How to Help Your Child To Be Successful in 2nd Grade

Tips for a Successful Year

1. Review this website frequently. Utilize the Calendar link.

2. Set-up a study area for your child. A desk or a table in a quiet spot works great! Make sure it's away from the TV and siblings.

3. Have school supplies set-up in the study area. This might include sharpened pencils, erasers, math flashcards, ruler, stapler, coloring supplies, scissors...

4. Create a "drop spot" for your child's bookbag. Encourage him/her to ALWAYS put the bookbag in the spot. This will eliminate frantic morning searching!

5. Determine and enforce a 20 minute nightly study time for homework completion. Set the time and keep it. This will help your child get in a routine and develop good study habits. Homework should consist of completing any daily math sheet, studying math facts, and preparing for any upcoming quizzes.

6. Look for and review each "Weekly Newsletter" which will be located in the green Friday Folder on Fridays. It will list weekly homework, provide suggested home review topics, and give a brief overview on what's going on in class.

7. After homework completion, make sure it all goes in the yellow Home Folder and then the folder goes in the bookbag which stays in the drop spot until it's time for school the next day.

8. If you haven't started already, make time for nightly reading with your child. Make it a special time that develops into a favorite habit. This, I believe, is what turned my daughter into an avid reader. We read together every single night while laying in her bed. We'd select books together and always left time each night for a few favorites. I will forever remember this with my daughter and know it was time well spent - not only to form a special bond between us - but to develop exceptional literacy skills that set her on a path of success in school. Time spent reading with your child pays huge dividends!

9. Want to add even more to those dividends? Set a nightly time for EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE TO READ. Turn off all devices and TVs. Encourage everyone to find a cozy, quiet spot in the house and settle into a good book or magazine. Not only will this provide invaluable practice time for your child, it will also model to him/her that reading is fun for everyone! EVEN DAD!!! I challenge you to start this routine in your family! You won't regret it!

10. Set a bedtime routine which would include going to bed at the same time each night.

11. Encourage and model the importance of attendance.

12. Look for and review each week's Friday Folder. It will contain all returned papers.

13. Participate in the "Dialogue Journal" activity over each weekend. See the direction page on the side navigation bar on this website.

14. Please maintain positive communication with your child about school. Don't speak negatively about teachers or school around your child because it changes the way your child views Munson and his/her education. It also affects daily behavior choices.

15. If you have concerns, please, please talk to me about them! Social media doesn't solve problems, open lines of communication do! We want to make this year a positive and successful one for your child, and working together benefits everyone!