NEA Resources

Make the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences

Working together, parents and teachers can help children have a successful school year. Parent-teacher conferences are an important part of the process. What should you do to get ready for a meeting with your child's teacher? What questions should you be sure to ask? Here are some tips for making the most of parent-teacher conferences.

Parent's Guides to Homework

NEA, in a joint project with National PTA, has published a guide for parents about how to help students at all grade levels with homework.

Start the School Year off Right

The beginning of a new school year can be the start of a journey toward success if parents, students and teachers work together. Here are some suggestions from NEA for parents who want to help their child start the new school year right.

Help Your Child Learn to Read

When your child doesn't know a word in her reading books, should you tell her what it is? Should you teach your child the alphabet before he starts school? NEA has compiled reading tips to help parents best help their children learn to read:

• Tips for Reading to Preschoolers
• Tips for Reading to and with Children in Kindergarten through Grade 3
• Tips for Reading to and with Children in Grades 4-6

Parent Power Offers Help for All Grade Levels

Parent Power, A Major Ingredient in the Recipe for Educational Success offers "Home Learning Recipes" for children at various grade levels. It’s the educational equivalent of those cookbooks that provide quick, nutritious recipes. The Home Learning Recipes offered on these pages are expressly designed to be used at home.

Discipline that Works

The hope of every parent is to have children who are responsible, concerned members of society. Discipline is, of course, part of this effort. Research has repeatedly shown that, despite the importance of the peer group, parents usually have much more influence than they realize. Disciplining children takes a great deal of effort, but the main idea is that children and parents can change. Find out more.

Motivation for Learning: Parents Can Help

As parents, we want our children to learn. We know the benefits of being able to read well, to write clearly, to solve problems and to communicate effectively. Not only do these abilities allow us to earn a decent living, but they also help us to enjoy life and to appreciate its wonders and beauty. Read more.

Thinking Skills: How Parents Can Help

Thinking and being aware of our own thoughts are skills that make us human. Thinking is an active process. It encompasses events that range from daydreaming to problem solving. It is a kind of ongoing, internal dialogue that accompanies actions like performing a task, observing a scene or expressing an opinion. Find out more.

Talking with Your Child

Have you ever thought about the difference between talking with and talking to someone? Talking with someone puts you and the other person on an even footing. It gives more than one person a chance to express a belief or opinion. Talking to someone, on the other hand, is being—well, patronizing, or worse, domineering, even tyrannical. So only one person has a chance. Read more.

Can We Talk?

Can We Talk? presented in English and Spanish, is a four-part workshop series that helps parents talk with their children about healthy relationships and sexuality, including the prevention of pregnancy, HIV/STD's, drug abuse and violence. Also included are tips for talking with your kids about sensitive issues such as puberty, sexuality, violence and the media.