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I have 3 children; they are in Kindergarten, second grade, and fifth grade.  Evenings at our house have turned into a nightmare as I try to help each of them with their homework. Do you have any tips on how to manage the chaos?

The first thing I would recommend is to set aside a particular time for all three of your children to do their homework, and then stick to that time, every day.  On days when your children do not have any assignments, they can read or start planning for long-term projects.  Of course, your younger children will not have as much work as your fifth grader, and you may decide not to have them sit for the entire time.  However, setting up these habits now will help your younger children to manage their homework better in the future.

My daughter just started the fourth grade.  She has struggled with organization in the past, and I guess I have, too.  I feel like after just a few weeks of school, we are already having the same problems.  Can you give us some tips on getting organized?

Educator Guru: Start by creating a central area in your home for calendars and schedules.  A bulletin board in the kitchen or entry room is ideal.  Use this area for lunch menus and sports schedules.  A calendar should be in the same spot to keep track of after-school activities, upcoming projects, and school programs or field trips. In a large family, color-coding entries by family member is helpful.  You may also want to place a basket in the same spot where your daughter can put permission slips, forms, or other papers that need to be signed and returned to school.

My daughter keeps coming home and telling me that her teacher does not like her.  I am sure this is not true, but how do I bring it up to the teacher during our conference without seeming accusatory?

Hearing your child complain that her teacher does not like her, or that she does not like the teacher, is something parents should expect at least once during their child's school years.  Often, the declaration follows a particular incident, such as being reprimanded for a behavior issue or earning a bad grade on an assignment.

Dear Teacher,

Please help!  Our daughter, going into fourth grade, started in the Gifted Center program last year.  We just found out that her brother, a second grader, did not get in.  Will this cause sibling rivalry?  How can we handle having one child who is gifted and one who is not?

Years ago, we used to think “giftedness” simply meant outstanding general intelligence as measured by i.q. scores.   We now know that a child may be highly gifted in one domain, while only average or even below average in other areas.  If you think of intelligence not as a single entity, but rather a combination of a few or several different abilities, it may help you to recognize each of your children’s unique gifts.   Your son may be gifted as well, but perhaps his strengths lie in different areas than your daughter’s.

Dear Educator Guru,
It is terribly inconvenient to take time off work for my son's parent-teacher conference. How important is it to show up for this meeting?

A parent-teacher conference goes a long way towards building partnerships between your son's teacher and your family and community. If you absolutely cannot take time off work during the scheduled conference time, call or e-mail the teacher and ask if she can meet with you one evening after work…

I was a little disappointed by my daughter’s recent report card.  I don’t know if I should be pushing her harder to get better grades, or if she is too young for me to worry about it.  How important are these grades anyway?

As a parent, I recommend that you work to strike a balance.  You don’t want to pressure your daughter so much that she becomes obsessed with grades.  On the other hand, you want her to understand that these grades represent an evaluation of her performance on her school work.