to children read, play reading and math
games or provide any other help the
teacher needs. One-on-one attention
is very valuable in the classroom, and
you can offer that with no training in
education. Children are very aware of
their parents’ attitude toward school
and learning in general. Be the parent
who shows up, supports and gives.

5 THOU SHALL ATTEND
OPEN HOUSES AND
PERFORMANCES. or attitude, pay close attention.

The problem may be as simple as
illness or mild discouragement, but
it could be something bigger such as
bullying incidents or fears of failure.

Talk it out and take appropriate action.

9 THOU SHALL FEEL
FREE TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THE TEACHER.

Teachers are busy, and they may give
the impression they don’t have time
to talk with you. That’s wrong. They
See commandment number four. Show have time before the bell rings in the
morning, after school and during the
up. It matters.

evenings. They often like to email back
and forth. Teachers care about their
THOU SHALT MAKE AN students, and they’re usually eager to
hear what you have to say.

APPOINTMENT FOR
6 IMPARTING IMPORTANT
INFORMATION. Open houses and other large school
gatherings are wonderful for a positive
group experience. But if you have a
question about what happens in the
classroom, your child’s successes or
needs, behavior issues and the like,
please make an appointment to visit
with the teacher before or after the
school day. Teachers are encouraged
by parents’ concern and interest in
their child’s performance. They want to
give you their full attention to discuss
important topics.

COLEMATT/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS
7 THOU SHALL BE PART
OF A TEAM EFFORT.

The school, the family and the
child make up a learning team. There
may be other teaching specialists
involved in your child’s learning
experience — speech therapists, social
workers and reading specialists. Speak
positively about your child’s teachers
and the school program. While no
system is perfect, most educational
professionals want to cooperate with
parents and address their concerns.

Your child will know if you’re unhappy
with the school and it will reflect in his
or her attitudes and behaviors.

8 THOU SHALT PAY
ATTENTION TO
CHANGES IN
ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR.

If your child has changes in behavior
10 THOU SHALL DO
THY BEST TO
“LET GO” IN
APPROPRIATE MEASURE.

It’s hard to entrust your child to
anyone but yourself. But growing up
is a series of letting-go experiences.

Kids go off to preschool, kindergarten,
first grade and before you know it
they’re ready for high school. The time
flies by, and you can’t stop it. Further,
you don’t want to. Let your children
become strong and independent one
step at a time. It’s hard to let go, but
it’s necessary.

As you know by now, children
don’t come with a user’s manual.

Parenting is a tough job, and each
child is unique. You’ve done your
best to prepare your child for school
and the world, and now you have to
entrust him to another adult’s care.

You have to allow her to fend for
herself for a large chunk of each day.

You have to trust he’ll make good
choices. It’s hard.

On the other hand, most teachers are
not doing their extremely complicated
and demanding job for the pay they
receive. They’re in the classroom
because they love children and the
learning process. There’s nothing more
rewarding to us teacher types than to
see a little face light up during a read
aloud or when a new concept is grasped.

It’s pure gold.

Here’s wishing you and your child a
most successful school year. n
Can You Spell
S-U-C-C-E-S-S? W
inning the Scripps National Spelling Bee requires a
little bit of luck and a whole lot of effort. Time magazine
reports that this year’s winner, 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde of
Louisiana, spends seven hours a day studying words. She also
has three spelling tutors and special computer programs to
help her prep.

Your child may not aspire to be the next Zaila, but they might
improve their spelling with these tips from Akshita Balaji of
Merrifield, Virginia, a semifinalist in the 2021 Scripps National
Spelling Bee.

Learn a second (or third) language
When it comes to deciphering unusual words, it helps to be
familiar with various languages. English is, after all, a West
Germanic language with influences from Latin and French. It also
borrows words from nearly every other language on the planet for
good measure. Of course, if English followed a simple set of rules,
there wouldn’t be much need for a spelling bee, would there?
Many bee contestants try to be as polyglot as they can.

Scripps National Spelling Bee participant Akshita Balaji, who tied
for 51st place in 2019 and came in 102nd this year, takes Spanish
as her school elective but also studies French and German in her
spare time. The rising ninth grader learned French by watching
YouTube vlogs and using the Duolingo app.

Expand your vocabulary
Although reading the dictionary might seem tedious — the
Scripps National Spelling Bee partners with Merriam-Webster,
and all 476,000 words in its unabridged dictionary are in play —
Akshita sees it as an opportunity to learn new things.

“Even when you’re studying spelling, you actually get access
to a lot of other topics,” she says. “I know that when I find a word
and I search it, I find another word. And that’s a really interesting
word, and I learn something new.”
Spellers also take advantage of spelling and vocabulary apps,
such as Word Club from Scripps and Spell Pundit, which was
designed by a former spelling bee contestant.

Have a good study partner
While study apps are helpful, super spellers don’t always go it
alone. In fact, there’s a cottage industry of former spelling bee
competitors who act as coaches.

But anyone can call out words during a study sessions.

Akshita’s younger sister is also getting into competitive spelling,
and the two quiz each other.

As it turns out, great spelling often runs in the family, and it’s
common on the spelling bee circuit to see siblings compete
against each other. In fact, both the 2015 and 2016 Scripps
National Spelling Bee co-champions were siblings of previous
winners. —Orrin Konheim n
WashingtonFAMILY.com 21