Homework can be a battle even for the best of children. No one wants to do work after they have finished for the day, and children are no exception. Despite this, and despite the fact that elementary school homework is usually fairly light, it is important that you fight these battles now. It will help your child learn the strategies that will get them through school and life.
Proper study skills, including organization and discipline, are just as important as the fundamental academic concepts your child is learning. If you don't help your child to learn these skills at home, however, they might never come into them on their own-especially if your child is smart enough to skate by without them.
Create A Routine
When you child begins school, be prepared to create a regular homework routine. Making a place for homework on the regular schedule reinforces the idea that it is a permanent and important part of life. It also nips the idea of procrastination in the bud. Designate a specific space for homework time, one with no distractions, and set your child up in this space every night for an appropriate length of time.
If your child had no homework from school, then use the time for the study of concepts and subjects that your child is having trouble with. Alternatively treat it as a quiet reading time. Make sure homework time happens every night at the same time without fail. This will help your child to establish a habit of doing homework.
Help But Let Your Child Do Their Homework
One of the hardest parts of helping your child with their homework is learning to lead them to answers without simply giving them the answers. It is very easy to answer a question, but it is much harder and more trying to try to inch your child down a foreign path of thought or reasoning. Despite this, you must resist the urge to answer. If you don't, you might as well do the child's work for them. At the same time that you must refrain from answering though, it is important to make yourself available to your child during homework time.
An involved parent is an invaluable learning tool. If your child wants your help then it is important that they have access to it. Staying involved will also help you to know where your child needs improvement and what you can do to help. For example, a child that needs to improve their skills at solving word problems might benefit by being asked to translate every day occurrences into the word problems they struggle with. Ask your child to tell you how many quarters they should get if their allowance is two dollars and then pay them accordingly.
Translating school skills to the practical space of your life will help your child see the connections and succeed. Your involvement can also catch problems with your child's academic endeavors while they are still easily fixed and before they become serious.
Tutoring Can Be A Great Aid
If your child is struggling with a particular subject and extra practice on its own isn't helping, it may be time to consider getting them a tutor. Children of all ages need extra help with their studies. By tackling academic issues now, you'll be able to prevent them from becoming something more serious and difficult to deal with later in your child's life.
There are many tutoring services available out there. Many of these services are online, held over Zoom or another video conferencing platform. Your child will either work one-on-one with a tutor or join a small group of students. Look for a service that hires current or former teachers; these professionals will be the best aid to your child.
You can also opt for an in-person tutor. These are often current students or former teachers. In-person tutors can be cheaper than virtual tutors, so they're often better for more financially-challenged families. Before writing off virtual tutors entirely due to cost, however, check to see if your school district has partnered with an online tutoring company to offer low- or no-cost tutoring to students.
Make sure you do your research before settling on a tutor. Not every tutor is going to be a good fit for every child. Finding a tutor that your child can connect with will help them learn more effectively. It will also help them feel more comfortable in presenting their problems and tackling them.
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