Lesson Plan For Parents: Making The Transition From Summer Into The New School Year

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As school time rolls around and we get ready for school to start there can be some rough times as we prepare our children to start their new schedules. Summer is vacation time and it’s easy to forget that at the end of that fun time school will be starting back up. It’s hard for both parents and children to get back into the school mode after a few months of vacation but there are things that we can do to make the transition just a little bit easier on all parties.

SCHEDULE CHANGES

One thing that we can do to make that transition a little bit easier is to not totally abandon the school schedule during the summer months. The tendency is to throw schedules completely out the window during summer and let children stay up late and sleep in during the mornings since they don’t have to get up for school.

This can make it much harder to get your child ready for school when the time comes to start the new year. We can handle this a couple of different ways.

We can start getting ready for school a month early and put them back on their schedules so that by the time school actually starts they are prepared for the bed and rise times of the school year. Don’t forget that it takes 30 days to develop new habits so be sure to start early enough for the new schedule to really take hold. Another option is to keep pretty close to your school schedule even during the summer and only vary it a little bit.

Letting your child stay up an hour or two later gives a little variation to their schedule compared to the school year but not so much that they have serious difficulties when school starts back up.

READING LISTS

A summer reading list can also help the transition between summer and the school year. By giving them something school related to do during the summer you keep school in their mind and keep them learning so that it’s not such a big hardship to go back

to school. Along with reading lists are supplemental worksheets. Giving them sheets of work from the previous school year keeps things fresh in their minds so that they are not forgetting things and having to relearn them when school starts back up. Ask the school for a lesson plan, or find resources online.

PLANNING FOR KIDS & PARENTS

Keep a calendar put up with the date school starts back up clearly marked. Let your child mark off each day so that they can see how close school is to starting again. This gives them time to get adjusted and keeps school on their mind so that they aren’t caught unprepared by the return of school. While your marking days on the calender mark in the days you plan on doing your school shopping and keep a list nearby so that as you or your child think of things that will be needed for the upcoming year this will help make sure that you remember everything when it’s shopping time.

There’s no reason that making the transition from summer to school time has to be a hard thing. We can do things that will make for a smoother transition for both us as parents and our children. This smoothness helps get the school year off to a good start for everyone.

Improving Student Performance through Mentoring

Mentoring is

an important aspect of schooling, although it is often neglected, even by educators themselves. Although many students often do well without extra assistance, they can do so through extra effort and work on their part. Many students, however, either lack the opportunity or the will to perform better. As a result, they often require mentoring in schools.

Beyond academics
Many experts also believe that mentoring can make a difference for students who are exposed to unreliable and even risky influences, such as those that push them to abuse drugs, become sexually active too early, experience early pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. Some students may also be exposed to delinquency, truancy and even violence. With the right mentoring programs, exposure of students and other youths from these risks may be reduced or even eliminated.

Implementing mentoring programs in schools
Although recognized as an important part of certain academic processes, mentoring remains as one of the least understood practices in many educational institutions. If not implemented properly, it can become under-utilized, mismanaged or even turn out to be a costly yet ineffective endeavor. To ensure success in the use of mentoring programs in schools, certain considerations must be kept in mind:

Proper planning
The goal of mentoring is to improve student performance in schools and ensure that they are well-prepared for interaction with their social environments. It is important that an organization understands what they wish to attain through their mentoring programs by ensuring that qualitative and quantitative standards are in place.

Goals and objectives of the mentoring program must also be specific and well-structured to allow those implementing it to determine if the procedures are being followed. This is important if compliance is an issue.

Building the core group or staff
A mentoring program within a school will be more effective if a central core of educators is on hand to design, implement and assess it. This will help ensure a well-organized program that is easy to monitor and run.

Recruitment of mentors
The type of mentors to be chosen for the program is indicative of its success.

Mentors may be selected through volunteer programs, where other students and even members of the faculty can sign up for the task or through active recruitment wherein mentors may be sought out and asked to join. If necessary, other members of the community may also be tapped.

A set of qualifications may be set in order for mentors to meet quality standards and help streamline the application process.

Screening for mentors
The next step in creating a mentoring program for schools is to screen the mentors for eligibility. After reviewing the applications, the core group can begin interviewing the mentor applicants to determine their fit in the program. This is especially important if there are certain activities that may require extra tasks for

the mentors or the mentees. If certain activities off-campus are required, for example, students may have to involve parental permission in order to participate.

Training for mentors
An important part of a mentoring program is mentor training.

Just because a person is qualified does not make him a perfect candidate for mentorship. He or she must be able to understand the goals of the program. He must also be informed about certain limitations and boundaries he must work in. Certain communication skills must also be checked or improved if necessary.

Matching mentors with mentees
As one of the final steps for implementing a program for mentoring in schools, pairing mentors with mentees can be a challenge. However, it is important that this is considered carefully. There are no set standards about pairing but most experts suggest it’s best to consider personality and mentoring styles in order to create a perfect match. If a certain match proves to be bad, corrections must be implemented immediately.