Tips for helping your child to succeed in History:

Encourage him/her to get help from the teacher.  Don’t believe them when they say, “My teacher won’t help me,” or something to that effect.

After school is a great time to get help - come by!

Encourage them to do their homework as soon as they get home – especially over the weekend.  Putting it off until Sunday night only ensures that they have forgotten everything they heard on Friday.

Encourage them to go back over any graded paper and rework all of the missed questions – preferably before the test, but not always possible.  Do not let them throw away those papers until they have corrected them.  If they don’t know why they missed something, can’t find their mistake, or keep getting the same wrong answer, they need to go ask their teacher.

Encourage your child to take detailed notes. Use your textbook for references.

Help your child stay organized.  Have them keep an assignment notebook.  It doesn’t have to be anything special – a simple spiral will do.  If they have to turn in an assignment folder at the end of the grading period, help them organize their work.  Find out the requirements from the teacher.

Spirals are great for keeping things in order, but many students skip around in them.  It is best to always go to the first unused page.  Notes should be kept in a spiral and not torn out until the teacher says it is ok.  Many times, we refer back to notes taken earlier in the year.

Contact your child’s teacher, either by email or by phone, and find out what is causing your child to struggle.  Many times it is organization. 

Have your child explain the lesson to you – even if you don’t understand the topic; this will help reinforce the learning and will help you (or your child) see if there are concepts your child doesn't understand.  It might open their eyes to questions they need to ask the following day.