A guide to helping your child survive, succeed and be happy at school in their eighth grade year.
The eight grade year is crucial to a child's development both academically and socially. It is imperative that parents do everything possible to ensure that their child completes this year having learned all the skills necessary to meet the challenges of high school. Statistics have shown that students who are successful in their eight grade year are far more likely to graduate from high school than their counterparts who struggle through eighth grade. In high school students will be faced with academic challenges such as reasoning solutions to complex mathematic and scientific problems, reading and interpreting literature, understanding social and economic concern of their own country as well as foreign countries and even choosing a career path. Encouraging your child to start to engage in these types of activities while they are still in the eighth grade will help to ease your child's transition into high school. Your child will also face new social challenges in high school. Increased responsibility and freedom will expose your child to new situations where they will have to make very important decisions. Helping your child to strive to succeed in eighth grade will make them better prepared for the challenges they will face in high school.
Mathematics is one subject that eighth graders should strive especially hard to master. Basic understanding of mathematics is imperative to success in high school as well as in most career paths. There are many ways in which a parent can help their child to increase their proficiency in mathematics. Assisting your child with their homework on a daily basis will help you to realize when your child comes across a concept that is difficult for them to grasp. Closely monitoring your child's daily studies will allow you to provide help immediately before your child falls too far behind. Many concepts in math are built upon previously learned concepts, therefore if your child fails to learn one concept they may struggle with the next topic as well as other topics in the future. Another way to help your eighth grader with mathematics is to show them how the skills they are learning apply to everyday life. You can use simple examples such as explaining how your child can budget their allowance to allow for them to purchase toys or other items that they desire. You could also take them grocery shopping with you and create a game that requires them to use their mathematic skills such as asking them to find three produce items that will be under an allotted amount of money. You can also use sports to explain basic mathematic concepts. Many children struggle with mathematics in an academic situation but outside of school can figure out their favorite baseball player's batting average with ease. Helping your child realize how to apply these concepts in the classroom will make mathematics seem less overwhelming. Another way to help your child through eighth grade mathematics is to assist them in understanding word problems. Mastering these tricky problems will be very beneficial to your child. Encourage your child to read the problem several times and then draw a diagram that depicts the facts that are known in the problem. Doing so will make the problem seem much clearer to your child. Paying careful attention to your child's homework, making your child see how mathematics apply to their everyday lives and helping your child to master word problems are all ways that a parent can help a child to survive and succeed in their eighth grade year.
English is another subject that parents should try to encourage their eighth grader to master. A child that develops an interest in reading and writing in eighth grade will be off to a great start for high school. Parents can help their child thrive in their eighth grade English class by encouraging their child to read more than just their assigned reading. Finding books that interest your child will make reading more enjoyable for your child. Also, reading the same books as your child will allow you to discuss the plot and characters with your child. Your child will not only be excited that you are taking an interest in their reading but will also gain the skills necessary to summarize the books that they read. These skills will help your child when it comes to writing book reports and essays. Another way to help your child through eighth grade English is to encourage them to learn new words and build their vocabulary. You can choose a word randomly from the dictionary each day and explain the meaning to your child. Challenge your child to find an opportunity to use that word during the day. Think of a creative reward to offer if your child is successful which will keep your child interested in this game. Improving reading and writing skills as well as vocabulary are all very important to a child's success in eighth grade.
Social studies is another subject that can be difficult for an eighth grader. One way to help a child in this class is to encourage your child to read the newspaper and watch the daily news. Being aware of current events will give your child a better understanding of history. Watch the news with your child and discuss the various topics with him. If your child can't understand a certain situation, try to explain the concept in words he will understand and use examples that illustrate the points you are trying to explain. Since much of history is cyclical, helping your child to understand current events will make it easier to understand why similar events took place in the past. Geography is another aspect of your child's social studies class that may be difficult for your child. One way to assist your child with geography is to create puzzles out of geographical areas. Find a map of an area of the world that your child is studying, glue it to a piece of cardboard and cut it into puzzle pieces. Having your child put the puzzle together will be helping them to learn the geography of the country. Another way to make geography fun for your child is to find out interesting facts about each part of the country and have your child make up stories that incorporate these facts. Creating a greater interest in the country that your child is studying will help them to retain more information about all aspects of the country including its geography.
Ensuring proper social development is another aspect of your child's life that will be very important for an eighth grader. In high school your child will have more responsibility and freedom than they did in eighth grade and this newfound freedom will require your child to make many very important choices. It is very important that parents discuss different situations that may arise with their child before they complete their eighth grade year. Discussing these topics with your child will make them better prepared to make good choices when they are placed in difficult situations. It will also make your child less likely to act on impulse or be swayed by peer pressure. A child that has not given thought to a situation beforehand is far more likely to make a spontaneous decision or be peer pressured into an action. Also, openly communicating with your child about difficult topics will help your child to be more comfortable coming to you to seek your advice.
The eighth grade year is a very important one for your child's academic and social development. Success in eighth grade will make your child far more likely to complete high school and go on to college and a successful career. Instilling a few basic concepts in your child will help them to thrive in eighth grade. Encouraging an interest in mathematics, reading, writing and current affairs will help your child to survive eighth grade with the skills necessary to be successful in their future academic endeavors. Opening the lines of communication with your child will also help them develop socially and ensure that they carry the skills learned in eighth grade with them to high school. Taking an active interest in your child's studies will help you to see what you can do to ensure that their eighth grade year is a successful one.
