SCHOOL'S IN: ABC's FOR PARENTS

With the new school year underway, perhaps it is time for parents to review their own ABCs.

A reader sent along this primer for parents (author unknown) and suggested that it be posted on every refrigerator as a reminder of their responsibilities:
A - Ask your child about the school day.
B - Be an involved parent.
C - Care about your child's achievement.
D - Delight in your child's enthusiasm.
E - Encourage your child.
F - Find a reason to say something positive.
G - Give your child a hug.
H - Help your son or daughter through the rough spots by being positive, not negative.
I - Insist on having one-on-one time with your child every day.
J - Just knowing their parents love them means so much to children.
K - Know your child's strengths and weaknesses, praising the former and working
constructively, not destructively, on the latter.
L - Love your child, every day, no matter the grades he brings home.
M - Make learning a positive, fun experience.
N - Never hurt your child by making her believe your love depends on her getting certain
grades.
O - Overcome the pressure-your-child reflex.
P - Perfection is unrealistic and a damaging expectation to be placed on any child.
Q - Questions are always a good thing; the only bad questions are those that are never
asked.
R - Rest and recreation are important parts of any child's life and will help him achieve.
S - Strongly support your child in all of her endeavors.
T - Teach your child to be a good and loving parent by being a good and loving parent.
U - Understand that positive support and love are keys that unlock the door of every
subject.
V - Valedictorians aren't made in kindergarten or the first grade, but happy and successful
students certainly are.
W - Willingly give yourself to your child.
X - Xerox makes duplicate copies of originals, but every child is a unique individual.
Y - You are your child's most important resource.
Z - Zero is the amount of good that harsh and destructive criticism of a child achieves.
- Author Unknown