Every fall parents and children prepare for the beginning of school. The Missouri State Teachers Association has put together a booklet of tips to help elementary students and parents ease the stress of beginning school and set the tone for the whole year.
The first thing parents should do is talk about school and what will change at home once school starts, said spokesman Todd Fuller.
"Just getting kids prepared mentally," he said. "Letting them know that change is going to come and that it’s a good change and it’s an exciting change. It’s nothing to be fearful of or concerned about it’s going to be a good experience for them and let them know that it will be a good experience."
Parents should also start working with students to refresh core subject skills. Fuller suggest listening to students read out loud and then having them answer questions about the story.
"It doesn’t have to be a paragraph or three or four pages," he said. "A couple sentences will get them back in the reality of spending time everyday doing homework."
To brush up on math skills, Fuller suggests working with money and showing kids how different coins add up to different amounts.
"Working with them with change will help them understand the differences between coins and how those coins add up to other monetary values," he said. "This will help them get a sense of that helps in the long run not just with math skills in school it also helps them understand financial skills."