By Stephanie F. Esguerra
Homework and exams
need not be a child’s nightmare. Here are five ways you can help your
preschooler improve his study habits.
 |
| Xin Yi from Wonderful Years Daycare has established her homework habit without prompting. |
As parents, there’s
a lot you can do to help encourage your child to have fun in and outside the
classroom. By treating learning as a fun experience, you can help improve
his study habits.
1. Before you worry about the challenge of your child answering homework and reviewing for exams, it’s important to make sure that he actually pays attention in class and takes important notes. Anything he has to study will largely depend on how much he understands from his classes.
The key here is to help your child stay attuned to what the teacher is explaining, and for him to keep listening attentively. Why not play a game at home by testing and improving your child’s attention span? Read simple stories and ask him certain details that tackle who, what, why, when and where questions so you can gauge just how much he was able to retain and remember. As you read to him, you can also have him write down what he thinks are important points in the story. This will help you see what grabs his attention and what he considers as “note-worthy.”
Turn learning into a fun experience so your child will look forward to school.
2. Create a study routine / schedule.
It’s important to instill in your child the practice and discipline of turning study time into a regular part of his day.
When he gets home, you may want to have him rest first to recharge. Serve him healthy snacks like finger foods or fruits and go through his subjects one at a time.
Pick a good location for his study area. It should be a quiet place with no distractions, and it has to have whatever materials he may need for studying. Get a study chair that’s comfortable enough for him. Brighten up the room by incorporating your child’s personality into it, so he’ll look forward to studying time.
Go through his notes and ask him what he enjoyed learning in class that day. Ask him what his homework is and have him explain it to you first before helping him accomplish it.
As with any study routine or schedule, pace accordingly. Be patient as you guide your child into settling into the study routine or schedule. Make sure you don’t spoonfeed him the answers. Give him time to figure things out on your own. You can provide suggestions to help him arrive at the correct answer. Create fun games to review him on lessons and provide 5-minute breaks every now and then.
1. Before you worry about the challenge of your child answering homework and reviewing for exams, it’s important to make sure that he actually pays attention in class and takes important notes. Anything he has to study will largely depend on how much he understands from his classes.
The key here is to help your child stay attuned to what the teacher is explaining, and for him to keep listening attentively. Why not play a game at home by testing and improving your child’s attention span? Read simple stories and ask him certain details that tackle who, what, why, when and where questions so you can gauge just how much he was able to retain and remember. As you read to him, you can also have him write down what he thinks are important points in the story. This will help you see what grabs his attention and what he considers as “note-worthy.”
Turn learning into a fun experience so your child will look forward to school.
2. Create a study routine / schedule.
It’s important to instill in your child the practice and discipline of turning study time into a regular part of his day.
When he gets home, you may want to have him rest first to recharge. Serve him healthy snacks like finger foods or fruits and go through his subjects one at a time.
Pick a good location for his study area. It should be a quiet place with no distractions, and it has to have whatever materials he may need for studying. Get a study chair that’s comfortable enough for him. Brighten up the room by incorporating your child’s personality into it, so he’ll look forward to studying time.
Go through his notes and ask him what he enjoyed learning in class that day. Ask him what his homework is and have him explain it to you first before helping him accomplish it.
As with any study routine or schedule, pace accordingly. Be patient as you guide your child into settling into the study routine or schedule. Make sure you don’t spoonfeed him the answers. Give him time to figure things out on your own. You can provide suggestions to help him arrive at the correct answer. Create fun games to review him on lessons and provide 5-minute breaks every now and then.
3. Use positive reinforcement.
In line with making study time an enjoyable experience, it’s always better to employ positive reinforcement to encourage good study habits. Whenever your child accomplishes something, make sure to compliment him on his efforts and focus on his strengths rather than on his shortcomings. Tell him that he’s doing a good job, that you know he can keep doing it, and that you’re proud of him.
4. The Internet is your friend.
A study revealed earlier this year that kids learn how to play computer games faster than they can tie their shoelaces. While this may not exactly be a comforting fact, use this skill of your child to get him to learn via helpful websites such asStarfall.com (helps teach pre-reading and reading skills through interactive and kid-friendly games), Fisher-Price.com (has games for preschoolers on counting, reading, colors, etc.), Kids.AOL.com (has games and puzzles to boost your child’s spatial intelligence) and Teacher.Scholastic.com (has games on sorting and classifying of objects). See more preschooler websites here.
Make sure to set aside just a fraction of your child’s study time, say, 30 minutes to an hour, and be firm when sticking to your schedule. You may want to give this time as a reward for your child after he has finished his homework.
5. Help your child with his organizational skills.
Although it has no immediate effect on his study skills, teaching your child how to organize objects at home will give him a better idea on how to organize things associated with studying, such as time. This will also help establish that there is a proper place and time for everything, reinforcing the idea that studying should be a priority and something that takes diligent organizing to perform.
In line with making study time an enjoyable experience, it’s always better to employ positive reinforcement to encourage good study habits. Whenever your child accomplishes something, make sure to compliment him on his efforts and focus on his strengths rather than on his shortcomings. Tell him that he’s doing a good job, that you know he can keep doing it, and that you’re proud of him.
4. The Internet is your friend.
A study revealed earlier this year that kids learn how to play computer games faster than they can tie their shoelaces. While this may not exactly be a comforting fact, use this skill of your child to get him to learn via helpful websites such asStarfall.com (helps teach pre-reading and reading skills through interactive and kid-friendly games), Fisher-Price.com (has games for preschoolers on counting, reading, colors, etc.), Kids.AOL.com (has games and puzzles to boost your child’s spatial intelligence) and Teacher.Scholastic.com (has games on sorting and classifying of objects). See more preschooler websites here.
Make sure to set aside just a fraction of your child’s study time, say, 30 minutes to an hour, and be firm when sticking to your schedule. You may want to give this time as a reward for your child after he has finished his homework.
5. Help your child with his organizational skills.
Although it has no immediate effect on his study skills, teaching your child how to organize objects at home will give him a better idea on how to organize things associated with studying, such as time. This will also help establish that there is a proper place and time for everything, reinforcing the idea that studying should be a priority and something that takes diligent organizing to perform.
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