Boredom
If your child is bored in a class, you could talk to his teacher about it. But that would probably just create some unnecessary antagonism, because if she wanted to help him, she already would have.
Instead, you can help your child. The major bookstores have shelves of workbooks for the elementary grades, and you could give her a few pages a day to work on. As your child gets older and is able to read easily on his own, make sure he always has an interesting book with him.
Then there’s my favorite--puzzles. When I taught junior high school English, I always had stacks of them sitting on a table. I used to make word searches out of our vocabulary lists, which is something that you could easily do, especially since there are now several puzzle computer programs. And there are also many puzzle magazines, including the fat ones with a wide variety of word games.
If your child likes to draw, make sure she has some extra pencils and plain white paper. If he likes to write, encourage him to write stories or newspaper articles. Thanks to computers and scanners and printers, you could help your child become a published artist or author!
But--and this is a big but--make sure you child understands that she can do these activities only after she finishes her schoolwork. And make sure you talk to his teacher first and explain that these activities are part of your efforts to help your child become a better student.
If you keep your diplomacy polished, you can turn you child’s boredom into a win-win-win situation, improving her relationship with her teacher, with you, and with herself.
Boredom
- Help your child deal with classroom boredom by giving him workbook sheets, puzzles, drawing paper, and writing paper.
- When she’s old enough to read easily on her own, make sure she always has an interesting book with her.
- Make sure your child understands that he can do these activities only after he finishes his schoolwork.
- Explain to her teacher that these activities are part of your efforts to help your child become a better student.