(NC) There are a lot of great ways to help your kids perform well at school. Attending parent-teacher night, encouraging kids to read, and simply asking your child about school are easy ways to get involved. Here are some ideas to help your kids succeed with creative ways to support their learning:

Use creative methods for retention. Reading off a page and trying to memorize facts is not a very engaging way to learn material. Try more exciting methods when studying with your child, like acting out history or using songs and acronyms to memorize terms. Switching up the way your child retains knowledge will make information stand out more in their memory and keep them interested.

Use play through learning tools. Educational computer programs, games and toys can help kids learn through play by building off topics being taught in class and continuing the learning process after school. For example, Osmo uses tablets to merge tactile exploration with technology, introducing your child to coding and STEAM topics in a fun way.

Award the effort, not the outcome. Set goals at the beginning of the year for your child, but reward the effort they put into working towards them. We often reward success in objective terms, like whether they get an A, not success based on improvement. But by rewarding your child on their personal growth, like if they bump up a C to a B, you set them up to not be discouraged if their efforts don’t translate into top marks.