Parenting

Good parenting includes involvement in your child's schoolwork and homework. Get to know teachers. Encourage your kids to talk about school, what they're studying, what they find interesting. Read more parenting strategies.

School Success Starts with Mom and Dad

Parents swinging sonMichael believed that if he tried hard and kept working at something, he’d succeed.  He could succeed at school. He was sure of it. He said that nobody had told him this—not his parents, not his grandparents. How did he know?  It was the message in his fortune cookie in a Chinese restaurant–so it must be true.

It’s a cute story but in Michael’s case, luckily only partly true. In fact he had wonderful support from his parents and his grandparents. They cheered him on every day as he struggled with severe language issues.

Although Michael could speak when he was five, nobody could understand him. His family was concerned with school and worried about his future. [Read more...]

Mom’s Spa Two and the Strong Interest Inventory

roseMom’s Spa, Part One was a great success. Hope you made it.

My guest Alison Stowell, a registered dietitian, had some great tips for all of us.

You can listen to the recording and still pick up the handouts if you missed Session One of Mom’s Spa.  

Now for the BIG news: [Read more...]

Mom’s Spa with Dr. Linda is Coming

roseIf you’ve read the post below, you know that I believe Moms must take care of themselves.  It helps them take better care of their kids. And, in turn, this helps their kids succeed in school.

So with Moms in mind, I’ve designed an entire TeleWebcast series called “Mom’s Spa.” It all starts on Sunday evening, May 17, 2009, and I’m pretty excited about it. [Read more...]

Your Kids Succeed in School when You Succeed

Every Mom Deserves Pampering

Mom, feeling special helps you succeed.  Not only that, when you feel special your kids feel special.  Feeling special will  help them succeed in school!

So time for you to start feeling special yourself.

Sit in the most comfortable chair in your house. Be sure everything is quiet. Close your eyes. Take a deep breadth.

Visualize being at a fashionable spa surrounded by gardens. Listen to the splashing water from the fountains of mineral water. Experience the whirlpool, exercise in the exercise rooms, and calmly sit on the wooden benches in the sauna. [Read more...]

Work-at-Home Moms Need a Mother’s Helper

toddler-plays-with-girl1One of the hardest decisions women have to make when they become moms is whether they go back to work and leave their children with sitters, stay home and become a full time mom, or become a work at home mom. When my children were babies, long ago, most of my fellow teachers quit teaching when they started their families.

A few of them, the more daring, went back to work and hired babysitters at home or in the sitter’s home. The lucky ones who had grandparents around left their little ones with grandma and grandpa. The first day care centers were just emerging and the concept of au pairs was on the horizon. Both were quite radical ideas at that time.

I decided to be a work at home mom. I would tutor children from my own home and write children’s books in my spare time while my little ones napped or sat quietly next to me and played. Their napping and playing would be the secret to my success. Was I delirious?  [Read more...]

Falling Asleep during Homework

“Jonah, Jonah,” I repeated. Jonah’s mom had dropped him off a few minutes early, and he had fallen asleep in the waiting room. I had a tough time waking him up. Jonah, like lots of kids today suffers from sleep deprivation. How about your kids?

Kids (and adults) who don’t get enough sleep can’t function properly. Sleep restores energy to the body, particularly to the brain and nervous system.
When your child doesn’t get enough sleep, she has trouble concentrating on her schoolwork and remembering what she’s learned, even controlling her temper. The amount of sleep people need varies. [Read more...]

Obsessed with Getting an A

grades for school success“I have a 98.7 average, and I want to go to an Ivy League college. My mom and dad both graduated from Ivy League schools and so did my brother.” Leslie, age 16, was staying up until two in the morning studying in hopes she’d follow in her family’s footsteps.

 Naturally we all want our kids to do well in school. We want them to succeed. However, some kids are driven. They become fixated on getting nothing lower than an A.

 In itself, getting all A’s isn’t a problem as long as it doesn’t create emotional problems. However, if you see signs that your child’s natural ambition for excellence is becoming problematic, you need to step in. [Read more...]

The Closet, The Homework, What a Mess!

It’s the third time this week he’s forgotten to bring his homework home. Then you looked in his closet and couldn’t get the door shut because of all the stuff he’s crammed in this tiny space. There’s no order whatsoever to the mess. It’s no wonder he can’t find anything!  What’s a Mom to do?

It’s not just ADHD kids who are disorganized? Kids who don’t have ADHD sometimes can’t remember to bring homework home either. Can’t remember to take the homework back to school when they did bring it home. It’s not intentional. He really means to get his homework done. He just forgets.

Maybe her school materials are poorly organized. Maybe he has poor time-management skills. With all the distractions bombarding kids today, it’s not surprising that they forget so much and are so unorganized.

Without some basic organizational strategies, kids do poorly in school and their grades plummet. Some kids end up cheating or lying–whatever it takes to survive school with a minimum of criticism and punishment. Disorganization and forgetfulness get in the way of success at school.

You can teach your child how to be more organized. Maybe you’ll even find some of these tips useful around your home. [Read more...]

Using Your P’s Correctly

Children rarely succeed on their own. They get most of their direction from you, their parent. Sure, teens, in particular, are influenced by other teens. And teachers and other family members play a big role too. But you’re number one!

They learn how to become responsible, how to follow rules, even how to make decisions from you. Follow these seven strategies, and you’re on your way to helping your children be successful at school and in all areas of their lives. [Read more...]

Some Smart Kids Get Bad Grades

A concerned Mom was telling me the other day about her daughter whose IQ is very high but whose grades are lousy. I told her that lots of other kids have the same problem and that we do have strategies that work.

Who are the underachievers?

Underachievers are kids who have a lot of potential but don’t live up to that potential in school. Underachievers span all social, economic, and ability levels. Many underachievers have very high IQ’s. Teachers and parents often accuse underachievers of being lazy, of having attitude problems, or of not caring about themselves. Sometimes these kids get into trouble at school and at home. Nobody realizes that underachievement is the issue.

How do I know if my child is an underachiever?

Sometimes it’s easy to tell. [Read more...]

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