Getting Our Kids Back on Track : Educating Children for the Future Hardcover - 2000 - 1st Edition

As an educational researcher and parent of two school-age children, I find this mother's perspective troubling.

"My children spAnd five hours in school every day. They work very hard while they are there, and believe me, it's stressful. The last thing they need is homework. They need to come home and relax. They have a life outside of school."-Mother of Fourth grade twinsCompared to children from other industrialized countries, our nation's children are scholastic underachievers. But in our quest to keep our children "well-rounded" we leave little time for homework and other activities considered by many to be an important part of their education. It's obvious-our notions about promoting a child's positive self-esteem seem to contradict what is needed to achieve academic excellence. Is it too late to get our kids back on track?Not according to Janine Bempechat-an acclaimed educational researcher from Harvard and the parent of two school-aged children. Bempechat offers parents and teachers a practical guide to encourage and support children's academic success and, by doing so, bolster their self-worth.Getting Our Kids Back on Track reveals that those parents who advocate for reduced homework loads, stress-free schoolwork, and an increase in extracurricular activities are actually doing children a great disservice. Using illustrative real-life examples from her years of research, Bempechat shows how to set priorities and help children develop traits of persistence, diligence, and the ability to delay gratification. Getting Back on Track offers a wealth of advice and information including? Guidelines for structuring the home to support academic achievement? Tips for making homework an enriching part of daily family life? Directions for supporting teachers' values as well as parents' educational priorities? Pointers on how to balance schoolwork with extracurricular activities? Suggestions for laying the groundwork to provide a barrier against negative adolescent peer pressureThis important book offers a new vision that can inspire parents to create a