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1. Remind your daughter that starting at a new school is an adjustment for everyone. The integrated program allows their Religion, English, and Visual Arts/Computer teachers to instruct each group for three classes. In these classes, teachers coordinate the curriculum, work together to monitor students, and determine the work that is assigned. This allows your daughter a greater comfort level and the opportunity to know her classmates more closely. 2. Your daughter may wish to be independent of your help and advice. This is a good time to establish some routines and let her know that you are there to support her. Ask her to show you her planner. Encourage her to prepare her planner the weekend before she starts the school week. She should write the letter of the schedules for each day of the week. She can list the classes she will have, leaving space for the homework that will be assigned that day. She should list every assignment with its due date. All tests should be listed well ahead of time. She can add other commitments in the blank space for each day. 3. Check PASS together. Ask your daughter to login and show you what has been recorded. Remember that this is her information to share with you. Let her walk you through it. Be sure to focus on the positive results you are seeing. Do not panic if you see a low grade, but do listen to what she says about the assignment, quiz, or test. Give her a chance to tell you what her plan is for moving forward in the class. Here are some questions you might ask if she needs guidance: “Do you need to turn in missing work? Will you meet with the teacher to go over a test that is low? Will you ask to meet with the teacher before the next test? Will you go to Study Club after school to get extra help with studying? Do you need to join a study group or get a National Honor Society tutor?” 4. Check PASS no more than once or twice a week. Checking on a Thursday or Friday allows you to discuss any missing work before the weekend and create time for it to be done during the weekend. Teachers have been asked to enter zeroes if a paper or test is not completed and turned in on time. Once the paper is handed in, the zeroes will be removed. If the space remains blank, the paper has not been graded yet. Once it is graded, the grade will be entered, and the overall grade will be adjusted. 5. Also check the Web Portal with your daughter. Go to EasyCampus and familiarize yourselves with the web pages of her teachers. Sign on as a guest. If your daughter should be sick or forget an assignment, this is one place to find that information. 6. If your daughter does become sick, please keep her home until she is feeling better. Her health is our first concern. Call Linda Brumder in the Attendance Office to let her know about the absence. If it is going to be a long absence, call and let Linda know that. Her teachers will work with her to help her get caught up. 7. Encourage your daughter to study her vocabulary daily. There is a wonderful website called www.quizlet.com which assists with making flashcards and playing games with the words that are entered. Flashcards are still a very good method for studying vocabulary. Encourage her to study her words right before bed because retention seems to be especially good at that time. 8. Studying for tests should begin well before the test. Studying three shorter times over several days is better than trying to do all of the study the night before. If your daughter is taking notes on her reading and lectures, she will benefit from reviewing those notes at home the day she took them. She can then remember most of what was written down. If she wishes, she can highlight the important concepts for study later. Her studying can be done utilizing note cards, graphic organizers, small study groups, or oral review. Ask her if she wants you to help her study for any class. 9. As long-term projects are assigned, check in with your daughter. Teachers usually break bigger projects down into manageable parts with preliminary deadlines. Be sure that she is on track. 10. Whenever possible, allow your daughter be her own advocate. If she has done poorly on a test, have her make an appointment and talk with that teacher about how to improve. If she has misplaced an important form, have her locate a new one. Sometimes she will need to ask more than one person how to get something. These are the kinds of things that she can and should do herself. P.S. If your daughter should forget something, bring it to school for her during the school day. Do that only once. After that, allow her to deal with the natural consequence of forgetting the things she needs.
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