FREDERICK A. BABB

ARTICLES

ARTICLES

Deciding if your child should repeat a grade level in school

 


The grades are in and your child is out. Next year will be a repeat year of this one. Take the report card and find the nearest mirror. Now is not the time to act, to neither resist nor express the injustice your child has been exposed to. There was an entire school year leading up to this point where measures taken by you and your child could have prevented this fate.

 

At first you may want to fight the decision. There are so many unconstructive elements that come with retention. Do you want your child exposed to all that negativism? Before you decide to run off and fight for what you may think is best for your child's reputation in class and with his or hers friends, consider if the option is really the most candid one. If your child would benefit from being taught correctly the subjects of the particular grade he or her is in, then retention may be the best option for long-term education plans.

 

Retention in a grade seems to be associated with failure. Society bases their opinions on the theory of those who can't succeed at first are doomed to be the ditch-diggers of the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yet, children feel humiliation when told they have failed a course and will have to repeat.

 

When a child fails to pass sufficiently a course, it is a sign of many variants. Unfortunately, families seem too blind or too occupied in viewing the warning signs that lead up to the failure. Was the child doing all the homework assigned? Were previous low grades on report cards met with genuine concern or did the parent(s) take the child's promise of "I'll do better" as good enough to not get involve?

 

When the child told the parent(s) that he or she just didn't understand, did the parent(s) sit down and find out what the problem was or was accusing the child of being too lazy and needing to study more the solution? Parent(s) need to examine themselves when their child is informed of having to repeat a grade as well as the child. If the parent(s) don't demand or seek the best performance from their child in school, how can they honestly expect the child to hold themselves accountable for standards that are never enforced?

 

Scheduling an appointment with the child's teacher is a must. Talk straight and accept the negative comments that the teacher is going to deliver to you. It is never easy to hear something bad said about one's child, but if you don't get it straight and honestly, you won't be able to make the necessary changes to the child's education program.  Forthrightness can be bitter, but it is the best ingredient when seeking solutions.

 

Once an honest evaluation has been made as to why the retention has been deemed necessary, the next step is to assure this doesn't happen again and to explain to the child that retention is not automatically the authority voice of labeling a child a "failure". Any child that truly cares about their education will take repeating in a traumatic manner. Easing the path and making a positive out of a negative situation will go far into motivating a child to continue their education instead of throwing in the towel. Children, in group form, are naturally cruel and your child will surely be the brunt of more than one malicious comment the next school year for having to repeat the grade. Additionally, all of your children's schoolmates will have moved on and your child will have to learn to fit into a completely new group of students. Emotionally, this will be a very difficult situation for your child upon returning for the next school year. Preparing him or her beforehand should be a top priority.

 

Having accepted the decision and evaluating the reasons leading up to it, the final step is assistance. What needs to be done to assure that this doesn't happen again? Does the child need to have tutor assistance outside of class? Should you, as the parent(s) be more actively involved in your child's day to day homework? Is the teacher able to explain clearly the subject to your child? Each question needs a truthful answer to make a sincere endeavor to provide your child with the best opportunity for a quality education. Being able to do such, with the collaboration of your child, is the only guarantee that repeat retention will not occur. Doesn't your child deserve your efforts?

The importance of a retail store's design and atmosphere



You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This age old saying is especially held to truthfully in design and atmosphere of a retail store. The first impression given to the potential customer will determine if the owner has gained a client for life or has lost a prospective long-term buyer. When a recent US research indicated that over 70% of the in-store purchase decisions are made in the store at the time of purchases, it doesn't take a genius to appreciate the importance of getting the customer into your store to make that decision. By placing emphasis on design, in-store promotion and the shopping environment, it increases the influence impulse and mood-related purchasing. Beyond a doubt in today's business world, the environment and design will differentiate the image and nature of the retailer and, ultimately, his or hers overall success.

 

As such, more and more store owners are placing more emphasis on interior design. Retail designing has progressed from the shop-fitting to the provision of entrainment and inspiration to customers, hence providing added value in using the store. With the ever competitive world of retail getting increasingly aggressive in an economy heading downward, every attention to detail is a must in an attempt to get an edge on the opposition. Store location and opportune market strategy is no longer sufficient for store owners to have adequate guarantee of being around six months from now. The overall design of the store must create an atmosphere that encourages the shopper, once inside, to lower his or hers psychological defenses and become interested in the merchandise offered.

 

One line item of fact to consider and follow is the logic behind investing in design and environment expenses. Orientation must clearly be focused at the overall need of the store. Investing in design and environment changes for the sake of investing without any comprehensible motive other than it is "what everyone else does" will only lead to long-term failure.

 

A store owner must do his or hers homework when designing for success. Knowing the targeted client's likes and dislikes is a must when laying out the blueprint of the business. Wall colors, decorations and background music are selected carefully to match the products being sold. Ergonomics also must be placed in the receipt for success. Any stores attempting to save room by having shelves that are too crowded, confusing or too high for the average consumer will turn customers away.

 

Crowded aisles or ones which are too narrow for passage of two people at the same time will also leave a negative taste in the client's mouth. When creating the selling environment, the owner has to be able to make a positive statement about what the product he or she is selling that will make the shopper a more interesting individual.

 

One of the biggest rivals a retail store owner faces today is the reality of more and more consumers cyber shopping. The convenience of being able to acquire consumer goods in the privacy of one's own home makes the challenge to bring the buyers to the store all that much more difficult. For some retail stores, such as those specializing in fashions, have an edge over, say, a bookstore competing against Internet giants like Amazon. While customers like to actually try on clothes to see how they fit on them, the same can't be said for buying a book or record. For this reason, each different type of business must focus not only on their rivals in other stores, but also consider how to make their store attractive enough to want to visit when they have cyber rivals eating away at sells.

 

When placing a plan into reality, some of the factors to consider are visual, aural, olfactory, tactile, ambient conditions, space/function and signage. Visual is the first factor in getting the customer to come in. Are the colors, brightness, size and shapes friendly or will they turn the potential customer away? The aural also plays a key factor. Do you have background music playing which matches your product? Is the pitch of the music comforting or annoying? How is the olfactory? Does the store have a fresh, clean smell to it or does it give the impression of a seldom visited store? Is the air temperature comfortable for the majority of the clients? Is the layout of the store adequate for the customers to contentedly shop? Is the signage easy to understand and posted for the clients to easily view?

 

As you can see, there are much more factors involved in design and environment planning than just painting the walls of a store a unique color. And when it comes to paint, be careful of what you choose. Where as a violet tone has the psychological effect of aggressive and tiring, a blue tone is peaceful and green tones generate extreme peaceful effects. On the other side of the spectrum, reds, yellows, browns, and oranges can be stimulating and exciting. Depending on what you are attempting to express to your clients will help to solve the correct colors for the merchandise you are selling.

 

A final factor in the designing of the store is store display. There exists strong logical evidence to support the use of promotional displays of higher value in high traffic areas of the store. The same holds true for enticing the impulse purchasing of lower value items. Additional service displays such as phone sales, information etc., are best located in low stress locations such as post-check out kiosks. But also be careful of offering displays that are too well structured. Studies have revealed that displays with too much organization create a lack of trust and interaction between the customer and the display.

 

Overall, the final decisions are still made on what each owner senses is beneficial to their store. For all the studies in the world, experience still is the number one factor to follow. Something that is proven shouldn't be changed for the sake of changing just as risking something that the owner may not feel comfortable with could lead to disaster. Using the above guidelines now is the time to decide what change you will need to make your store more successful.