Wisconsin's Weekend Morning News
Getting Kids Ready to Go Back to School
(upbeat music) Oh yeah, it's back to school tomorrow. Officially for everybody, if they haven't already been back there. And of course that means it's a school day tomorrow. And even though today's a holiday, you figured out what time you're putting the kids to bed at night? Well, how important is it to establish those rules for school nights? Joining us is Michael Nguyen. He is the executive director at Teach for America, Milwaukee. How important is having structure for kids? I would say it's one of the main pillars to establish routine. And when we talk about routine, it seems as simple but yet complex like sleep. What time are our kids going to bed? What time are they waking up? Because that first class starts as soon as they walk into the door, how their brains have been nourished with food. And then that night, however tired they're feeling, how much hours of sleep that they're getting, so that when they're at school, they're fully engaged, they're fully awake, and they're fully aware of the academics and time with friends that they have. So important that students have the right amount of sleep. Do you suggest that parents sit down with their kids and talk about goals for this coming school year? Absolutely. Goals aren't just academics. How do we want to grow? What are the math skills that we want to grow in? What are the reading skills we want to grow in? But then also socially, how do we want to grow in terms of how we interact with our friends? How we pay attention in school? If we have sports, how much we practice? So that goal setting, Libby, that your name, is wildly important so that we have the entire frame of the year. But it helps establish that communication that children have with parents, and sets the stage that, hey, parents don't just expect you to wake up each day and head to school, but parents want to be there to support you and how you want to grow as a student and a person that's school year. Do you suggest that parents really sit down and talk to their kids every day to find out what their day at school was like? That's a great point. And five minutes is more time than some kids get with their parents to talk about how their day went, right? And so we don't need to overthink that every night, we're going to have to sit down for 60 minutes and talk about each class or how homework is going, but check in, hey, how was class today? What was a great part of class? What was challenging? How was your friend? How was your teacher communicating with you? Are you getting what you need in school? And that could be on the drive home, that could be at dinner time, that could be a quick phone call between class and practice, but having our students, our children know that we're going to check in and that we care, and we care about their well-being as much as how well they're doing in class, really helps our students and children feel like they can reach out to us. - What's the most important thing parents should keep in mind is they're sending their kids back to school this year? - Parents should know that they have an open line of communication to their teachers. As much as we want to check in with our kids and make sure that our kids feel comfortable talking to us, there is a bridge and relationship that can, in my argument, should be cultivated with the teacher and the guardians, the parents, because they're the other adults in our children's lives looking after their well-being, their growth, their development in school and socially. So our Teach for America core members, for instance, many of them are making phone calls home to parents and saying, "Hey, I am Mr. Nguyen. "I am your child's teacher this year. "These are our goals, and this is how you can reach out to me." But just because a teacher isn't doing that doesn't mean they don't care, but rather it's an opportunity for us as guardians to reach out to them and introduce ourselves. My wonderful wife sent an email to one of our kids' teachers and said, "Hey, these are the social goals "that our daughter wants to have this year." And all that does is help the teacher know that A, hey, we're involved, B, you can reach out to us and C, we're collaborators in the growth and development of our children. And so know that teachers can and will be receptive to parents reaching out, because honestly, as a former teacher and school leader, it makes our job easier to know where we can lean in and that we have partners in the home as well. - Michael Nguyen, Executive Director for Teach for America. Milwaukee, pleasure to have you here today. - Thanks so much for your time.