Parenting and Learning Issues

Each child learns differently. Here we offer resources on learning styles and the classroom models that support them, expert advice on how to improve learning, and tips on parental involvement.

View the most popular articles in Parenting and Learning Issues:

How Scaffolding Could Change the Way Your Child Learns

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How Scaffolding Could Change the Way Your Child Learns
This article explores the concept of instructional scaffolding, a teaching method that enhances learning by breaking down complex tasks into manageable parts. It highlights how scaffolding supports students in developing critical thinking skills and becoming more independent learners. The article discusses the benefits of scaffolding, including improved engagement and reduced anxiety, and provides strategies for its implementation across various educational levels.

How Scaffolding Could Change the Way Your Child Learns

It is a teacher’s job to shape the minds of the nation’s youth, teaching them the concepts and skills they’ll need to become functional adults.

  • Early childhood education is critical.
  • It can affect everything from a student’s future academic success to his mental and emotional health.

Every child learns differently. His educational success depends, in large part, on his teachers and their method of instruction.

  • Children learn by listening, observing, exploring, and asking questions.
  • The more a child understands the “what” and “why” of the lesson, the more motivated and engaged they will be.
  • Scaffolding is an instructional tool teachers use to develop critical thinking skills and other skills they need to work more independently.

What is Instructional Scaffolding?

In higher education, students are often left to their own devices to take a project from the assignment phase to completion.

  • A college professor might give a classroom full of students a research article and ask them to write a detailed essay about the critical topic.
  • As the professor in this example, you might expect mixed results.
  • Some students are more than capable of completing a project with minimal instruction, while others might struggle.
  • In many ways, it comes down to how the student was taught in his early education years.

Instructional scaffolding is a teaching method that breaks up a lesson or project into smaller pieces,

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How to Help Your Child Succeed in and Out of School

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How to Help Your Child Succeed in and Out of School
Your child’s education is not just his teacher’s responsibility. As a parent, you can supplement your child’s education at home to help him succeed in school.

Kids soak up knowledge from everything around them. Even before they step into school, you're their very first teacher, mom or dad! Learning doesn't stop with age—it's a lifelong journey. So, if you want your kid to be sharp and savvy, it's time to get serious about their education inside and outside the classroom.

When you ignite a passion for learning in your child, every day becomes a chance to discover something new. In this article, we'll dig into how you can help your kid make the most of their education.. We'll talk about tailoring learning to their style and adding extra learning at home. Let's dive in!

Understanding Your Child’s Learning Style

In the early years of public school, there was an assumption that all children learned the same way or, at the very least, material was taught in a specific way. More recently, it has become evident that there are several different learning styles, and every child is unique. By learning more about your child’s learning style, you can work with his teacher at school and with your child at home to help him maximize his education.

Here is an overview of the 7 different learning styles:

  1. Visual (Spatial) – This style learns best when they have an image to help them process the information or the opportunity to write out their thoughts.
  2. Aural (Auditory-Musical) – These learners respond primarily to sound. They may prefer to learn through rhythms or use rhymes to remember information.
  3. Verbal (Linguistic)
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Common Mental Health Problems in School Children and How to Address Them

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Common Mental Health Problems in School Children and How to Address Them
Millions of people struggle with mental health issues on a daily basis, but no one wants to think that these issues might affect children. As a parent, it is your responsibility to know what your child needs and to provide it. This includes identifying problem behaviors and seeking treatment when your child needs help.

It is a fact of life that children are sometimes going to break the rules. It’s also a fact that they’ll occasionally show an outburst of emotion or throw a tantrum in the middle of the grocery store. Childhood development is a trying time and children are often ill-equipped to understand or properly deal with the changes they’re going through.

But there is a point at which behavioral issues go beyond the point of being normal. If your child is becoming extremely withdrawn and avoiding social interaction, it might be something more. If your child is expressing angry or violent thoughts and behaviors, it might be something to worry about. Mental health is a difficult thing to gauge, but you can see the signs when your child exhibits behaviors that are abnormal for their personality or for other children of their age. It is your job as a parent to notice the change and to seek help.

