Free The Book of New Family Traditions by Meg Cox Page A

feel like they really get caught up with their kids’ school lives at these relaxed meals. Thus, these dinners are more about celebrating their children as students than they are about tying certain rewards to specific achievements.

Book Rewards
    Books should be treasured, and one way to reinforce that is to make books the reward for good work. When my son was learning to read, we had “reading treasure hunts,” in which he had to read clues all over the house. After each hunt, he put a sticker on a sheet taped to the fridge and, after ten stickers, I took him to the bookstore and let him pick out a book.
    Ms. Frizzle Awards
    One of the problems with rewarding good grades is that it encourages kids to take easy courses and avoid challenges. My favorite teaching philosophy is that of the fictional teacher Ms. Frizzle, from the Magic School Bus series on public TV. “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” is her motto, and such behavior leads to learning. Every month during the school year, give the Ms. Frizzle Award (a piece of white paper with fancy writing) to the family member who follows her advice and learns the most—parents included.

    Homework Ritual
    If kids learn early to set aside specific times for homework, they’ll develop the discipline they will need all the way through school and beyond. Establish the time for homework the first day of school, and dedicate a special “Homework Zone” in a bedroom, kitchen, or den. Ideally, this should be a quiet place, with no television or other distractions. Our son used to use the kitchen table, but as he worked his way up through high school, he gravitated to the bigger table in the dining room. It’s very easy to tell if he’s goofing off, when he’s stationed in such a visible place. We’ve also made sure his computer is downstairs rather than in his bedroom.
    Brain Food
    It’s good to develop a transition ritual from school to home, with a snack and some goof-off time to start. Physical activity could be included, a quick phone call to a best friend, or fifteen minutes of a favorite computer game, but limit the time. Some kids like to take off their shoes or change clothes.
    Q/A Partners
    It can get pretty boring sitting in your room staring at a textbook. Parents can help make it more lively, partly by drilling their kids on material that requires rote memorization. My friend Jean Donaldson used to toss a koosh ball back and forth with her kids while they recited math tables or spelling test words: The physical activity kept them from getting too lethargic, and I suspect the rhythm worked like a mnemonic device, helping to anchor the data in their brains.
    Sentenced to Laughter
    It’s good to develop family rituals related to learning apart from the school curriculum. By regularly including games in which you play with words and use your brains for fun, you show that creative thinking is a lifelong form of play. There are plenty of great word games, including Scrabble®, but it’s also fun to buy a set of words to stick on your fridge. Magnetic Poetry@ has an early reader version, small words in big print, and you can keep them in an empty coffee can in the kitchen. Try to get every family member to invent a sentence a day—the more absurd the better—and read them aloud at dinner.

    Lesson of the Week
    Once a week, during a family meeting or Sunday dinner, have each person in the family share something valuable or fascinating he or she learned that week. Again, you reinforce that learning is a lifelong activity. At the same time, this exercise works as a lesson review for kids and may actually make them realize they learned something useful.
    Country of the Week
    Once a week, on Sunday night or Monday morning, announce a country the family will focus on that week. Pick a country that’s in the news at that time, and start by looking up its location on a map or globe. Talk about why it’s newsworthy, and help the kids look up its language,