It can be a relief for busy parents that once their kids start going to school, their burden gets reduced as they get more focused on their peer group. But on the other hand, if you spend the day apart, it's easy for your worlds to become increasingly distant. You may not be able to see it instantly, but your influence on them starts reducing, as your child begins to shape his or her behavior outside the home based on the norms of schoolmates or neighborhood kids. Your goal over the next few years is to build a strong relationship with your child, which will provide a counter-balance to peer culture and a solid foundation to get you through the teen years. The game plan for parenting your elementary schooler should include the following points :
1. Develop family rituals that foster connection. Families need rituals that foster togetherness. Embrace the benefits of families eating together several times a week, having meetings where each member can have a say, and outings where your kid can have some alone time with a parent, where you both can learn more about one another. Arrange activities such as family meetings, morning brunches, lunch dates. Whatever works for your family, but make these connection opportunities into routines, so everyone looks forward to them.
2. Teach healthy food habits : By teaching your children healthy eating habits, you can help your children maintain a healthy weight and normal growth. Also, the eating habits your children pick up
when they are young will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle when they become adults. To help your kid develop these habits take note of the following :

• Discourage eating meals or snacks while watching TV : Eating in front of TV may lead to overeating.
• Encourage your children to drink more water.
• Make sure your children's meals outside the home are balanced: Find out more about their school lunch program, or pack their lunch to include a variety of foods. Also, select healthier items when dining at restaurants.
• Have your child eat a healthy breakfast.
• Eat as a family as often as possible. Keep family meals pleasant and positive.
• Buy healthy snacks : Offer healthy snacks that your child likes, and keep them within easy reach.
• Be a good role model : Your own eating and lifestyle choices are a powerful teaching tool. Your child sees the choices you make and follows your example.

3 -Limit electronics: For school-age kids, technology can be a double-edged sword. There are countless benefits that kids can gain from using technology. Computers can be used to do research, play online educational games, and improve language skills. Television (and DVDs) can offer
educational programs such as documentaries and other educational material. And even video games can encourage developmental skills such as hand-eye coordination. But all these electronic devices can also have some disadvantages as well. Here are some reasons why technology should be limited for kids.

1. It may interfere with sleep.
2. It may cut into family time/person-to-person interaction.
3. It may encourage short attention span.
4. It may interfere with school work : Children who watch a lot of TV are more likely to have lower grades and read fewer books.
5. It may lead to less physical activity : More screen time has been associated with reduced physical activity and higher risk of obesity in kids.
6. It may expose kids to too much advertising and inappropriate content: Many television shows and commercials depict sexuality and violence as well as stereotypes and drug and alcohol use. Many commercials also promote junk food and toys in powerful and alluring ways that are designed to get kids to want these items.

Some ways to limit technology for your kid :

1. Do not put a TV in your child’s room.
2. Turn it off: When the kids are not watching a specific program, turn off the television. Keep it off during mealtimes and especially when they are studying or doing homework.
3. Help your child choose a video game or a show: The best way to know what your child is watching or playing is by helping her pick out a show or a game.
4. Limit her screen time: decide the amount of time your child spends watching TV or playing video games and stick to that number.
5. Opt for alternatives to technology activities: Find great ways to spend family time together without tech devices, such as by playing board games or reading good books.

4. Make sure your child's peers value academics. As kids enter school, their attitudes get influenced highly by their peers. The amount of effort they put into schoolwork and how well they perform in school will be very similar to how their peer group approaches it. If you want your child to do well academically, be sure that he or she is in a peer situation with kids who are sincere in studies.
5. Pay attention to your child's peer relations. Kids who are rejected by other kids can develop an inferiority complex that stays with them throughout their life. Make sure your child maintains healthy relationships with other kids.
6. Help instill values: Most childhood education (click here ) experts agree that building a child's character must begin at preschool age. During this period, children can be easily shaped and guided to learn about what is right and what is wrong, and to learn to live a value-filled life. They can easily absorb and emulate what they see and hear from the adults in their surroundings.
Thus, teaching them positive values at preschool age such as honesty, courage, responsibility, self-discipline etc. is likely to be more effective.
7. Focus on controlling yourself—not your child: The behavior of your child is greatly influenced by what he / she gets to see at home. As a parent you need to model the type of behavior you want your children to emulate. You should not do anything that you don't want them to do as you are a role model for your child.
8. Give attention to the behavior you like—not the behavior you don’t: If your child is behaving in a certain way which is not appropriate it would be better to simply ignore it. Be clear and consistent when disciplining your child. Explain and show the behavior that you expect from them. Whenever you tell them no, follow up with what they should be doing instead. Praise the behavior you like. You should know what qualities are to be praised and which ones to be ignored.
9. Develop his emotional intelligence by empathizing and talking about feelings. Some ways to achieve this :

• Acknowledge your child’s perspective and empathize: Even if you can't "do anything" about your child's upsets, empathize. Just being understood helps humans let go of troubling emotions. Empathizing doesn’t mean you agree, instead it’s just that you see it from their side, too.
• Listen to your child’s feelings: Often, your child just needs a chance to feel heard while she expresses her feelings. When we help our children feel safe enough to feel and express their emotions, we not only heal their psyches and bodies, also we help them trust their own emotional process so they can handle their own emotions as they get older, without tantrums or repression.

10. Help your kid learn the value of sharing and friendship: Through interacting with friends, children learn important social skills – how to communicate, cooperate, solve problems, and make decisions. They learn that different situations and different people call for different behaviors. They learn how to lead, how to follow, how to set up rules, how to win,
and how to lose. They learn to deal with satisfaction, anger, aggression, and rejection. By comparing themselves to others, children come to understand who they are through their social relationships. Research shows that children with healthy friendships have a greater sense of well-being, better self-esteem, and fewer social problems as adults and the children who lack friends can suffer from emotional and mental difficulties later in life.
11. Help your child develop good language skills: Parents play a critical role in a child's language development. Studies have shown that children who are read to and spoken with a great deal during early childhood will have larger vocabularies and better grammar than those who aren't. Being a parent you can use the following ways to help your child develop good language skills -- read stories to them, talk to them, make up and tell elaborate stories, never criticize your child’s speech patterns instead help them with the correct pronunciation.
12. Help your child learn a sense of responsibility: Teaching your child responsibility helps build character and makes her a more independent, self-reliant person. As she grows, remember to let her responsibilities evolve.


1. Let Them Help You
   
2. Show Kids the Way First, you can demonstrate how to complete small tasks.If your son wants a snack, show him where the apples are and how to wash one off. Make responsibilities age-appropriate.
3. Praise ThemKeep up positive vibes by offering specific praises for actions. "You hung your coat on the hook and I'm proud of you!"
4. Manage Your Expectations When you ask a five-year-old to make her bed, it may still be lopsided. Don't criticize. Recognize a job well done. The next time you make your own bed, show her how you do it.
5. Teach Consequences If your kid is unable to perform a particular task then he may have to suffer its consequences. For eg : if your son does not clean up after finishing his project work, inform him that he won't be able to play with his crayons and scissors until the next day if he leaves a messy table. The more you enforce the rules, the more likely he is to clean up without being asked.