Dreaming, Believing and Learning

We live in a great country that allows our dreams to come true. Yes, dreams can come true if you put forth the effort to make them come true. All of you have heard the saying-if you believe you can achieve. Well, that sounds nice doesn't. Believing and dreaming can only get you so far in life. A person has to be willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the work to make his or her dreams come true.  A good work ethic can take a person a long way.
We need to make sure our students and your children are willing to work for what they want. I was lucky to have parents that pushed me to become a better student and person. Reading was difficult for me until something clicked in third grade. My parents could have given up on me and made excuses for why I wasn't learning. Instead, my parents worked with me every night and pushed me to do my best. Giving up on me would have been very easy because I can only imagine all the ways I tried to get out of doing homework.
Here are somethings that you can do to help with making homework more enjoyable:

1. Take turns reading with your children. Have them read a page and then you read a page. Model to them how fun reading can be. 
2. While you are reading ask your children some questions about what is happening in the story. 
3. If you have children that like to draw, read a page to them and have them draw what they think is happening in the story.
4. If you have children that like to act, read a page and have them act out that page.
5. If you have children that like to write, have them write an alternate ending to the story.
6. Turn your smart phone into an educational device. Search for free educational apps that your child can play. A great app to start off is Khan Academy.

Now on a personal note- I want to tell my parents thank you for not giving up on me and pushing me to always try my best. Thanks to them I have two college degrees (currently work on my third) and a National Board Certification for teaching. Was it easy? No! Was it cheap? No, I have had to take numerous loans but it was necessary. By the way, I dreamt of being an NBA player, game show host and a teacher.