Many extracurricular activities including sports and associations require signing up before the school year begins and students are preoccupied with summer activities and can get left out.

High school students often take more responsibility in their lives and parents take less. This can result in students forgetting they need physicals or other medical requirements before attending school.

Transferring high school students often forget to get transcripts from their old high schools over the summer.

High school students often forget to return library books they checked out during the previous school year.  This can result in fines and revocation. The same applies to returning text books to the school.

Older high school students often depend on themselves for transportation. Many forget to renew their driver’s licenses or pay their auto insurance over the summer leading to last minute panic at the start of school or even worse.

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.

Study habits. If your child has developed good study and homework habits do not be surprised when he or she seems to have forgotten these at the beginning of the new school year. Most of the time these behaviors will return quickly however.

Math skills they learned the previous year. Simply spending a few hours a week during the summer practicing the equations they learned can help increase their retention.

Reading skills learned in the previous school year. Also reading only a few hours a week during the summer can help elementary maintain reading skills.

Grammar, punctuation, and spelling skills.

Students this age are often growing space between themselves and parents. They can easily forget to tell parents they want to sign up for a sport or other activity over the summer or before the new school year begins. Parents need to get a schedule of possible school activities for the upcoming school year and discuss this with their child during the summer.

Middle school children often forget information relating to new subjects they have been introduced to during the previous school year. If they were introduced to fractions for example, quizzing them over the summer with real world problems involving fractions can help them retain this new skill.

These students often tend to put subjects they have had difficulty with out of their minds. After all summer is about fun. While students need to be encouraged and you should emphasize their strengths, spending a little time on the more challenging subjects while there is no
pressure during the summer can help them improve greatly.

Subjects that involve memorizing facts and figures tend to be put out of mind during the summer. Often playing games during the summer break that involve these subjects can help your student retain important information.

Middle school children have safety rules they can forget during the break. Reminding them will often help them later, even over their objections!

These students forget many of the basic needs for the new school year such as getting the list of supplies needed, what text books if any, lunch money, back packs, jackets, umbrellas, and so on. Preparing these items before the first day of school can save you and them some headaches.

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.

1. Math skills they learned the previous year. Simply spending a few hours a week during the summer practicing the equations they learned can help increase their retention.

2. Reading skills learned in the previous school year. Also reading only a few hours a week during the summer can help elementary students maintain reading skills.

3. Spelling skills can fall behind during summer break.

4. Kindergarten and first graders often forget their addresses and phone numbers during summer break. This is information they often do not need over summer vacation. Because adults use this information regularly parents often assume that their children will remember this simple knowledge.

5. Because history involves memorizing dates, many students fall behind in history over the summer because they forget the dates associated with events. A periodic review of what they learned in the previous grade can help them retain this information.

6. As is common with most people, if you don’t use it you lose it. Such is the case with younger children and telling time and tracking calendar dates over the summer. They lose track of days without their routine of attending school and can lose their ability to track days.

7. Elementary children often forget their listening skills developed in the classroom environment. After all they have usually not had to raise their hands to speak all summer. While these will be reinforced by a new teacher, the first few weeks after returning from summer break can result in disciplinary challenges.

8. Elementary age children can forget their manners if the same standards are not practiced in the home consistently.

9. Many students forget the school routine and what things they need to take to school each day such as books, lunch money, back packs, jackets, umbrellas, and so on.

10. Younger children often forget school and safety rules. Do not assume your child knows all the safety precautions from the previous school year especially when their health and life might depend on it.

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.

Math Skills Needed
Ninth grade is often an important year for math subjects. In addition to the development of basic math skills, this year might be a student’s first introduction to algebra and more complex geometry concepts.
A student entering ninth grade needs an understanding of measurements of area of shapes as focus will be on learning mathematical equations for three dimensional objects. Familiarity with pyramids, cubes, circles, cones, spheres, and cylinders including congruence to solve geometric problems is helpful.

These students are expected to understand the impacts of the four basic math operations on whole and mixed numbers, as well as fractions, decimals, and integers. They should comprehend the inverse relationship of positive and negative numbers. These students should be able to apply properties of real numbers to solve problems that are associative, distributive, equality, inverse, and closure properties.
They should b e able to solve real-world problems by selecting correct operations with integers, ratios, rates, proportions, percents, decimals, and fractions.

