Most children would much rather play than attend to their homework. And while you might be keen to let them have their fun while they’re still young enough to really enjoy their leisure time, the educational systems seems keen to demand that more and more time be spent at home engaged in busywork. Since you almost certainly want your children to be successful when it comes to their academics (and eventually their careers) it behooves you to play the game and make sure that they’re not only doing their homework, but paying attention and getting high marks. So here are a few tips to beef up their study habits and possibly even help them get through their homework in a more efficient manner.
The best thing you can do when it comes to getting kids to study is sit with them. Whether they want your help or they’d rather not be stuck at the desk with you all night, this tactic should help them to focus on their studies in order to finish their homework faster. And there a several benefits to this system. One is that you get a few moments to sit and relax, reading a book or even catching up on your own homework (bills and so on). Another is that you are available to answer questions and look over completed work immediately. It also doesn’t hurt that you can make sure kids aren’t talking, texting, and posting updates on their Facebook wall when they should be working.
Of course, this is only really feasible when you know that your kids have homework. If they tire of doing it they may simply start telling you that they finished it at school or that none was assigned. Although you will eventually figure out what’s happening due to dropping grades and teacher conferences, you may wonder how you can be sure that your kids are telling the truth about their homework situation. If you suspect that your kids have developed this bad habit, simply talk to their teachers and ask if they can email a homework calendar to you so that you always know what’s on the horizon.
In any case, you may be sympathetic to your child’s plight. With most kids inundated with not only homework, but also a full slate of extracurricular activities, it could be late in the evening (or even early morning) before they get to bed. Obviously, such situations need to be taken in hand. So cancel all but a couple of activities to clear the schedule and think about ways to reduce the homework load. Study hall is a great way to cut down on the amount of work that must be done after school, but you might also want to look into after-school programs, private tutors, or even online tutoring companies that will help your kids understand the subject matter better so that they can get through it faster.
Once they have the study situation under control you can even think about giving them a leg-up for college by encouraging them to enter AP (advanced prep) courses that count towards college credit, or even take distance education classes (online schooling) as a way to knock out some general ed. Starting kids with good study habits early is essential if you want them to enjoy and long and successful academic career on their way to a long and successful life.
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