We all want our children to do well in school and achieve as much academic success as possible. Some children will be on the same page as their parents and will take an active role in their own learning and development. They will pay lots of attention in the classroom and will always try their best once they come home and get to work on their homework and self-study projects. These are the kids who seem naturally gifted and will do well throughout their entire academic career.
However, not all children are as motivated and proactive as they should be with their schoolwork. Even if they have the smarts that can take them far throughout college and university, their lack of motivation and productivity will make it hard for them to get the results that they need and deserve. If this sounds exactly like your child, you might be slightly worried that they won’t do as well as they should, and might not even get to college as you had hoped.
But there really is no need to worry. In fact, there is plenty that you can do to help your child and try to encourage them to put as much effort into their work as possible and to do their best. By doing so, you might even be very surprised at how well your child does with their studies and examinations! So, ready to go back to school and help your child with their studies? Here are a few steps that you should take.
Create A Study Space
First of all, it is really important that your child has a dedicated workspace for their studies. This area needs to be as quiet as possible so that your child isn’t constantly distracted. If there is space in their bedroom, then you could always include it in there. You just need room for a desk, office chair, bookcase, and any storage units or filing cabinets that your child might need to store all of their papers. Just bear in mind that this might not always be the best space for study as there could be other distractions from things like books and games consoles. You could always remove these distractions during study time, though. No space in your child’s bedroom? No problem! You could always use the dining-room table when your child needs to do their homework and study.
Additionally, it would be best to create a study environment within the study space. This means ensuring the study space is well organized and suits your child’s needs. Research shows that having the right study environment can motivate your child to study, which boosts their performance and results in academic success. For instance, you can ensure that the study space has the right lighting. You can use the best electricity rate chart to monitor usage and minimize bills. It can also help you avoid going without electricity for a day.
You can also add some inspiration, such as charts, pictures, and sticky notes. They can inspire your child to continue reading, while others may act as a constant reminder of what they want to achieve in life. For instance, hanging pictures of famous scientists or someone your child aspires to be can motivate your child to work hard in school. If you can create the perfect studying environment for your kid, they will be a step closer to having a successful academic phase.
Limit Screen Time
It’s a good idea to limit your child’s screen time so that they have as much time for studying as possible. Generally speaking, it’s always a good idea to try and limit screen time regardless of studying as it can have quite a negative effect on children. For instance, they can quickly become addicted to their screens and can find that social media puts a lot of social pressure on them. But when they are in the middle of studying for an exam, you should limit screen time as much as possible. In fact, it’s often best to take their phones away from them while they are studying so that they aren’t distracted at all.
Create A Study Schedule
Routines are always a good thing, and your child will find that they really benefit from them if they use them to help organize their studies. If they struggle to organize all of their work into an effective schedule, then you might have to sit down with them to help. It’s a good idea to get a weekly planner from passionplanner.com and split up each day into hour-long sections. Block out all of the time your child will be in school or has various social events or hobby groups. Then, take a look at the spare time that hasn’t been allocated to something. You then need to allocate some of this for study periods. It’s also a good idea to allocate each study period a specific subject or topic. That way, you can use the plan to make sure that your child is dedicating equal amounts of time to each subject matter. Don’t block up all of their free time with study periods – they still deserve some spare time for breaks!
Encourage Plenty of Zs
When it comes to studying, it isn’t just about how long your child keeps their head in a book for. You also need to encourage them to get into some healthy habits so that their mind and body is in top condition. That way, they are a lot less likely to suffer from excessive levels of stress while they study. One of the best things you can do is to encourage your child to get plenty of sleep during periods of lots of study. Ideally, they need around eight hours a night. This gives the brain and body a chance to recharge and prepare for the following day of even more studying. Think your child’s sleep pattern could do with some improvements? One of the best things you can do to promote plenty of sleep is to go to mattress-guides.net and find a mattress that will help reduce any back pain. If your child is studying all day at their laptop, they could be suffering from poor posture which will lead to many aches and pains. A good mattress will not only solve these pains, but also help them get more sleep. Don’t forget that their bedroom also needs to be free from distractions such as bright light and loud noises. Blackout blinds and white-noise machines can help eliminate these common distractions.
Buy Useful Resources
It’s also a great idea to try and get some useful resources that your child might be able to utilize in their studies. For instance, you can’t go wrong with a large English dictionary. Even if your child isn’t studying English, this dictionary will help them figure out complicated word meanings and can also improve their spelling. Other necessary resources include scientific calculators, stationary equipment, and printers.
A bit of GCSEmoji revision fun for next week. #mfltwitterati pic.twitter.com/Ns1MA7CyQg
— Chris R (@ChrisMFLTandL) April 15, 2018
Know When To Step Back
Sometimes, it can be all too easy for parents to try and be a bit too involved in their children’s studying and homework. It is perfectly fine to help them, and is even actively encouraged, but at the same time, you shouldn’t help them too much that you make it too easy for them. Don’t do their homework for them! Then they lose the benefit of working through it all themselves. So, it’s always good to know when to step back and let them have a little independence. Once your child gets to a certain age, they should be alright doing most of their homework on their own. However, you should be around just in case they get to a difficult part that they end up stuck on. They will then be able to quickly ask you for some help and advice.
Don’t Forget Breaks
DId you know that it is possible to overstudy? It’s true; studying for long period of time without any breaks has been shown to be very bad for students. First of all, it is bad for their mental health as it means that they will easily get stressed out about all the constant studying. Secondly, it can actually tire out the brain and trying to continue studying with a foggy mind will be very unproductive. There is no way your child will be able to remember what they learn if they are super tired while hitting the books! So, make sure that your child has plenty of breaks in between their work. These don’t always have to be long breaks. Just a ten-minute one while they nip to the kitchen to get a quick drink and snack should be enough after an hour-long study period. The best way to structure breaks is to have a long half-hour one ever morning and afternoon. They can also have shorter five to ten-minute breaks for every hour they work as well.
Think Positively
It is always good to have a positive mental attitude, no matter what you are doing in life. And this is no different when it comes to studying. Try and encourage your child to always view their studying as positively as possible. Even if it isn’t going too well, this positive outlook will make it more bearable for them, and it could even encourage them to try and keep on improving. This should also help to keep their stress levels down to a minimum as well.
Invite Friends For Study Groups
Every child learns and studies differently, and some may prefer to study as a group or in a team. If this sounds like your kid, you might want to let them invite friends round so that they can set up their own study group. This way, they can all help each other out when the going gets tough. Not only that, though, but they can even give one another heaps of encouragement!
These tips should help you improve your child’s study habits. Wish them luck for their exams from me!
