Many families find that homework takes up a lot of time at the end of the day. Setting up a designated space and time with all of the tools necessary to do their work will eliminate clutter and confusion, while establishing good study habits.
• Use a Homework Box to keep supplies in one place. This will prevent students from having to stop in the middle of doing their homework to find something. Things you may want to have on hand are:
o Pencils
o Pencil sharpener
o Erasers
o Pens
o Highlighter
o Notebook paper
o Ruler
o Calculator
o Dictionary
o Atlas
• Designate the same place to do homework each day such as the kitchen, bedroom (avoid laying on the bed), or sitting on the couch in the living room. An older student may also prefer doing their homework in study hall or at the library.
• Choose a time of day when the student is feeling the most alert and will have the least distractions. For some this may be later at night when their siblings are in bed, while others may prefer to tackle everything right after school.
• Also, try to steer clear of other distractions such as the television, loud music, and views/activities that can be seen from a nearby window.
• Help your child keep a list of assignments and projects and make note of when they are due. This will help everyone stay on track and avoid last minute panic attacks.
• If a student has a large project to work on, break it down into mini-tasks with breaks in between so they are not overwhelmed. For example, read a book chapter and then work on some math problems before taking a quick break. Then come back and read another chapter and work on more math problems. Lather, rinse, repeat.
• Make sure your child’s body is fueled with healthy snacks and plenty of water to help keep them energized.
• If your child starts getting cranky or sleepy and can’t concentrate and doesn’t need another protein snack, take a few minutes to do some jumping jacks or running in place to get their internal motors going.
• Reward children for doing their homework with minimal fuss by doing something fun afterwards like taking a walk, going outside to play, or watching television.
• Finally, make sure students get plenty of exercise and sleep each day so they will feel refreshed and energized the next day.
Posts
These are GREAT! The best one for us is the idea of mini-tasks, but we rotate between homework and chores and free time. The homework and the chores get finished SO much faster! Paragraph 5 of my post "http://pragmaticcompendium.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/underwear-and-add" explains where I got the idea and how it works for us.
ReplyDeleteWe also replaced our kitchen chairs with rolling office chairs - just for homework facilitation. It's worked out great for us.
And strangely, FavoriteSon does math homework BETTER while listening to music. His father works the same way, so I gotta believe them when they both tell me this.
Also, with FavoriteSon, he had mild ADD when he was younger and a little caffeine (about 40 mg) right after school was like a little homework miracle.
Julie, thanks for your tips and the link to your great article! I also find that I can concentrate better when I have some soft music playing in the background. But the TV is very distracting so its not turned on during the day.
ReplyDelete