TOOLS TO HELP YOU AND YOUR CHILD SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
Set Up a Study Zone
Studying is accomplished best in a place where there's peace and quiet. Find
a comfortable place where she can sit and study. Minimize distractions, such
as the television or loud music. Check on your child regularly to ensure she
does not need assistance. While concentration is important, encourage her to
take a short break if her studying exceeds 45 minutes or an hour.
Routines about when and where homework is completed are essential. While
students will not usually admit to it, they all benefit from structure for
completing homework. This is especially relevant for students with learning
disabilities. The structure can be imposed by you or by teachers.
Your child should have an identified study space in the home. Preferably, the
space should be used solely for school work. It can be in your child's room,
a quiet area of the living room, or even a walk-in closet. The space should
be free of visual and auditory distractions (including games, TV, radio, and
other children). It should have a clear work surface, good light, and a
comfortable yet well-structured chair. All necessary supplies should be on
hand before the child starts, including a dictionary, pencils, paper, ruler,
and calculator.
On the first day of school, you should establish a routine with your child
for completing homework. The routine needs to reflect your child's individual
learning style. For example, some students with attention weaknesses work
best if they spend no more than fifteen minutes on a subject, move to another
assignment for fifteen minutes, and then return to the original assignment
(rather than work continuously on the same assignment). Some students do
better if they spend a half-hour after school on homework, then take a break
to play or eat dinner, then complete the homework.
While the best time for completing homework differs for each student it's
important to establish it and make it a routine.
Organizing time
Starting in the third or fourth grade, your child should be trained and
encouraged to use daily schedule books and calendars. By posting a
large "family" calendar in a common area, all members of your family can
write in and check events, such as sports practices, family outings, and
school dates.
Also encourage your child to use the monthly calendar in his working
notebook. The child should transfer his personal events from the family
calendar to the notebook calendar. He should also note upcoming tests, long-
term assignment due dates (such as a book report due a week later),
appointments with the school guidance counselor, and vacation days. Unless
your child regularly refers to the calendar, its value will diminish.
Daily planners can be used to sketch out how homework, play time, club
meetings, and the like can be worked into each day. This helps avoid the
conflict that often occurs about when to do homework, since you will reach a
decision together based on the available hours in a day. It also shows your
child that his free time is valued and will also be scheduled.
It's important not to make assumptions about how well your child can tell
time without a digital clock, can understand and follow class schedules, or
can sense how time flows daily, weekly, and monthly. Students with learning
disabilities often have difficulty with the simplest aspects of time and
planning, and these deficits may not be readily apparent. I once knew a very
bright teenager with learning disabilities who thought that "quarter after
four" meant 4:25 (because a quarter is twenty-five cents), and another who
thought that on March 30 he had a month to complete a report that was due on
April 3 (because it was "next month").
Communicating with teachers
Too often, teachers say that parents are not involved enough with their
children's school work and parents say that teachers do not provide enough
information for them to help their children. To avoid this situation,
establish communication with your child's teachers as soon as possible –
preferably before the first day of school – and maintain it throughout the
year.
Ask teachers what organization structures they provide, what they expect from
students, and how you can help your child organize materials and study
effectively. Ask the teacher to write homework assignments, with a lot of
detail, on a blackboard for your child to copy so you will know what the
homework is and how it's to be completed. Be willing to check, sign, and
return a homework sheet each night to maintain communications between you and
the teacher. Ask the teacher to note how long each assignment should take to
complete, then note back to the teacher how long it actually took. This is
essential information for the teacher to make appropriate modifications to
homework assignments.
Read with Your Child
You can teach your child to be a good student by fostering a love of reading
and making learning fun. If your child is younger, curl up with him in a
comfortable chair and read some favorite books together. As your child gets
older and reads on his own, ask him about what he is reading and what he
likes about the book, suggests the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune. Encourage him to
keep reading by making trips to the library a fun and special event.
Ten Ways to Help Your Child Get Organized
Developing good organizational skills is a key ingredient for success in
school and in life. Although some people are by nature more organized than
others, anyone can put routines and systems in place to help a child "get it
together."
1. Use checklists.
Help your child get into the habit of keeping a "to-do" list. Use checklists
to post assignments, household chores, and reminders about what materials to
bring to class. Your child should keep a small pad or notebook dedicated to
listing homework assignments. Crossing completed items off the list will give
him a sense of accomplishment.
2. Organize homework assignments.
Before beginning a homework session, encourage your child to number
assignments in the order in which they should be done. She should start with
one that's not too long or difficult, but avoid saving the longest or hardest
assignments for last.
3. Designate a study space.
Your child should study in the same place every night. This doesn't have to
be a bedroom, but it should be a quiet place with few distractions. All
school supplies and materials should be nearby. If your young child wants to
study with you nearby, too, you'll be better able to monitor his progress and
encourage good study habits.
4. Set a designated study time.
Your child should know that a certain time every day is reserved for studying
and doing homework. The best time is usually not right after school — most
children benefit from time to unwind first. Include your child in making this
decision. Even if she doesn't have homework, the reserved time should be used
to review the day's lessons, read for pleasure, or work on an upcoming
project.
5. Keep organized notebooks.
Help your child keep track of papers by organizing them in a binder or
notebook. This will help him review the material for each day's classes and
to organize the material later to prepare for tests and quizzes. Use dividers
to separate class notes, or color-code notebooks. Separate "to do" and "done"
folders help organize worksheets, notices, and items to be signed by parents,
as well as provide a central place to store completed assignments.
6. Conduct a weekly cleanup.
Encourage your child to sort through book bags and notebooks on a weekly
basis. Old tests and papers should be organized and kept in a separate file
at home.
7. Create a household schedule.
Try to establish and stick to a regular dinnertime and a regular bedtime.
This will help your child fall into a pattern at home. Children with a
regular bedtime go to school well-rested. Try to limit television-watching
and computer play to specific periods of time during the day.
8. Keep a master calendar.
Keep a large, wall-sized calendar for the household, listing the family's
commitments, schedules for extracurricular activities, days off from school,
and major events at home and at school. Note dates when your child has big
exams or due dates for projects. This will help family members keep track of
each other's activities and avoid scheduling conflicts.
9. Prepare for the day ahead.
Before your child goes to bed, he should pack schoolwork and books in a book
bag. The next day's clothes should be laid out with shoes, socks, and
accessories. This will cut down on morning confusion and allow your child to
prepare quickly for the day ahead.
10. Provide needed support while your child is learning to become more
organized.
Help your child develop organizational skills by photocopying checklists and
schedules and taping them to the refrigerator. Gently remind her about
filling in calendar dates and keeping papers and materials organized. Most
important, set a good example.
Remember to always be on time for school. By showing up to class even 5
minutes late, your child may become disorganized and not prepared to start
the day to their greatest ability. You can help your child by dropping them
off to school by 7:50 AM. It is important for your child to start the day
relaxed and prepared and not worried about coming in a late.