In this article, we’ll explore the subject of mental health issues in school children. We’ll talk about the most common issues affecting children of school age and how parents and teachers can work together to identify those issues. We’ll also talk about what schools and parents can do to support these children.

This TEDx Talk discusses mental health in our schools.

How Common Are Mental Health Issues in Children?

According to the National Alliance on

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Common Behavioral Issues in School-Age Children and How Alternative Schools Can Help

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Common Behavioral Issues in School-Age Children and How Alternative Schools Can Help
Being a parent is never easy, but some children are more challenging than others. If you're concerned that your child's behavioral issues might be more than just temporary, consider whether an alternative school might be the next move.

Raising children is a difficult and often thankless job. If you ask any parent, however, you’ll hear them say that it’s worth it. Your child is more than just your flesh and blood – he is your life and your number-one priority. When something seems wrong, no one has to ask you to step in and find a solution. Chances are that you’ve already been thinking about what to do.

It’s not easy being a parent, but some children are more difficult than others. As a parent, however, you know the difference between your child acting out and your child acting differently. Behavioral changes are going to happen throughout your child’s life, but some changes are not normal. If you notice your child exhibiting serious behavioral issues or sudden changes, run, don’t walk to your pediatrician’s office. From there, the next step might be to visit a child psychologist. No parent wants to hear that their child has a behavioral disorder but knowing is better than not knowing because it means that you can take steps to help your child.

Finding help for your child is just one step in the process. Once you start getting his behavioral issues under control, you need to start thinking ahead. This means considering your child’s future, particularly in terms of his education. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common behavioral issues in school-age children and talk about whether an alternative school might help your child.

This video examines

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What is the Impact of High School Graduation Rates?

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What is the Impact of High School Graduation Rates?
The high school graduation rate is in a constant state of change and dropout rates affect more than the individual student. Read on to learn about factors influencing high school graduation rates and what schools can do to improve them.

Dropping out of high school is a decision that over 1 million American students make each year. Though it is a personal decision, it has a far-reaching impact not only on the student but on other students and the American education system.

Students who drop out of high school are more likely to live a life of periodic unemployment and have a higher rate of using government assistance. They tend to cycle in and out of the prison system more often than students who obtain a high school diploma, and their annual income is lower. But how does a student’s decision to drop out of high school affect others? And what impacts the rate at which students drop out of school?

In this article, we’ll explore the subject of high school graduation rates including the factors that influence them and their impact on schools and the American education system.

This video explains the effect of high school graduation rates on the American economy.

Why Do Students Drop Out of High School?

Roughly 7,000 students in the United States drop out of high school every day. For some time, the United States had some of the highest graduation rates of any developing country, but we have fallen to a ranking of 22 out of 27 countries.

High school is known for being one of the more unpleasant periods of a person’s

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Parenting and Learning Issues

IMPROVING LEARNING
A comprehensive look at the latest trends, expert advice and recent studies into improving student learning. Explore the latest studies into links between student performance, sleep and music. See why schools are opting for later start times and year round schedules.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT FROM K-12
Learn how direct involvement in your child’s education can impact school performance. Get expert advice on how to get involved, learn why and when you need to talk to a teacher and ways to make changes on campus.
BULLYING
An overview of bullying in schools, laws to protect students, and the impact on education. This section provides great tips on protecting your child from being bullied or becoming a bully. Learn about the latest anti-bullying laws and see how cyber-bullying effects your child’s school performance.
TYPES OF LEARNING
What type of learner is your child? Be in the know about different types of learning and which classrooms are best suited for each type. What is project-based learning? Cooperative Learning? Would your child benefit from a blended learning experience? Explore these teaching techniques and learn how they could improve your child’s performance.
KINDERGARTEN AND ELEMENTARY ISSUES
Weigh the pros and cons of preschool, full day kindergarten and other issues affecting our youngest learners. Learn what can be done to help your child prepare to enter school, boost confidence, and encourage reading at the grade school level.
HIGH SCHOOL ISSUES
Learn more about issues specific to high school students. Get an overview of high school graduation rates, college readiness, career choice and social issues impacting teenagers in public schools.