Study Habits to Adopt

Study Habits, and developing good ones, is paramount to your child's success. A recent study in Australia has found that developing good study skills and eating a good balanced breakfast alone can improve your child's concentration by 30%.

Some primary schools have now changed their timetables to incorporate a later recess break to accommodate the best use of time for children's alertness. A good breakfast is paramount for their concentration.



Another study found that doing homework in the morning before school brings better results than trying to get them to concentrate after school.

As a mother, I found this approach worked for me. I found it extremely frustrating to get the kids to settle down after school when they were hungry and tired and just needed chill out time.

Changing their schedule to doing their homework in the morning after breakfast meant that they retained what they were learning much better and passed those all important tests which were set by the school, "in the morning."

Try changing to doing homework in the morning and let me know the results.
Goal Setting And Children

Many people do not realize the importance of teaching goal setting skills to their children. Goal setting and children are a good mix. Children by nature want to learn and do well. They need direction. Teaching goal setting skills to your children will help them become focused and productive individuals.

How are goal setting and children compatible? Children, like the rest of us, like to feel that they accomplish the tasks they set out to do. Children have projects, homework, sports, and community activities. This can become overwhelming to them. This can translate into that familiar saying "…I hate that activity…" Chances are they do not hate it, it is more likely that they are frustrated with it and the other things in their lives. Enter goal setting. Project due in 3 weeks. Setup a chart. Break it down into smaller pieces requiring work to be done on it everyday. Give them small rewards for keeping on track. Having trouble with sports? Set a goal to work for 5 minutes extra each day on the skill that needs the most improvement. This type of goal setting gives them control over their environment. This is what we all desire.

Goal setting and children becomes even more important as your child reaches middle school. They are going to need to acquire the skills to keep track of all of the homework, projects, and activities. Without some type of planner they will quickly become lost and their grades will reflect that. The main goals your middle school child has are:



1) Stay organized at school and home. A messy room and locker will continually sabotage their efforts to get things done on time. Papers will be lost, efforts will be duplicated, the child will become frustrated.

2) Keep a daily planner and write down all assignments and their due dates. Color code each class.

3) Keep track of all other activities and their times. Find a way to post everyone's schedule in a highly visible location. This way conflicts are avoided.Teach your children five the steps to success: know what you want, have a plan, take consistent action, review your progress, renew your goals.

By the time they reach high school, goal setting and children is actually a misnomer. It should be goal setting and the young adult. High schoolers are not children anymore. They still need our guidance and direction, just not as much. Give them the tools they need, instill in them the 5 steps to success and watch them soar with the eagles.

Here is a great article by Michael Grose, a parenting expert with some great advice. Study Smarter Not Harder



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