Over the last 2 decades of working with students and parents, I’ve compiled parent hacks for parents and teachers that will help increase their students education success! These are hacks I think every parent (and teacher) should know according to the ages of their students.
Hacks for All Ages
Correcting Students
One of the most important tips for parents is learning how to correct your children without making them feel defeated. Watch this video about how to correct a student’s incorrect answer while building the student up at the same time!
Think Time
Another one of my tips for parents is to use think time. This will give your child a chance to answer questions before you jump in.
Hacks for Ages 3 to 7 & Special Ed
Cutouts
I first started using these with an autistic student, but they can really be used with any student who struggles with motivation. To find characters to cut out, you can look at the fandom.com website. To laminate them, I recommend buying an at-home laminator. They cost about $20.
How to Make Flashcards
In this video I demonstrate how I make flashcards for my preschool students to help them with number recognition. This method can also be used for learning letters, letter sounds, etc.
Flashcards to Learn Letters
Check out this fun way to practice letters with your preschool or kindergarten students! The flashcards are easy to make yourself. You can find the coloring pages here. My favorite part of this video is when he argues with me about what letter it is.
Hacks to Teach Counting Past 10
Watch this video to learn a number of different ways to practice counting past 10 with your preschool and kindergarten students!
Hacks for Ages 8 to 17
Behavior Management Hack
“What if the child quickly finishes the work once screens are taken? Would I give the child screens back then?” Think about these kinds of questions ahead of time, so you can create the rules you actually want to and can enforce. (This video is stitched Steph The Attachment Therapist who works with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.)
Using Quizlet Flashcards
Use Quizlet, an online program (and app), to learn new vocabulary and key terms! Fun fact, my former roommate’s younger sister went to high school with the guy that invented this program.
Do you have homework?
Parent: “Do you have any homework?
Student: “No.”
Does this sound familiar? Parents are having this conversation with their students every day all across America. We all know kids should be studying, but WHAT should they be studying?
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- Do you have any projects due this week?
- Are there any tests or quizzes this week?
- Do you have any projects due next week?
- What is your lowest grade? Get out the textbook for that class, and start reading it.
- You left your textbook at school? Then pick a textbook you have at home, and start reading it.
- You don’t have any textbooks?!? Let me look it your binder/backpack and find some incomplete worksheets that you can do.
- It’s too late to turn in those incomplete worksheets? Oh well, you’re still going to do them because it will help you prepare you for the final at the end of the semester.
P.S. By the time we get through step seven, students usually figure out something productive to study. The only thing some kids like less than studying is studying something that won’t help their grades.
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Should you do homework?
This video will answer the question, “Is it worth it to do homework when homework is only 10% of your grade?”
How much time should be spent doing homework?
The state of California recommends students study 10 minutes times their grade level per day (e.g. 90 minutes a day for a 9th grader). However, if your child studies 20 minutes a day (Monday through Thursday), that would be a good place to start. You can use our printable study log to help you monitor your child’s study time.
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Hacks for Middle School to College
Virtual Tutoring Hacks
Here at Regal Tutors, we offer both in-person and virtual tutoring. Learn how to get the most out of your student’s virtual tutoring session by watching this video!
Google Sheet Hack for Teens
This hack is for the parents of teenagers! Anything your teen ever asks you to look up should be looked up once and then pasted into this Google Sheet. Anything that you keep track of for your child should be in this sheet. This will make your life much easier and teach your teen a valuable organization skill!
Learning Through YouTube Hacks
The Amoeba sisters have THE BEST biology YouTube videos. But in this video, they give study hacks specifically about studying with YouTube videos. The first minute is about figuring out the “why” behind what you study. It’s great if you’re that kind of parent or teacher, but if you’re the kind that just needs your student to do well in school so they are prepared to be successful later in life, I would start at 1:24.
Taking Notes Hacks
If you are trying to teach your student how to take notes, then this is the video for you! It goes over general note taking strategies. Then it covers how to do outline notes, Cornell notes, and mind mapping.
Planning and Organization Hacks
This video gives ideas on how to create an organization system. It covers keeping track of what needs to get done, making a plan about what to do when, and keeping track of both digital and physical files.
Hacks to Increase Focus and Concentration
Hacks to Find Answers to Homework Problems
Photo Math is a great hack to get step-by-stem answers on how to do math problems. First, download the app to your phone. Then take a picture of the problem and load it into the app. Here’s is the link. This app is free!
You can find the answers to most non-math questions by typing them into ChatGBT. Here’s the link. This website is free!
Quizlet has explanations on how to do most textbook problems. This is a great hack for parents who want to quickly check their student’s homework. It’s also great if you need a refresher on how to do some of the problems, so you can help your child with their homework. It has a small subscription cost. Here’s the link.
There’s also Chegg for math and science step-by-step solutions. This is a subscription based website. It’s worth buying for a school year if your student is taking one of the more advanced math or science classes (e.g. Calculous or Physics). Here’s the link.
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Should you test for learning disabilities?
Most students with diagnosed with learning disabilities stay in the mainstream classrooms. Schools usually just give children with learning disabilities extra time on tests and have them sit near their teachers. Generally, parents can veto accommodations that schools suggest if they want to.
IEP vs. 504 Plan
Find out the 4 main differences between IEPs and 504 plans! I recommend watching #Nettflix documentary Crip Camp if you would like to learn more about the incredible story behind the 504 Sit-In. (The documentary would likely have a PG-13 rating if it had one, so maybe don’t watch it with young children.)
IQ Practice Tests
These are the free practice tests I have used to help students pass entrance exams to get into gifted programs.
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Why Common Core?
Unraveling the story behind Common Core: From the evolution of teaching to standardized learning, discover the journey that shaped our educational landscape!
That’s it for our parent hacks!
If you have any ideas on how to improve this parent hacks page, please e-mail them to Marci@RegalLessons.com.
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Want More?
To find more resources to help increase your student’s academic success, visit our Study Tools page.
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Book a private tutor!
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