In the first article in this series, we looked at “How to help your Child Achieve better in school” and concentrated on the basics: “Showing genuine interest in your child’s School life” and “Helping your child with his/her homework”.

It is good to know that there are experts around you that can help your child achieve better.

Who is the first expert to approach? Your Child’s Teacher, of course!

I suggest, your child’s teacher! Book a time to chat with your child’s main teacher – say, if your child’s main problem is English Language/Literature, book with the School to have at least some hour chat with your child’s English teacher. It could be Mathematics, Science, Geography, IT – whichever subject that causing your child the most problem you should make your first priority.

Meet your Child’s Teacher for a review of your child’s progress Teachers love parents who are genuinely interested in their children’s academic progress, so, it is most likely that you would receive a warm welcome from your child’s teacher. So, once you’ve booked a time say one evening after school, here’s how to proceed at the meeting with your child’s teacher.

- Thank the teacher for sparing the time to chat with you over your child’s progress
- Ask to see the record of your child’s progress report so that you can go through it with the teacher. If you brought your own record, be willing to allow the teacher to go through it with you.
- Ask the teacher what seems to be your child’s strongest point in the subject in question. Be willing to accept the teacher’s praise for your child’s good work.
- Now ask what causes your child the most difficulty/difficulties in the subject
- Listen attentively, and make notes
- Ask the teacher questions on what can be done to help your child improve their understanding and performance in the subject
- Again make notes
- Ask the teacher for possible help or resources from the school or from say, the internet and make notes
- Ask for books that you can either buy, or borrow from the school with which to help your child at home
- Thank the teacher gratefully for his/her time and assistance
- Promise you will help your child as much as you can at home and that you would like regular feedback from the teacher/school on any progress made in future by your child.

Putting your new resources to use.
You need to report to your child that you had a meeting with his/her teacher and share the teacher’s views on his/her progress.

Now, take some time to research the Internet to find places where you can access some free resources on the subject in question. There are thousands online. Take for example, help with
Essay Writing.

Here are a few links I pulled off from a Google Search today:

http://www.essaystart.com/
http://www.essaywritinghelp.com/
http://custom-writing.org/essay-help

There are thousands of such links for literally any subject and at different levels. So, apart from your child’s teachers and recommended text books, the Internet could be your main resource for helping your child achieve better in school. Whatever you decide to do, you must not encourage your child to simply copy and paste from the Internet, as that would be seen as plagiarism, which is illegal.

Can you afford to pay for extra lessons at home?

If the answer is “YES”, then excellent. You can find teachers in your child’s discipline locally. They would charge between £10 to £20 per hour (or something similar in US dollars) for extra lessons for your child in the evenings. You can then select the number of hours you can afford and ask the Home Tutor to tailor their teaching to your child’s most urgent academic needs. This kind of extra concentration on areas that your child finds difficult usually yields excellent results over a period of time. So, it’s worth investing on extra lessons at home.

A word of warning: please only employ teachers who can show you their Criminal Record Bureau Check Certificate (CRB), to make sure that your child is safe with them.

Next in the series: How to Set Achievable Targets for Your Child.

To give your child a good start or a treat, and buy them some excellent study materials, learning toys or books, visit: http://www.youngsterswarehouse.com.

Author's Bio: 

Dr Grace Williams (Ph.D) was a teacher of English Language and Literature for over 35 years. She was also a very successful head teacher. She is now a life coach who specializes in helping children, parents and any one achieve their life goals. Dr Williams is passionate about success and derives great joy in seeing people she has helped achieve their goals. Dr Williams is also a published writer with three published novels and other works to her credit so far.

For more information on Dr Williams, please visit the following websites:

http://www.amazingsuccesscoach.com
http://www.graceukala-publications.com