Back-To-School Tips From Texas AM

The summer break will soon be over and students will be returning to their classrooms. Rosetta Stone Spanish V3 Here are some story ideas and Texas AM University experts who can address some of the issues of concern to many parents and educators.The summer break will soon be over and students will be returning to their classrooms. Here are some story ideas and Texas AM University experts who can address some of the issues of concern to many parents and educators. If you need additional assistance, Support For Parents Of Children With DisabilitiesCaring for a child with a disability can be challenging, but many of these challenges are due to a lack of necessary environmental supports, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Texas AM University Center on Disability and Development. The qualitative data analysis yielded four significant themes that serve as barriers to positive parent well-being: access to information and services, financial barriers, school and community inclusion and family support, notes Aaron Resch, the lead author of the article on the study published in Rehabilitation Psychology. Back-To-School ShoppingOne of the big back-to-school issues for most parents is paying for what their kids want and need for the new school year. Cheryl H. Bridges, director of the Center for Retailing Studies at the Mays Business School, has some thoughts and ideas and is available to discuss them in more detail, along with other retail-related topics. Bullying Among GirlsConsiderable research suggests girls are more German Rosetta Stone likely to engage in relational bullying than physical or verbal bullying, and researchers at Texas AM have been paying more attention recently to cyber-bullying, a digital form of relational bullying (e.g., gossiping/character defamation/sending embarrassing photosthrough cell phone texts or by posting onsocial networking sites/webpages), explains Jamilia Blake, director of the Peer Relations and Adjustment Lab, assistant professor in educational psychology and principal investigator for the Peer Relations as Moderators of Success study. Blake is a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP) and is certified in School Crisis Response. Her research interests surround childrens peer relations. Specifically, she is interested in peer-directed aggression in ethnic minority populations and females, and the relation between peer-directed aggression and childrens psychological/social adjustment and academic achievement. For Dealing With Aggressive ChildrenUnfortunately, bullying is a common problem in schools from kindergarten through high school that may have negative long-term effects on the victim, says Texas AM educational psychologist Jan N. Hughes. Parents should also know bullies tend to pick on children who are lonely or socially isolated and who do not pose a risk of retaliation. Therefore a victims parents can help their child develop friendships in the classroom, Hughes advises. For example, inviting well-accepted classmates who are more socially connected within the peer group to go on fun outings is one way to help a child to build a social support system Rosetta Stone Software that protects him or her from being bullied. Some victimized children benefit from special instruction in social skills. The school psychologist may offer such instruction or be able to recommend someone to provide this instruction. A related study by Hughes shows that a warm, close relationship between a child at risk for behavioral problems and his or her teacher reduces the chances of aggressive behavior in the future. Unfortunately, such supportive teacher-student relationships are missing for many children with conduct problems, Hughes says. In contrast, teacher-student interactions characterized by high levels of conflict and controlling interactions and low levels of warmth and acceptance may serve to increase a childs risk for aggressive behavior Parent and Family InvolvementParent and family involvement in a students education is key to his or her academic success. Gwendolyn Webb-Hasan, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development, can speak to the importance of parents and family taking an active part in their childs learning and ways they can help. As director of the Texas AM Reading Clinic, Erin McTigue assists struggling readers every day. She can provide information on how parents can help their children address reading difficulties, and spark more interest and gain confidence in reading. English as a Second Language (ESL)ESL students face special challenges in learning English while also working to stay on top of required class material. Rafael Lara-Alecio, director of bilingual educational programs, is knowledgeable about the issues confronting ESL students, and he has ideas on what actions parents of ESL students can take to increase their success. Can Help Determine Career SuccessConventional wisdom has indicated a persons IQ is a dominant factor in determining career success, but new research is now showing that a persons emotional intelligence (EI) may be equally or even more important. The findings by Fredrick Nafukho and Helen Muyia, of Texas AMs Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development, respectively, have been published in a special issue of the journal Advances in Developing Human Resources. People with high emotional intelligence and IQ tend to do better over the course of their lives than people with just a high IQ, Nafukho says.