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Study Skills - How Can YOU Help Your Kids?
Some years ago when touring the Scottish Highlands, I met a man who said something that's stuck with me.
Some years ago when touring the Scottish Highlands, I met a man who said something that’s stuck with me.
The man was elderly, yet was still working on his small farm. He had no intention of retiring, and when asked if he felt the pace of the years he said he really enjoyed his work but - and this is what stuck with me! - “It’s a day’s work getting started.”
No matter how he felt, he had to make the effort to get up and get on!
This pearl of wisdom is not only for crofters!
Our kids feel exactly the same when it’s time to open the books for homework: “It’s a day’s work getting started.”
Can we as parents do anything to help in this situation?
We CAN help. In many ways. Let’s look at just a few, but even these can make a huge difference to the outcome of homework sessions.
Most important of all is a home study place to meet the student’s needs.
So many students attempt to do their study in the living room or at the dining table where there are all kinds of distractions: people coming and going, the TV blaring, and so on.
Instead, try to provide your kids with a quiet area which they learn to associate with study. This could be a corner of their bedroom or an area of the house set aside for all your kids to study together. Facilities for online study are an added bonus.
Try to provide a table or a desk which is used for study sessions only, so that books and equipment can be left as they were.
Study sessions are much more inviting if you can plonk yourself down and carry on from before!
It’s also important to have all the necessary tools and materials for the job close at hand. It’s hard to keep up your motivation when you have to stop every second minute to ask: “Anyone got a pencil?” or “What’s happened to my calculator?”
It makes life so much easier when all the tools and materials for effective study are in front of you. You feel well-organized and this helps motivation:
Pens, pencils, notepads, binders or folders, plastic wallets or ‘envelopes’ for keeping individual pages in order, rulers, Scotch tape, erasers, a calculator, and so on.
Most students either have low-paying part-time jobs or rely on an allowance from their parents, so they tend to be appreciative when their parents help out with these items. Parents can also look on it as a sensible investment in their child’s career.
It goes without saying the study room should be well-ventilated and maintained at an appropriate temperature. Nothing kills the study habit more than a lack of oxygen and an environment that’s too hot or too cold!
In some homes, especially if there’s a big family, there’s simply no room to set up a study space. Is there a way round this?
Why not see if relatives can help out? Often there’s room in the grandparents’ house, and they’d be pleased to see the kids pop in for some study sessions.
Or perhaps there’s room at a friend’s house and the two could meet up there. You’d have to monitor this, however, as it’s amazing how easily study sessions can turn in to discussions about football, music or the latest gossip!
If this happens, why not encourage your school to set up a Homework Club. These are gaining in popularity the world over, and since they are run by teachers there’s a lot more motivation to cut the gossip and get on with the work!
This arrangement could be ideal. As parents you come up with the study materials. The school is there with the supervision and the study location. All the kids have to do is supply the required effort!
Facilitating your children’s home study experience will make a huge difference to their success - and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you played your part ...
Here’s to your parenting success!