Let's talk about some of the issues your child might face in school and how you can help.

1. Personal Safety. Today, more then ever before, children encounter issues with physical and mental abuse at school. Bullying is becoming more and more of a problem in many of our schools. Some school districts have addressed the issue of bullying, while others seem to do nothing about it. Each year, it seems that violence in our schools escalates. In some schools, gangs wage war amongst each other and everyday students get caught in the cross fire. Be an active parent in your child's school. Participate in parent groups that sponsor a safe school environment. Go to school board meetings and speak out. Let your child know that you will try and protect them from any issues of violence they encounter.

2. Overcrowded Classrooms. With the current economic situation in the United States, many school districts are running out of money. They are closing schools, increasing the number of students to a class and hiring fewer teachers. The recent Educational Reform of "No Child Left Behind" was supposed to decrease classroom size, hire more teachers and improve the educational status of all children. What a farce. I have personally witnessed the down fall of our school system. Fewer and fewer people are becoming educators in the US and they are having to seek teachers from foreign countries. Many of these foreign teachers may be qualified to teach, but there often seems to be a language barrier, and a problem with discipline within the classroom. Too many foreign teachers are here for only a few years. They struggle with their assignments because our young people are not often tolerant of strangers. This becomes a problem for both the student and the school system. Increasing class size does not always help the students to get the individual attention they may need to understand the subject matter they are learning. Especially, considering that we all learn at different levels. If you find that there are too many children in your child's class and they are failing, speak with their teacher about how they deal with children who are not keeping up. Find out if your child can get extra help. Many times, teachers will stay after school to help children who are struggling. Also, check into how financially well off your school district is. Where are they spending their money?

3. Testing Anxiety and Over Testing. It would seem that we have become test happy in our country. It seems that every time you turn around they are coming up with a new set of test for our children. Many teachers have begun teaching to the test (even though they are told not to). Everyone wants to make sure that their students pass whatever test they are required to take at that time. Whatever happened to just teaching our kids the basic information they need to survive in our world? They way we test and the expectations we put on these test has created a tremendous amount of anxiety amongst our young people. If your child suffers from test anxiety, speak with his/her teacher and find out how they prepare their students for testing. Work with your child when you know they will be testing.

4. Learning Styles. Within the past decade or so, we have begun to understand that we all have different learning styles. A Harvard psychologist named Howard Gardner wrote a wonderful book all about Multiple Intelligences. It is worth reading. Most teachers have attended conferences about the various learning styles and many have tried to put this theory into practice within their classrooms. Find out if your child's teacher uses various techniques for teaching. When you teach only one way, you will probably not being teaching to all of your students.

5. Help Your Child Develop Their Learning Abilities. Make learning fun from the beginning. Encourage exploration. Develop your child's five senses (touch, taste, listening, smell, and sight). Talk to your child about everything and encourage them to talk to you. Developing language skills is essential in our world. Check out the seven intelligences that Gardner wrote about (musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal,). Read to your child and have them read to you. Help develop their imagination by making up stories, asking them to think about what they would do if, and looking at pictures of different things and asking them to tell you what they think it might be. Have them write letters to family members telling them about their daily events or thanking them for a gift. Anything you can do as a parent will greatly assist your child with their education. Make your child a life long learner.