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Homework Tips for Parents

Tip #1:- Set up a Study Area

To do homework successfully, your child must have a place in which to work. The study area must be well-lit, quiet, and have all necessary supplies.
Have your child choose a location at home in which homework will be done. Even if your child does most homework at another location after school, there still should be a place in the home in which he or she can study.
Remember that your child does not need a lot of space to do homework. The kitchen table or a corner of the living room is fine, as long as it is quiet during homework time. Whenever possible keep the study off limits to brothers and sisters during homework time.

Tip #2 - Create a Homework Survival Kit

One of the keys to getting homework done is having supplies in one place. A Homework Survival Kit - containing supplies needed to do homework - will prevent your child from being distracted by the need to to searching for supplies, and will free you or your child from last-minute trips to the store for folders, paper, tape, and other needed items.

These are the supplies needed for a Homework Survival Kit:

Pencils    Pens    Writing Paper    Assignment book    Colored pencils    White out
Markers    Ruler    Sharpener    Erasers    Glue     Tape    Stapler    Scissors
Paper clips    Dictionary    Almanac    Thesaurus    Protractor    Compass

Your child doesn't need to run out and get all of the supplies immediately. A completed Homework Survival Kit is a goal to work toward. Respect your child's Homework Survival Kit. Don't use these supplies for other family needs. Give Homework Survival Kit materials as gifts. A dictionary for example, is a special present that a child will use over and over again.

Tip #3 - Schedule Daily Homework Time
Help your child develop good homework habits by encouraging him or her to start homework at the same time each day. Daily Homework Time is a time set aside each day during which your child must do homework. During Daily Homework Time all other activities must stop; your child must go to his or her study area and get to work.

Here's how to introduce Daily Homework Time:

1. Tell your child that homework is to be done at the same time each day, during Daily Homework Time.
2. Help your child determine the length of time needed each day for homework.
3. Have your child write down his schedule after-school activities and responsibilities in the designated spaces on the Daily Schedule.
4. Encourage your child to identify his or her best time for doing homework. ( Example: right after school vs right after dinner) Then tell your child to determine the best time period each day to be set aside for Daily Homework Time.
5. Have your child write the Daily Homework Time in the spaces shown on the Daily Schedule.
6. Check your child's completed Daily Schedule for accuracy. Make sure that the homework times chosen are appropriate.
7. Post the Daily Schedule in a prominent location. Encourage your child to stick to the schedule!

Tip #4 - Encourage Your Child to Work Independently
Home work teaches responsibility. Through homework students learn skills they must develop if they are going to be independent, motivated, and successful adults, capable of handling a job; how to follow directions, how to begin and complete a task, and how to manage time. By encouraging your child to work on his or her own, you are helping develop these important skills.
Follow these guidelines:

Check to see that your child is doing homework at the proper time.
Suggest that your child call a friend if help is needed.
Give your child help only if a real effort has been made to do the work.

Tip #5 - Motivate Your Child with Praise
Students need encouragement and support from the people whose opinions they value the most - their parents. Your consistent praise can increase your child's self-confidence and motivate him or her to do the best work possible.

Study Skills Tips For Parents

Tip # 1 - How to help with long range planning
A long Rang Planner can teach your child how to successfully complete longer projects. By using the Long-Range Planner, your child will learn how to break down a big project into small, easily completed tasks.
When your child brings home a long range project, take time to help him or her determine the steps that have to be followed to complete the project. Once the assignment has been broken down into more easily managed steps, work together to establish the time period in which each step will be completed. Write the steps and the dates of completion on the Long-Range Planner. If each goal is met, there will be no last minute before the report is due. Our students have homework organizers which can help in organizing the Long -Range Planning.