Five Key Skills for Academic Success
It's never too early or too late to help your child develop the skills for
academic success. Learn how to build these skills and stay on track all year
long.
It takes a combination of skills: organization, time management,
prioritization, concentration and motivation, to achieve academic success.
Here are some tips to help get your child on the right track.
Talk to your child. To find out which of these skills your child has and
which he can develop further, start a simple conversation that focuses on his
goals. Ask him about his favorite subjects, classes he dreads and whether
he's satisfied with his latest progress report.
Listen for clues. Incorporate your own observations with your child's self-
assessment. Is your child overwhelmed by assignments? He may have trouble
organizing time. Does your child have difficulty completing his work? He may
get distracted too easily. Is your child simply not interested in school? He
may need help getting motivated.
Identify problem areas. Start here to help your child identify which of the
five skill areas are trouble spots.
1. Organization
Whether it's keeping track of research materials or remembering to bring home
a lunch box, children need to be organized to succeed in school. For many
students, academic challenges are related more to a lack of organization than
to a lack of intellectual ability.
Tips to help your child get organized:
• Make a checklist of things your child needs to bring to and from school
every day. Put a copy by the door at home and one in his backpack. Try to
check with him each day to see if he remembers the items on the list.
• Find out how your child keeps track of his homework and how he organizes
his notebooks. Then work together to develop a system he will want to use.
• Shop with your child for tools that will help him stay organized, such as
binders, folders or an assignment book.
2. Time Management
Learning to schedule enough time to complete an assignment may be difficult
for your student. Even when students have a week to do a project, many won't
start until the night before it's due. Learning to organize time into
productive blocks takes practice and experience.
Tips to help your child manage time:
• Track assignments on a monthly calendar. Work backward from the due date
of larger assignments and break them into nightly tasks.
• Help your child record how much time he spends on homework each week so he
can figure out how to divide this time into manageable chunks.
• Together, designate a time for nightly homework and help your child stick
to this schedule.
• If evenings aren't enough, help your child find other times for
schoolwork, such as early mornings, study halls or weekends.
3. Prioritization
Sometimes children fall behind in school and fail to hand in assignments
because they simply don't know where to begin. Prioritizing tasks is a skill
your child will need throughout life, so it's never too soon to get started.
Tips to help your child prioritize:
• Ask your child to write down all the things he needs to do, including non-
school-related activities.
• Ask him to label each task from 1 to 3, with 1 being most important.
• Ask about each task, so that you understand your child's priorities. If he
labels all his social activities as 1, then you know where his attention
is focused.
• Help your child change some of the labels to better prioritize for
academic success. Then suggest he rewrite the list so all the 1's are at the
top.
• Check in frequently to see how the list is evolving and how your child is
prioritizing new tasks.
4. Concentration
Whether your child is practicing his second grade spelling words or studying
for a trigonometry test, it's important that he works on schoolwork in an
area with limited distractions and interruptions.
Tips to help your child concentrate:
• Turn off access to email and games when your child works on the computer.
• Declare the phone and TV off-limits during homework time.
• Find space that fits the assignment. If your child is working on a science
project, he may need lots of space; if he's studying for a Spanish test, he
will need a well-lit desk.
• Help your child concentrate during homework time by separating him from
his siblings.
5. Motivation
Most children say they want to do well in school, yet many still fail to
complete the level of work necessary to succeed academically. The reason is
often motivation. Tapping into your child's interests is a great way to get
him geared to do well in school.
Tips to help motivate your child:
• Link school lessons to your child's life. If he's learning percentages,
ask him to figure out the price of a discounted item next time you shop.
• Link your child's interests to academics. If he's passionate about music,
give him books about musicians and show how music and foreign languages
are connected.
• Give your child control and choices. With guidance, let him determine his
study hours, organizing system or school project topics.
• Encourage your child to share his expertise. Regularly ask him about what
he's learning in school.
• Congratulate your child, encourage him and celebrate all his successes.
Often what holds children back from trying is the fear of failure or the
memory of a time they didn't do well. You can help break this cycle by
celebrating your child's successes, no matter how small, and by giving him
opportunities to succeed academically.
