The One Way to Help Your Child Succeed in School

With back to school coming up we all seem to be asking one question, “How can I help my child succeed in school?” There are a lot of success stories, of how someone made it big. Some of them seem like they happened overnight others took years. However, one thing that most of them have in common is preparation. Preparation is the foundation of success. It is the one thing that your kids need to be successful in school this year.

Preparation for Going Back to School

Your students first have to be prepared for going back to school. Hopefully, they have been reading or doing some form of learning this summer. This helps the transition be a little easier, and it also set them up for further success in the next grade. If they haven’t, starting them with a couple books before school starts could help.

Also, get school supplies. Make sure that your kids have what they need to succeed at the beginning of the year. The good news is that school supplies are super cheap right now because it is back to school time. Make sure that you get a list of what they will need this year and get what is on that list. A teacher will definitely thank you. 

The morning of the first day is important, but to make that morning is great the night before is when you have to make sure everything is in order. Make sure that your kids’ backpacks are packed and set in a specific place. Have them place their shoes with their backpack. It also would be great to encourage them to have their outfit planned out for the next day. Pack their lunches and get to bed early it will make the morning much smoother. If you create this routine now it will be easier to keep throughout the school year. How to Make Back to School Organization Easy will help you plan for the first day of school and the rest of the year. 

Preparation for Academic Success

Preparation for academic success needs to start at the beginning of the year. Believe it or not the fall is my slowest time of the year. You would think that with students going back to school most parents would be seeking tutoring, but that actually is not what happens.

Most parents get tutoring in summer and take off the first couple months of school. My regular clients seem to take off August and start to trickle back in September. Then in October, I get a flood of clients because progress reports come out and parents start to freak out.

The problem with this cycle is that once the students come to me in October they are already behind. Then I have to play the catch-up game with them. Some of them don’t have a good foundation in certain concepts, and I have to backtrack to get them on track.

If those students were with me since the beginning of the school year they would have been much better prepared and that first progress report wouldn’t have been such a shock. In fact, it would have been great and students and parents would have confidence.

So if your student has needed tutoring in the past, you know it is probably going to be a hard year for them, or you just want to make sure they will be able to understand anything they come across prepare them for academic success by getting them tutoring from the start.  If you are considering tutoring you should also know the pros and cons of online vs in-person tutoring. 

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Preparation for Tests Coming Up

The fall for many students is not when you are thinking of standardized tests for many students these tests don’t fall until the end of the school year and parents think they will have plenty of time to study.

The problem with this mindset is that it often gets put off until a couple months before the test. By this time a student has limited how much they will be able to improve. There is just not enough time to work out all the kinks.

Standardized tests are some of my specialties and believe me there are a lot of different ones out there. Since every test is different, kids have to learn the format or they will not be successful. One of the things that they have to learn is how the test is trying to trip them up and what the wrong answers are. 

I usually suggest that students start preparing for a test about a year in advance. This allows them to get the help they need and to work out all the kinks in their test-taking strategy.

Students who prepare at the last minute or not at all usually have to settle for lower scores and hope they are enough for what they are trying to do.

My students who started preparing for a test earlier often improved by about 20%-50%. For the students who started later, it was a toss-up: some improved and others almost stayed the same. 

Preparation: The Key to Success

It may seem like this is too simple of a concept or that it seems too easy, but most success comes from being prepared. People who are professional athletes have prepared since they were kids. People go to college and trade school to prepare for their future successful careers. Even the cases of being at the right place at the right time the people knew that they should be there or they made sure that they had things with them to show their capabilities.

Preparing your students for success is the biggest factor on if they will actually succeed. Success begins early and the earlier you start the better. 

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