Jefferson Elementary School
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Home>Parents>How Parents Can Help

• Read to your child.
• Listen to your child read.
• Play games with your child.
• Help your child get a library card from the public library nearest you.
• Encourage your child to go to the library as often as possible.
• Go to the library with your child.
• Help him or her pick out interesting books to read.
• Find out about activities for children that take place at your library.
• Talk to your child about subjects that are interesting to him or her.
• Listen to your child.
• Set aside a special "reading time."
• Let your child know that you look forward to and enjoy your time together.
• Give your child his or her own place to keep books.
• Write notes to your child.
• Help your child write letters and notes.
• Encourage your child to keep a scrapbook about a subject that interests him or her: stamps, dogs, birds, trucks, etc.
• Limit your child's television watching-select certain shows to watch.
• Turn the television set on for the show and turn it off immediately after the show is over.
• Read and discuss your child's schoolwork.
• Provide materials such as crayons, art paper and paints for creative projects.
• Give your child a calendar so he or she can write down special events and mark off each day.
• Help your child make a telephone directory with the names and phone numbers of his or her friends.
• Ask your child to add a sentence or two to letters you write to far-away relatives. (Young children can dictate a sentence for you to write.)
• Give your child specific duties to perform on a regular basis at home.
• Let your child help you prepare dinner.
• Subscribe to a children's magazine (in the child's name).
• Bring books for your child to read in the car while he or she waits for you to run errands.
• Look up words in the dictionary with your child.
• Encourage your child to start a collection of rocks, stamps, etc.
• Encourage your child to show his or her schoolwork to your relatives and friends.
• When traveling, read road signs with your child.
• Discuss what they mean.
• Show your child how to use a yardstick, ruler and tape measure for measuring objects around the house.
• Provide counting experiences for your child.
• Show your child how to count change.
• Give your child a special place (box, dish pan, etc.) to keep items he or she must take to school each morning. (This ends last -minute searching for library books, papers, bike keys, etc., all of which can cause your child to be late for school.) Show your child how to tell time