Parent Tips
From modeling good reading and writing skills to locating quality school-based and out-of-school programs to advocating for your child’s right to additional supports, as a parent, you play a critical role in developing your child's literacy skills. The articles below offer suggestions for supporting and encouraging your adolescent reader.
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A Beach Bag Full of Summer Learning Resources
Learning shouldn't stop just because school is out. Here are some ideas to keep students reading, writing and thinking all summer long.
Does your school do a good job of reaching out to parents? Use this checklist to evaluate and improve parent-school partnerships.
Reading Software: Finding the Right Program
With the range and variety of commercial software products on the shelves today, how can an educator or parent choose a program that will most benefit a particular student? Where are product reviews that can inform the decision?
Who's Who In Your Teen's School
There are many people at your child's school who are there to help your child learn, grow socially and emotionally, and navigate the school environment. Here's a selected list of who's who at your school — the teaching and administrative staff, as well as organizations at the district level.
Understanding the School Counselor-Parent Connection
School counselors work with teachers, administrators, and parents to help students with schoolwork and their social/emotional development.
Having Your Child Tested for Learning Disabilities Outside of School
Children who struggle with reading often need extra help. This help usually comes from the school, but some parents choose to look outside the school for professionals who can assess, diagnose, tutor, or provide other education services. The following article provides information on how to find the right person for your child.
Finding a Great Summer Program: A Checklist for Parents
Early and sustained summer learning opportunities lead to higher graduation rates, better preparation for college, and positive effects on children's self-esteem, confidence, and motivation. High-quality summer programs keep students engaged in learning, teach them new skills, allow them to develop previously unseen talents, and foster creativity and innovation.
How Parents Can Encourage Teens to Read
You know that reading is important and you want to make sure that your teenager grows into adulthood with all the skills he or she needs to succeed. The following list offers suggestions for encouraging your teens to read.
Position Statement on Student Grade Retention and Social Promotion
In this statement, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) identifies the characteristics of students more likely to be retained and the impact of retention at the secondary school level, late adolescence, and early adulthood. NASP also provides a long list of alternatives to retention and social promotion.
Tests and Measurements for the Parent, Teacher, Advocate and Attorney
Learn to develop the evidence you need to support your belief that your child is not receiving the right help in school. Peter and Pamela Wright, from Wrightslaw, tell you how to interpret and chart your child's test scores, graph your child's progress, and successfully communicate with the educators who make decisions about your child.
Designing a Dossier: An Instruction Book for Your Child
Many of the adults in your child's life are unfamiliar with learning disorders in general, or your child's unique pattern of strengths and limitations. Developing a one- to three-page dossier that provides useful information about your child can help their babysitters, coaches, teachers, bus drivers, school support staff, neighbors, and relatives understand their limitations. This article describes key elements of such a document and provides a sample.
Understanding the Special Education Process
This overview from the PACER Center walks parents through each step of the special education process, describing what happens from the time a child is referred for evaluation through the development of an individualized education program (IEP).
The U.K.'s National Literacy Trust offers ideas that schools and nonprofit organizations can implement to get fathers involved in their children's reading.
Your child walks like you, talks like you, and absorbs everything you do. So set the right example when it comes to reading. If you want your child to be a good reader, be one yourself!
Tutoring offers kids the special one-on-one attention that busy teachers often can't provide. From simple homework help to intensive work on basic skills, tutoring can offer just the boost your child needs to succeed.
Breaking Barriers Without Breaking the Bank
When you see your child struggling, you want to jump in and help, but sometimes your instincts and desire aren't enough. When your child has trouble with schoolwork and a tutor is necessary, one of the biggest roadblocks to getting help is money.
Four Steps to Finding an Excellent Tutor for Your Child
Whether your child is lost in a haze of elementary grammar rules, sinking fast in a jumble of Newton's laws in middle school, or lost in the details of an AP biology class, you need help quickly, before your child falls way behind the class and never recovers. So, what exactly can you do....now?
Helping Students with LD Pass High-Stakes Tests
Students must pass a high stakes tests to graduate high school. These tests are a major barrier for students with learning disabilities who often do not test well. Accommodations can help. Learn how to help children with learning disabilities do well on these tests.
Assessment accommodations help people with learning disabilities display their skills accurately on examinations. Teachers, learn how to test the true knowledge of your students. Don't test their ability to write quickly if you want to see their science skills! Parents, these pointers will help you assure that your children are tested fairly.
How Can I Help My Child Do Well On Tests?
Standardized testing is one form of assessment used in schools. Find out about standardized tests, how and why schools use them, and how you can support your child.
How Parents Can Be Advocates for Their Children
Parents are often the best educational advocates for their children, especially children with a learning disability. The Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities (CCLD) has developed the following tips to help parents champion their child.
