SolveYourProblem eLearning Series: Learning Disabilities
The Bottom Line On Learning Disabilities
( 50 articles in this series )

Boost Academic Performance:
Changing Schools and Home Habits
   

It is always good to have appropriate habits for your children to follow at home and take with them to school. Make sure your child has plenty of rest. A good nights sleep is key to proper function during the day. Give your child a nutritious breakfast before school and snack after school. Eating healthy not only gives your child’s body the energy it needs to move, but the fuel to think, as well. You will also want to make sure that your child gets plenty of exercise. This will allow them to get rid of anxiety and frustration so they will be better able to concentrate. Children have more energy and need to move around after sitting for long periods of time. It will also help keep their metabolism healthy. Make sure your child’s school allows children to get up to stretch and move other than recess or lunch. This will promote better concentration and boost their academic performance.

Unfortunately, parents don’t have much control over the school system and every teacher runs their class, as they feel fit. But there are things parents can do at home to help their children excel in school and be better learners. Besides feeding your kids well and making sure they get plenty of rest and exercise make sure they do their homework. There is a powerful link between homework and increased academic achievement. The more homework a child does, the better they understand the material and process the information. It teaches kids how to work independently and learn good study habits. They are better able to focus on the task at hand and get things accomplished with a reasonable time. By helping your children do their homework you know what is going on at school and what is expected of them. You will be able to help prepare your child for a test or help answer any questions that might have them stuck.

Having children do homework also helps them to remember and revisit what went on in class that day and prepare for the next. They will be able to talk about what lessons were given and what they are about. That way the parents and children can communicate about what is important. Children also need to realize that work is also expected outside the classroom. Many kids think once out of school they don’t have to think anymore. They need to realize that even adults have to prepare for work the next day. There are valuable lessons to be learned about taking your work home and excelling. It gives children a sense of organization and time management. They need to accomplish their academic goals first to be able to enjoy down and leisure time. As children get older and the work becomes harder, they may not be so eager to want to sit down and do it. Make sure that homework is not a chore or punishment and that the amount of time spent is age appropriate.

For young children from kindergarten to second grade, homework exceeding over 20-30 minutes per day is not effective. Children in this age group have a difficult time sitting still and concentrating for too long. This is especially true when they have been confined all day in a classroom. This amount of time will set the tone for the future. It gives young kids a way to tell their parents what happened at school that day and what would be happening the next day. It is never too early to develop good study habits. Students from third to sixth grade have maximum benefit from 30-60 minutes per day of homework. The focus should be on practicing new skills they have just learned. This will enable them to apply the concepts of learned material and allow for parents and teachers to see any problems a child has with any new lesson. The proper support can then be given so the child can understand the concept and be able to apply it. For junior and high school students there is no true time frame for homework. For some kids it can take many hours. It will depend on the subject and difficulty of the material. At this point kids should be refining skills, making up their own ideas, and feeling more confident when working independently. Homework will set kids up for a better academic and real world future.

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SolveYourProblem.com : 2006

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