Parents play a critical role in the development of children's writing skills. Parents can help young students become writers by understanding how writing evolves, providing students with many opportunities for writing, modeling writing for the students, and providing a variety of materials for writing at home. (SM)

Praise is better than punishment as a motivator for children, but both are manipulative and often backfire. Real encouragement comes in the form of honest, caring concern without strings attached. The paper presents examples of how to encourage children successfully. (SM)

There are many factors that influence the academic success and motivation of students. Social cognitive theory contends that individuals learn and perform based upon a triadic reciprocality of personal factors, behavior, and the environment. Personal factors such as beliefs, behaviors, and the environment equally influence one another. Existing…

This brochure for parents of gifted adolescents discusses strategies to use to support the interests of their children and how to recognize and extend their children's talents. Parents are urged to: (1) increase their knowledge about the child's area of interest; (2) discuss the child's present and future degree of involvement; (3) encourage the…

A positive, practical approach to parent tutoring of children is presented in this booklet. Suggestions for how to listen and react to one's child, how to use associations to promote easy learning, and how to reinforce positive behavior and encourage independence are provided. Each chapter sets out a step-by-step system. An easy collaborative…

Three areas that are crucial to the future of effective, high-quality public education are: (1) encouraging good teachers; (2) including more than basics in the school curricula; and (3) promoting student volunteerism. (CB)

Noting that many students do just enough schoolwork to get by and fail to see the connection between learning in school and success in adult life, this brochure encourages parents to explain the benefits of studying hard to their children. The brochure contains facts parents can use to explain the benefits to their children and suggests things…

This booklet presents parents with 10 "easy and fun" tips for helping their children be motivated to learn, value learning, and achieve his or her best. The 10 tips in the booklet are: be a model of curiosity; encourage your child's natural curiosity; praise and reward efforts to learn; solve real problems; lay out the steps to success; show…

New evidence shows the lifelong value of parents' involvement in their children's education. The article provides guidelines for parents, then details the lifelong benefits of parent involvement, highlighting the benefits at each educational level. Methods of promoting family-school partnerships are presented. (SM)

Contemporary American culture has taken on protecting children from the consequences of their own actions so much that parents are raising children for whom being responsible for one's own actions and one's own work is anathema to "good parenting." Unlike the culture of the past, many parents spend hours on end with their children under…

This guide presents, discusses and describes a selection of games and puzzles for school second language instruction. The first chapter discusses the value of these activities in language teaching, including the psychology of problem-solving, the process of motivating and involving students, three key questions to ask about games in the classroom…

Secondary school educators too often find that their students do not have the necessary literacy skills to use reading and writing effectively to learn subject matter. For middle and high school educators searching for ways to promote literacy, this book bridges the divide between what the research says works in literacy and what is happening in…

The best help parents can offer students with their homework is instituting a formal study program. Rather than assisting with reading, writing, and arithmetic, parents should spend more time teaching students to organize, budget time, plan ahead, concentrate, handle responsibility, and solve problems. (SM)

This booklet provides a general blueprint to guide the overall process of teaching a student to be motivated to achieve and offers specific ideas for those concerned with promoting self-motivated behavior among students. Part one discusses teaching and learning self-motivation concepts and principles. These topics are covered: motivation as a…

This book, one of a series, shows how to help motivate children to learn. The message of the series urges parents and children to spend time together, talk about stories, and learn together. The first part of each book presents stories appropriate for varying grade levels, both younger children and those in grades three and four, and each book…