5 Back-to-School Power Moves for the best school year ever

As kids count down the days before school starts, parents can add up the ways they can help kids transition into a new year of learning.

Getting kids off to a good start requires practical strategies. Be a Learning Hero, a national initiative, helps parents and kids start the new academic year with excitement and continue that energy through the school year.

Be a Learning Hero’s research-based campaign, Super 5: Back-to-School Power Moves, offers five important actions parents can take to help set kids up for success throughout the new school year. Follow the links for additional tips and strategies.

Super 5: Back-to-School Power Moves

1. Get a gut check. Use the Readiness Check to see how prepared kids are for their new grade. Pay attention to how easy or hard it is for them to do grade-level tasks. Look at their annual state test results from last year as a basis.

2. Partner up. Follow tips from the Readiness Roadmap to develop a good partnership with teachers. At your first teacher meeting, for example, bring your child’s state test results and ask what they mean for this year. Find out what’s expected of your child and the ways you can support that effort at home. Help teachers get to know your kids by sharing their interests and strengths. Include details you learned from the Readiness Check.

3. Make it fun. You are the expert who knows your child best and can help make learning exciting. Read together with kids, choosing topics that are most interesting for your child. Find math in everyday life and turn it into a game, such as counting change, measuring ingredients or weighing produce at the grocery store. Take the stress out of homework time. Each of these small learning moments adds up.

4. Celebrate effort. Help kids see that hard work leads to success. Focus on effort and kids learning to help develop “learning muscles.” This practice helps build confidence. Kids will feel less nervous about new tasks or subjects.

5. Support life skills. Life skill strengths, such as communication, problem-solving and confidence, will help kids navigate through school and beyond. Talk openly with your kids about how they feel and how they handle situations, especially the tough ones.