Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Does It Matter That My Child is Tardy to School?

     Life is full of surprises, and some of those happen on school days; however, we as parents should make every effort to not allow the unexpected  to prevent us from getting our children to school on time.

     The occasional tardy slip issued to your child will not be monumental, but when the occasional slip becomes the frequent slip, the tardiness can have lasting effects on both your child and his/her classmates.

     School is a predictable, structured, and organized place for students. They depend on that structure; they know what to expect and when to expect it. They know that the main purpose of school is to learn and grow both academically and spiritually. Routines are set in place to help them accomplish this goal. When students are repeatedly tardy, these routines are disrupted for both your child and his/her classmates. When a student enters the classroom late,the attention is drawn away from the teacher or assignment , and the late student becomes the focus. Some studies state that when a disruption occurs, it takes, on average, seven minutes before the students are back on task again.

     Morning activities are extremely important. Each day teachers prepare morning lessons that either introduce new topics that will be covered later in the day or review work that reinforces previously taught material.

     Elementary students depend on their parents to get them to school on time to get their day started in an organized and orderly fashion. Students can be taught organizational techniques such as packing their backpacks before bed and sitting them beside the door, laying out school clothes before going to bed, packing school lunch (except for perishable items) the night before and going to bed on time.  As parents, we are our children's primary role model, and we must model this for them.

     We can all agree that our children’s spiritual and academic needs are vital. To ensure that we give them every opportunity to succeed, please take the necessary steps to make sure your child arrives at school ready for a great day of learning.