Study time can be an easy time for the entire family if some practices are born in mind. By taking steps to organize the homework for the students, helping out and adopting good homework habits for all time, some members of the family might have to adjust a bit, but it is all for good. Here are tips to help your kids with their homework:
- Turn Of The TV
If the TV is located in the room where the kids do their homework, then it should be switched off and every member of the family should have to adjust to that. Homework time is homework time and no one should interrupt that. When turned on, the TV captures all the attention of the kids.
- Find Out How Your Kids Function With Audio Devices
Kids are very different. Some can study very well with the radio on, and others find it disrupting. If you have two or more kids and one of them finds the radio disruptive, then it is better to switch it off, or better yet, you can buy earphones for the kids that prefer to study with the radio on. If the room where the radio is located is some distance from where the kids are studying, other family members can listen to the radio in low volume.
- Set Some Ground Rules About Phones
Most families remember to set rules for radio and TV, yet they forget that the most disruptive devices are right in the pocket, the mobile phones. Now, if there are two or more mobile phone users in the house, it is time to set down some ground rules about phone talk time. Set a time for phone call duration and make sure everyone sticks to it. Place a timer to control the duration of the phone calls. If the kids have to call another student in regard to their assignment, the call should strictly be about the assignment.
But you can encourage them about the best use of phones for education. Say for example, education apps can help your kids with their education and homework. The best education app will have useful videos and tutorials about critical subjects like physics, chemistry or math. The iPhone college learning app can be a perfect app to have to have homework help. If you are an android phone user, you can let your kids use android learning app to find solutions to their study related problems. But make sure your kids don’t waste time on the phone or use phones for entertainment purpose only.
- Assign Certain Areas Or Rooms For Studying
Find out the quietest room in your home and designate that as a study room. Again, this room should not have many distractions. The kitchen is ok if it is quiet enough, the dining room is also fine and so is the kids’ bedrooms where they can have enough space on the bed to spread all of their study material for the day. To make their studies more efficient, you should buy the kids a table that can hold all of their stationery. You can also buy a small bulletin board to hang in the kid’s room where you can write their assignment for the day or if they are big enough, encourage them to do so. Always find out from the children what they need so that you can keep them well supplied with all the study materials that they need.
- Create Regular Schedules And Stick By Them
Try to set particular times for everything. Set a certain time for homework and studies, dinner should be served at a certain time too. Depending on when the children come from school, dinner can be served before or after homework. If this becomes a habit, your kids feel confident and know what to expect, and you will never struggle again about who did not do their homework.
- Know How To Allocate The Time For Homework For Different Ages
If you are setting homework hours for children, consider their age. A first or second-grader will have a shorter attention span of less than 20 minutes. High-schoolers on the hand have a longer span and can even do over an hour. If you are setting study tasks for your young ones, break it into small parts to allow them rest in between the tasks.
- Show Your Children Why Studying Is More than Completing Homework
The difference between homework and studying is that while homework is time-bound; studying is not. Good study habits that they ought to learn to include how to skim content, analyze charts and tables, make notes when reading, summarizing in their own words after reading and making flashcards for fast reference when the need arises.
Bonus tip: Know to what extent to help with the homework
A parent can help with homework but should know the limits. Try to work out a math problem that needs to prove, or read out the words that a child needs to spell. You may also help the child with directions for the assigned homework and when the child is through with the homework, go over the work, see that every task has been completed. Any help that you accord your kid should be given willingly and happily, lest the child starts associating homework with grudge and quarrels.
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Helping kids with homework is not easy at all. I don’t know how many times I get angry and have to calm down 🙁 Thank you for sharing the post.