School Academic Spring Tests and Effective Success by Mrs. Dorothy Barron

         School Academic Spring Tests and Effective Success by Mrs. Dorothy Barron

Spring is right around the corner and soon important and annual academic testing will begin for students.  Some students do not become fazed or frazzled, while others become very stressful during this period. Some schools send information to Parents as to ways to best assist their child prior to and during this period. Over the years, Parents have been instructed by some schools to:

·        Make sure the child eats a good breakfast during the testing period. Hopefully, the child has been doing so throughout the school year.

·        Make sure the child gets plenty of rest. From personal experience and from what has been shared by other Parents, homework keeps many children up past normal bedtime hours.

Be mindful that sometimes abrupt changes in one’s schedule can have the opposite desired affect and effects. Parents, you may want to:

·        Assist your child by talking with him/her to obtain a measure as to how your child is feeling about the upcoming testing period.

·        We want our children to do well; however, do not add additional stress - encourage your child to do his/her best and reassure the child that you will continue being proud of him/her for doing his/her best.

·        If your child appears stressful, talk to his/her teacher; undue stress is not good for the child.

A former blog post, Ending the School Year; http://mrsdbarron.blogspot.com/2011/04/ending-school-year-by-mrs-dorothy.html, provides some tips you many want to consider after the testing period is over and the school receives your child’s test results.

What is also a concern is the amount of time children engage in formal academics. Most children work for the most part six hours without a recess at school and many must start on homework almost immediately upon arrival at home. Homework can often last up until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m., which roughly would be another 5 to six hours and a total of 11-12 hours each school day on academics. Do you realize that such are more hours than some adults work each day? Often when one has worked regular shifts of 10-12 hours continually, such takes a mental toil and if adults become affected in such a manner, what does such do to our children, especially at elementary school level? Under these circumstances, children are not able to perform at or give their best.  This is not a recipe for success, but one for failure.

 In addition, many children have to spend their entire summer studying just to catch up or keep up.  The next school year, the scenario begins all over. All too often, Parents have been made to believe that the problem is with the student when in most instances and instead, something is wrong with the academic program. Many schools still lack effective methods for enabling students to learn at their own pace and level, as well as the best and most effective educators for assisting students with doing so. In order to obtain effective academic success, these issues should be addressed and effective solutions incorporated.

Mrs. Dorothy Barron, Founder

Parents Taking Charge in Education   http://mrsdbarron.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/PTCnEducation

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MrsDBarronPTCnEd

E-mail: barron.dorothy@yahoo.com