During the process of publishing a children’s book, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to many teachers about their daily accomplishments and challenges with their students. What I’ve learned from all of this is that most teachers are not only underpaid, but also under-appreciated!

I realize that not every teacher is a good teacher, but so many teachers make a positive difference in our children’s lives. Here is what I know:

1. Discipline is a teacher’s greatest challenge. There are well behaved kids in every classroom as well as those who are not. A teacher simply cannot undo what has been done at home, or rather lack of discipline at home equals a hard time for the teacher.

2. Keeping students focused and motivated takes a great deal of energy. Some kids are eager to learn, while others have a hard time staying focused.

3. All teachers have a few difficult parents, who are simply not on board with the school program. This can include the “My daughter would never do that” parent, the “He’s perfect at home. It’s only in your class that he acts this way,” parent or the “I don’t like your style of teaching” parent and many others.

4. Teachers are frustrated with constant budget cuts forcing the elimination of many crucial programs.

5. Teachers resent having to teach their entire curriculum for one annual standardized test.

6. Despite their challenges, most teacher would never consider doing anything else.

Teachers need to know they are making a difference in your child’s life. So be sure to let them know!

The end of the school year is approaching, and your child is bound to get what I call “homework spring fever.” No matter what her age, it is normal for your student to lose some interest in her schoolwork. Considering that grade school age children attend school for about 7 hours a day, a great deal is expected of them. During that time they are required to behave, listen and participate in the class work. On top of it all, there has been a trend in the past decade or so for teachers to give out an unrealistic amount of homework to grade school students. And as the parent of a sophomore in high school, I can tell you it gets worse with each passing year. (Though I must say those countless middle school projects were treacherous!)

The bottom line is that no matter what their age, kids need unscheduled down time. They also need exercise and plenty of it! Here are a few positive ideas to help get your kids back on track before the school year is over.

1.    Talk to your child. Tell him it is normal to get burnt out with school after so many months, and that this happens to adults as well with work. Tell him you are proud of what he has accomplished so far this school year, and that it is almost over. Gently explain how important it is to stay focused and get the job done.
2.    Strike up a conversation to make sure there is nothing bothering your child that can cause distractions from school work.
3.    Do NOT bribe your child to work, but give him something to look forward to on the last day of school. A small future celebration can be planned, like a visit to her favorite ice cream shop for a triple scoop sundae, a trip to the bookstore or a picnic in the park.
4.    Whether or not your child goes to aftercare, encourage him to take a break and not hit the books right away when he gets home. It is a good idea to establish this habit anyway – to take about a 30-45-minute break before doing homework, but then getting busy after that time.
5.    Provide healthy snacks that do not promote fatigue. Sugar is the worst enemy here.
6.    Even though the school year is almost over, treat your student to a few new school supplies, like a new set of pens or markers. There’s something exciting about  fresh, new school supplies!
7.    For any age child who is not consistent enough with her work that it becomes a significant concern, ask the teacher to email you the homework assignments each day for a while. Then check to make sure the work is completed and done well.
8.    Ask child if he needs help. Don’t do the work for him, but make some suggestions. You don’t want your student to always rely on your help to do the work, but during difficult times, this can be received as positive encouragement.
9.    Praise you student when he gets a good grade or shows improvement.
10.    If all else fails, go to the teacher for further suggestions. You certainly don’t want to wait until the situation gets out of control.

Remember, it is normal for anyone to struggle a bit in the home stretch. We’ve all been there, and somehow we made it through.

I was thinking back about 5 years ago, when I volunteered to do a Mother’s Day craft at my daughter’s Montessori School. She was in 5th grade, but I was with the 1st-3rd graders that day. I brought in paper cut outs of vases and flowers that the kids could color, and large sheets to glue them onto to make Mother’s Day cards. I wrote out some sentences in the background for the kids to fill in the blanks, such as: “What I appreciate about you most, Mom is____”; “My favorite activity to do with you is_______”; and “I wish you ________ on Mother’s Day.”

I walked around the room and answered kids’ questions, or helped them color and glue. One 6-year-old boy, who we will call “David,” called me over to show me his finished card. On the sentence that I had written, “What I love most about you most, Mom, is _______,” David crossed out “love,” and wrote in “like” instead. So his sentence read, “What I like most about you, Mom is that you do stuff for me all the time.”

I asked David why he crossed of the word “love” and wrote in like.

“If you knew my Mom, you’d know that LIKE is good enough!” he replied.

The teachers in the room and I had quite a good laugh about that. I still wonder what David’s mom thought about her son crossing out the word “love’ and replacing it with “like.”

There’s noting more entertaining than listening to kids talk.

For all the Moms out there, ask your kids what they love best about you. You just might be surprised at what they say. Happy Mother’s Day!