The Parent Backpack for Kindergarten through Grade 5: How to Support Your Child's Education, End Homework Meltdowns, and Build Parent-Teacher Connections - Softcover

Nichols, ML

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1607744740 ISBN 13: 9781607744740

Publisher: Ten Speed Press, 2013

Synopsis

Finally, a book that demystifies our daunting education system by giving parents the insights and strategies they need to build positive relationships with teachers and connect to their children's learning in productive ways.

Involved Parents = Better Students

How do you ensure your child gets the best education possible when U.S. schools have become overburdened, test-driven institutions that rank only average worldwide? Decades of research confirm that when parents engage with their children's learning, kids do better in school--and life. This straight-talking guide helps you:

- understand the critical role you play in your child's education,
- connect with educators in respectful ways,
- encourage a love of reading in your kids,
- minimize homework meltdowns and disorganization,
- support students who struggle academically,
- help children navigate social situations and bullying, and
- fuel your child's mind and body for learning.

Parent involvement looks different for every family and every child. Packed with real stories and tested strategies, The Parent Backpack demystifies our complex education system and gives you the insights you need to help your kids thrive.

About this title

About the Author

ML Nichols is director of The Parent Connection, a nonprofit parent education group. While serving in leadership roles in her own district and on Parenting magazine's Mom Congress on Learning and Education, she launched www.theparentbackpack.com. ML lives in the Boston area with her husband and two daughters.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Parent Backpack for Kindergarten through Grade 5

How to Support Your Child's Education, End Homework Meltdowns, and Build Parent-Teacher Connections

By ML Nichols

Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale

Copyright © 2013 ML Nichols
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-60774-474-0

Contents

Acknowledgments  

 Introduction: What I Wish I Knew Then  

Part One
 Education Today: Insights and Perspective 
 Chapter 1: Understanding Your Child’s Journey 
 Chapter 2: Your Role in a Changing System 
 Chapter 3: Building Bridges to School and Learning 
 Chapter 4: Kindergarten Matters 

Part Two
 Connecting to Your Child’s Learning 
 Chapter 5: Words that Work with Teachers 
 Chapter 6: Why Jack Likes to Read—and Write 
 Chapter 7: It’s all About the Teaching 
 Chapter 8: Balancing Academics with Connection 
  and Confidence 
 Chapter 9: When Your Child Needs More Support 
 Chapter 10: The Social and Emotional Realities of Bullying 
 Chapter 11: Thinking, Learning, and Technology 
  
 Part Three
 Supporting Your Child’s Learning at Home 
 Chapter 12: Guiding Homework, Projects, and Studying 
 Chapter 13: Fueling Your Child’s Brain and Body 
 Chapter 14: Coaching Kids to Organize and Self-Advocate 

Glossary of Edu-Terms 
 Bibliography 
 Index

How to Use This Book

The Parent Backpack for Kindergarten through Grade 5 is divided into three parts. Part one provides you with the big picture—the insights and perspective you need to be involved in your kid’s education in the right ways. These first four chapters give you a solid foundation for understanding your child’s journey, where education stands today, the important role you play as a parent, how to get involved, and what to expect. Part two gives you the background, practical tips, and tools you’ll need to navigate the many different phases you’ll discover as a parent of an elementary student—from learning to read to managing the social-emotional journey and communicating with teachers. Part three provides you with everything you need to know to support your children’s learning at home, including how to fuel little brains and bodies, end homework battles, and coach your kids on advocating for themselves.
 
If you’re feeling eager to jump ahead to a chapter that deals specifically with an issue that you need help with now, by all means, do that. This book can be read from beginning to end or by skipping around to relevant chapters. Be sure to read the first few chapters so you gain an understanding of the system, where it’s been, where it’s headed, and why your role in your child’s educational journey is so crucial. It’s important to understand where things stand and what to watch out for so you can be an effective advocate for your child.
 
Throughout the book, I share stories about real kids, real parents, and real teachers who have grappled with the same questions and situations that you might be experiencing. The names have been changed, but all of these stories are based on situations that I either experienced or heard about in consultations, interviews, or focus groups. Each chapter also ends with a list of Top Ten Takeaways. These are key summary points from each chapter: what to consider, to avoid, and to do. You can refer back to these takeaways after you’ve read the book. They are the reminders that we all need—that I still need—no matter how hard we try to parent well around education. It’s not always easy to do, especially in this busy, activity-crazed world we live in, but it is doable.
 
Getting involved in your child’s education today is tricky. No matter what zip code you live in or what school your child attends, there has never been more controversy about how we educate our children. Most of our schools struggle with test-driven mandates, higher expectations, underfunded budgets, and teachers who need more support. Add to this our hypercompetitive culture, and it all adds up to growing tension and fear among parents, teachers, and kids. Tension that trickles down even to our kindergarten classrooms. Expectations for student achievement turn some reasonable, levelheaded parents into unreasonable watchdogs, who often watch the wrong things, while other parents run the other way and hope for the best.
 
Our world is changing faster than our schools. Connecting to our children’s learning has never been more challenging—or more important. Our system has become so overburdened that in most schools, we parents have to advocate for our children more than ever before. But how we do that makes all the difference. The more parents we have who support education and advocate for their kids’ needs in effective ways, the better our schools will be. It’s up to parents and teachers to work together so that our children do get the best education possible.
 
I hope that The Parent Backpack helps to bridge the gap between parents and teachers. I hope it inspires you to support, encourage, and guide your children to do the best they can, knowing that their best will look different every day, and to cherish those questions that keep your kids’ curiosity alive. I hope the tools in each chapter help you advocate effectively for what your child needs. Most of all, I hope The Parent Backpack helps you discover and celebrate the joy within your child’s journey.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Parent Backpack for Kindergarten through Grade 5 by ML Nichols. Copyright © 2013 ML Nichols. Excerpted by permission of Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1607744740
• ISBN 13: 9781607744740
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320