Students entering ninth grade should know standard numerals for integers, fractions, decimals, percents, exponents, scientific notation, absolute value, radicals, and ratios. They should understand rational and irrational numbers in real-world situations and associations between fractions, decimals, and percents in real-world context.

Writing Skills Required
Writing skills are imperative for success in high school. By the time your child completes eighth grade he or she should

Be able to express a viewpoint in writing.
Solve problems by writing.
Combine relevant ideas.
Write at a higher level than their speech.
Use a writing a subject appropriate writing style

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.

Organizational skills often make the difference at this age between students who excel and those who perform poorly. These same organizational skills will be needed in the future and developing good habits now will be of life-long value. You can help your child develop these organizational skills with tools that best fit his or her needs and preferences. For example a watch is often better than a cell phone for tracking time. A cell phone is often tucked away in a back pack or purse and not allowed in some schools and classrooms. A watch keeps the time readily available. A watch with hands is said to be more beneficial for grasping the concept of time than a digital read out watch.

Sixth grade students need to be proficient in oral and written language for expressive, informational, argumentative, and literary reasons. They should also be adept in grammar structure and rules and be able to speak and write correctly. They need to be able to interpret, form arguments and debate, and have a broad vocabulary.

Additional academic skills a student advancing to sixth grade needs include:
Multiply and divide common fractions and mixed numbers
Perform percentage problems
Formulas for circumference, radius, diameter, and area of a circle
Analyze dialogue, imagery and mood in literature
Read and summarize information
Create multi-paragraph compositions
Identify good writing
Your student entering sixth grade needs to “as smart as fifth grader!”

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.

Your first grader should be able to do the following:
Recognize and identify colors
Count to 100
Read basic words
Recite the alphabet correctly
Recognize upper and lower case letters
Understand and identify the value of money (coins)
Tell time at least by the hour
Write the numbers to 100
Write the letters of the alphabet
No longer need daily naps
Write his or her name
Identify basic shapes
Follow two directions in one sentence Example: Set the cup on the counter and bring me the spoon.
Understand opposites
Understand the calendar and identify the days of the week
Count by twos
Know the vowels and their sounds
Understand simple addition and subtraction
Indentify rhyming words

If your child is deficient in any of the needed skills the sooner you can begin working with him or her than the better off your child will be. No student likes to start off behind the other children. Encouragement and praise with emphasis on the skills your child has mastered will help build confidence for developing the skills your child is having difficulty with.

There are many teaching aids available including games for children of this age. If your child is not capable of mastering most of these skills before first grade, meet with his or her teacher. If your child has vision, hearing, or a learning challenge identifying that as early as possible will allow you to make the needed accommodations to get him or her on track.

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.

Discuss your young person’s future plans. Get them thinking about college and making career choices.
Let them know that grades now carry additional weight as they will appear on their transcripts and follow them to college. Meet their teachers and attend open houses. Develop the lines of communication with the educators should you have questions or should challenges arise later. Most educators say student academic achievement is often higher when parents are involved and aware of their student’s performance.

Visit the school prior to enrolling and discuss course selections with your student. Meet with the guidance counselor or at least make sure your student does. Many high schools allow students to make course selections based on individual needs and goals. In addition there might be honors and advanced placement courses. This is a time of discovery for many students and they might change their direction after completing a course. This is acceptable and they should be encouraged to try new subjects. While students need to maintain acceptable grades they must also pursue what interests them.

At this stage of life peers can often have a great influence over your student. The friends they choose can sway their direction. Many times this can be a positive experience. Encouraging your kid to get involved in activities, can have some weight as to the friends they make. Communicating with your student during high school is critical. Your role as a parent is slowly changing from teaching consequences and disciplining to guiding.  By staying involved you can help your child stay on the right path.

by David McLeod

Owner School-Supply-List.com and Elementary School Teacher

David has been teaching elementary school in Central Texas for over 7 years and has over 15 years of experience in online education related websites and blogs.