Here we are, nearly halfway through the first quarter of the school year. Throughout that time, students have been working very hard on learning new routines and beginning to get into the academic stresses that each new school year entails.
Throughout the Norway Intermediate building, each grade level has more demands than the previous one, and with that, comes the importance of building good study habits for a successful school year. How can you help your child with the increasing demands?
One way to help is to familiarize yourself with their device. Every student in the Benton district has an iPad or Chromebook checked out to them. Assisting your student in building their responsibility in making sure their device is always ready for learning is a daunting task all on its own. One ‘rule of thumb’ that we follow in many classrooms is that if their device’s battery is 50% or less before going to bed, plug it in. If it’s above 50%, it will most likely get them through the next school day depending on the amount of usage. Asking this nightly until they get into the habit independently helps to build their independence.
Another way to familiarize yourself with their device is to encourage them to make sure they’re using their devices for school-related work only. These may be checked periodically and could result in the loss of a device if they’re using them for non-school related activities.
All students would have received a planner/assignment book at the beginning of the year. Periodically checking this booklet will not only allow you as parents to know what they’re doing on a daily basis but would also help to facilitate conversations at home with regard to their daily learning. Homework would be written in there, and building good study habits is essential to school success.
As always, thank you for any and all home assistance with helping students have a successful year. As a district, we can’t begin to tell you how incredibly important that is to us!