| |
|
|
|
|
WORKING PARENTS CAN OVERCOME
HOMEWORK HASSLES
By Dr. Raymond J. Huntington
With the school year ending and bright summer days just around the
bend, your son or daughter may find it more difficult than ever to
concentrate on homework. If so, there’s a real danger of a May-June
nosedive in grades and a good chance of losing out on skills and
knowledge that will be needed in the coming year. That danger is
even more significant if you’re a working parent who can’t always be
home to ensure that the work gets done. If so, here are some tips
for bringing focus and efficiency back to the homework process.
Step One: Renew the expectation of excellence
Now, as always, it’s important to verbally communicate your
expectation that your son or daughter will complete all the homework
that’s assigned, and create a structure that paves the way for
completion without constant supervision. Begin by setting up a time,
every day, when homework is supposed to begin. If you’re at the
office, call home, every day, at that exact time. Ask your child
about his or her day. Ask for specifics about what was assigned, and
then state, “Okay, before I come home, here’s what I want you to get
done.”
Step Two: Help your child stay on track
The second step, which works well with the first, is to create a
Time Chart for the hours in which homework should be done. Break it
down into half-hour increments. Have a copy at your desk at work and
make sure your child is reviewing the same chart while you walk
through it over the phone. Make it clear that “between 3:30 and 4:00
you’ll be working on this; between four and five you’ll be working
on this,” and so on.
The operative principle here is to set an expectation, and then make
it clear that the expectation must be met by a deadline. But it’s
really more practical than punitive. By talking through the
assignments in a non-confrontational way, you’re breaking the
homework down into bite-sized pieces, making sure your child has a
clear understanding of what needs to be done, and creating a
structure for managing time.
Step Three: Make study time the right time
In addition to ensuring that homework time is free of the
distractions of television, leisure “web” surfing and phone calls
with friends, try to arrange the schedule so that your child is
concentrating on assignments when he or she has the energy and
mental clarity needed for optimum performance. Some students may do
best by delving into homework as soon as they get home from school,
while others may need some time to wind down before they can focus.
It’s also important to make the most of concentration and energy
cycles. For example, most students have one or more subjects that
they find especially difficult. Because homework in these subjects
tends to demand sharper concentration skills, students should try
and take them on when they’re most alert. Getting the harder work
out of the way before going on to easier assignments alleviates
anxiety and helps students avoid being caught in a late night trap
in which the work becomes more difficult because of fatigue and
frustration.
Step Four: Become a better homework partner
During the early grades, your child may have grown accustomed to
doing homework with your active coaching and encouragement, but
middle and high school homework often lends itself to independent
study whether or not one or both parents are at home. Yet you can
still be an active partner. If your child has a particularly
difficult assignment that requires your help, he or she can save
that assignment for a time when you’re available. If you simply
can’t be home, talk with your child’s teachers about special
after-school mentoring programs and study sessions that will ensure
your son or daughter gets the extra help and support to succeed.
Step Five: Help your child become more study-smart
Efficiency is one of the most important tools in your child’s
learning arsenal, and simple study “tricks” can help your child get
more work done in a shorter amount of time. Teach your child to find
important information in a chapter quickly by paying close attention
to introductions, headings, bolded phrases and summaries. As
students read through material, it can be helpful to pause on
occasion and summarize what they’ve read. After reading a few
paragraphs, for example, restating the main idea and key points in
their own words can help students retain and organize the
information.
Students should also remember that diagrams and tables in textbooks
are often used to clarify main ideas – and are also good indicators
of information that the author (and a teacher) may consider
important.
Step Six: Remember it’s not just about homework
If you’re like most people, your work day requires you to get a lot
done before you head home. Your child likewise has a limited number
of after-school and evening hours for homework, extracurricular
activities and “down-time” before the lights go out. By helping your
child budget his or her time now, you’re setting a pattern for
habits that will enhance success in the classroom and workplace
alike.
Dr. Raymond J. Huntington is co-founder of Huntington Learning
Center, which has helped children achieve success in school for 26
years. For more information about how Huntington can help your
child, call 1 800 CAN LEARN.
|
|
|
