Principal's Corner

Principal's Corner

Dear Valleyview Community,

Although many of you have access to the Parent Portal and can access your child’s grades at any time, you still want to know how your child is doing in school daily. Do you know if he/she is finishing all of their homework on time and paying attention to what is going on class? Is he or she getting as much as possible out of his or her school experience?

Most likely you don’t know for sure on a day-to-day basis. As your children get older, they take on more responsibility for keeping up with assignments and are less apt to turn to you for help. You may have less interaction with the teachers as well.

Children are not always willing to talk about how school is going or may not know how to head off academic trouble. It is the rare child who will admit he/she decided not to do a certain assignment or that he or she spends the entire class looking out the window!

Although it is nice having the Parent Portal to access at any time, in a certain way your child is giving you a daily report on performance without realizing it. There are many clues you can look for in what your child says or does that give evidence of what’s going on – or not going on- with his or her schoolwork.

Of course you should talk to your child about school work as much as possible, or email his teacher or guidance counselor if you have specific concerns or questions. But to keep track of how things are going in general, you can look for a number of clues. For example, does your child:

Bring home books from school everyday?

Keep his/her assignments in the agenda book?

Talk about school in a positive way?

Work on assignments or projects with friends?

Attend various school functions?

Use the school library, or check out library books?

Set aside a specific time each day for studying?

Bring home corrected tests, quizzes, or homework?

Talk about current events?

All of these clues have something in common. They indicate whether a child is fully engaged in school, taking responsibility seriously, finding pleasure in learning and enjoying the role of a school citizen.

Remember, an occasional missed assignment, or a bad day is no cause for alarm. But if your child comes home every day with no books, if he/she claims they never have homework, or always manages to finish it in school, if he/she never talks about what happens at school, you may want to investigate further.

Ask whether your child is confused or behind in any subjects. Ask to see recent tests, or quizzes, or class notebooks. If you feel there is a problem, give the school counselor a call for guidance in how to help.

You do not want to hover over your child all the time with third degree questioning, but keep a discrete eye on attitudes, comments and behaviors relative to school and homework. The clues are there every day.

Have a great day-


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