Guidance - Tips for School
Please click on the following links for homework hassle suggestions, how to help your child develop good homework and time management skills, homework checklist, and test taking tips.
Homework Hassels?
What can you do at home?
- Explain why homework is important.
- Establish a daily homework time.
- Set up a study area for your child that has all the supplies he / she will need to do homework.
- Keep in touch with your child’s teacher.
- Give support and encouragement for your child’s efforts.
When is it time to contact the teacher?
- When your child consistently has trouble doing the homework assignments.
- When your child consistently does not bring homework home.
- When your child tells you he / she never has homework.
- When your child says he/ she always finishes homework at school.
How do I help my child develop good homework and time management skills?
Help your child select one place in your home to study. This special spot should:
- Be relatively quiet.
- Have good lighting.
- Include a table and comfortable chair.
- Include homework basket with all necessary supplies and any special materials your child may need.
Review the assignment with your child:
- Number the different things your child is asked to do. Highlight the important or direction words.
- Have your child retell the directions.
- Have your child begin with the most challenging task and work towards the simplest.
Help your child select a time to study:
- Decide at what time of day your child studies best.
- Keep a calendar of all club meetings, sports events, extracurricular classes, etc.
- Develop a schedule that includes daily study time.
Help your child believe that he or she is capable of doing the assignments or knows where to get help if needed.
- Give clear directions.
- Let you child ask questions.
- Think positively.
- Supply encouragement.
- Allow for frequent breaks.
- Check work for accuracy intermittently.
Homework checklist for parents
- Homework time should be observed each day whether there is written homework due or not. A routine of sitting down and studying must be established.
- Be there to remind, support, encourage, and congratulate your child.
- Allow natural consequences to occur due to your child’s failure to complete homework during “homework time” ( ex., having to do homework during “TV time”, having to get up early to do homework…) but NOT take a failing grade.
- If you feel that your child is being assigned too much homework, talk with the teacher bout your concerns. Modifications may need to be made.
- Arrange to pick up your child’s homework each day if he / she has difficulty “remembering” to bring it home. Reward when it does come home. Consider borrowing or purchasing school books.
- Homework should be a form of “practice” for what your child has already been taught in school. You should not have to teach your child how to work each problem or activity. Talk with your child’s teacher if this is a problem.
- If your child cannot be successful completing homework at home, speak to the teachers about providing time at school for homework completion.
How do I help with test taking?
Help your child reinforce learning.
- Make it easier for your child to remember what we learned by having him or her say it, hear it, and / or write it. A lesson can be recited, taped and played for review.
- Help your child turn statements from notes and texts into questions.
- Help your child remember by drawing pictures and icons, making up mnemonics (memory devices, etc.).
Help your child manage study time.
- Help your child set study goals. For example, ask your child to study until he or she learns 15 spelling words or can locate 5 state capitals on a map – the more specific the goals, the better.
- Plan a short break during studying. Encourage your child to participate in a physical activity such as shooting baskets or jumping rope.
- Avoid last-minute cramming by encouraging your child to review notes daily.
If you feel comfortable with the material being studies, the following suggestions might help your child prepare for a test:
- Survey the chapter with your child to get an overview of the materials covered. ( To survey pay close attention to subheadings and note the meaning of words in special print. )
- Discuss any questions at the end of the chapter with your child.
- Review class notes with your child.
- Assist your child in relating his or her life now, in the past, or in the future with material covered.
- Encourage your child. Give praise for things done well. If they feel good about themselves, children will do their best. Children who are afraid of failing are more likely to become anxious when taking tests and more likely to make mistakes.
- Don’t judge a child on the basis of a single test score. Test scores are not perfect measures of what a child can do. Remember that one test is simply on test.
- Make sure that your child is well-rested on school days, especially the day of a test. Children who are tired are less able to pay attention in class or to handle the demands of a test.
(Taken from the Center for Promoting Family Learning and Involvement)