20 Minute Learning Connection

Introduction How to Get the Most Out of This BookHere is the most important test question you will ever have:A parent's best strategy to promote school success is to:a)Terrorizechildren by threatening them with failure and loss of promotion to the next grade.b)Humiliatechildren by comparing them to other kids with better scores.c)Exhaustchildren by engaging in frantic last-minute test preparation.d)Build, nurture, and empowerchildren by giving them the skills to be confident and capable learners.If the last choice appeals to you more than the first three alternatives, then this book is written for you. You will learn not only how to help your child meet academic standards and succeed on tests, but more importantly; you will learn how to help your child become a confident, capable, and empowered learner.A Busy ParentHow Can You Make a Difference in Just 20 Minutes a Day?Although we have not met, I believe I have a good idea of who you are and why you selected this book. You are a busy parent. Whether you work at home, at an office, or on the road, you manage multiple priorities and face many demands on your time. You want to be more involved in your children's education, but some days it seems as if the time required by your other responsibilities leaves little time for a focus on your child's schoolwork. You read the report cards and newsletters and often look at your child's schoolwork, some of which may be on your refrigerator door. You attend parent meetings and school events whenever you can. You read with your child, though not as much as you did during the preschool years. You have heard about academic standards and know that some of the tests required by the state school district are very important, and you have a nagging feeling that your child should be better prepared. But at the end of a long day; you really don't feel like adding the role of substitute teacher to your long and growing list of duties. Am I getting close to your reality?Practical Advice for Busy ParentsYour busy lifestyle is the norm, not the exception. Less than a third of children attending school today come from a home of the 1950s' television stereotype with a stay-at-home mother whose principal role is the management of family and nurturing of children. Far more typical is a case in which both parents are working outside the home or there is only one parent in the household, and that person must work to support the family. Even the parents who have chosen to stay at home and make the raising of children their primary goal have a far different routine than Donna Reed and her television counterparts. The caricature of the stay-at-home parent has given way to parents who are active in political, cultural, and social causes and for whom school activities are one of many other pursuits. The fact that these parents earn no money outside the home does not indicate that they are not working. These parents are subject to the same exhaustion, burn-out, and frustration as parents who rise at 5:30 every morning, get children ready for school, work a full day and more, and return home in the evening to potentially overwhelming demands for help from their children.Here is the good news: If you can devote 20 minutes each day to helping your children succeed in school, you can make a profound difference in the intellectual development and emotional growth of your child. If you like the ideas put forth here, you may find that the amount of time you spend building confident, capable, and empowered children will be worth more than 20 minutes a day. But make no mistake: Twenty minutes a day, focused on the right questions and the most effective activities, can make a huge difference in the lives of your children and their success in school. We are not talking about aimless discussions and unproductive questKaplan Educational Center Staff is the author of '20 Minute Learning Connection' with ISBN 9780743211789 and ISBN 0743211782.