Developing Good Study Habits
Email 1
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Subject Line: Developing Good Study Habits, Part One
Welcome back!
This month’s Online Parenting Class is focused on helping your child develop good study habits. Paul talked about “studying” in 2 Timothy 2:15, reminding us to “Study to show yourself approved by God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Though Paul was speaking about studying God’s Word, there are principles that can be drawn from this truth that can carry forward into all areas of your child’s life.
However, kids don’t tend to love doing homework or studying, and parents often wrestle with crossing that line of helping to motivate their kids and nagging. Consider the following ideas to avoid homework battles and develop good study habits that will carry with them into adulthood.
First, set some reasonable goals. If your child’s attention runs short, set a timer for, say, twenty minutes. After he or she works for the agreed-upon time, allow them to take a break for five minutes before returning to their studies. Set weekly targets, as well. On a day where your child is not stressed or weighted with other distractions, sit down together and talk about reasonable goals they feel they can meet to set them up for success.
Next, brainstorm an appropriate reward system for completing a week of homework. Together you can create a chart to document progress and meaningful rewards that will motivate your child. Does your child enjoy computer time? Perhaps thirty minutes of computer time would be an agreeable reward. Does he or she like to bake with you? If the child’s goals were met, maybe making cookies with mom is the perfect reward. If your child is social, consider hosting a play date the following week. Make sure to follow through with these rewards—or the whole system will fall apart!
You may even teach your child the verse: “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). Help them to connect this verse with how hard they have worked—to connect their success with their effort.
I am with you in the journey, and am praying for you and your family. Please don’t hesitate to email me if you have questions or concerns as you are working through these Online Parenting Classes.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/200407436/2b84bd5831
Serving you and your family,
Children’s Pastor
Email 2
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Subject Line: Developing Good Study Habits, Part 2
Hello again!
We’ve been talking in this month’s Online Parenting Class about helping your child to develop good study habits.
There are different ways to structure study and homework time, and it will vary depending on your household schedule and your child’s personality and abilities. However, scheduling a routine “work period” for each day of each week, starting from an early age, is important.
Some parents require kids to hunker down and open up their backpacks immediately after school—but this might not work for all (probably most) kids. Keep in mind they’ve been working hard for many hours and a bit of relaxation or play time might be of great benefit. Figure out what works for your child, and then try and be consistent. If it works to do homework from 4:00-5:00 pm every night, make that family “homework” time.
Set aside time on the weekends, too, to finish up studies or projects—which will be likely more of an issue with older children. Help your kids learn to finish their studies in as relaxed a way as possible, rather than at the last minute or late at night.
As your children are exposed to more and more difficult subjects and material, help them learn some effective study strategies. This might include:
• Keeping an agenda with the date the assignment is due
• Breaking up larger projects with “mini-deadlines” to avoid last-minute panic trying to get the assignment done
• Making flash cards
• Studying for tests well before the actual day of the test
• Organizing study groups
• Learning to take organized notes
I hope this month’s Online Parenting Class has given you some tools to help with developing good study habits in your kids. We understand how difficult parenting is, and are ready with resources and advice when you need it. We are praying for you!
Together in Him,
Children’s Pastor
Video Script
Developing Good Study Habits
Remember the days before “Google”, when you had to go find out the answers to questions in a book? Maybe you would even had to ask your mom to drive you to the library? You would go inside, talk to a real live person and they would walk you over to cabinet of little cards with all the names of the books on them. You would then have to go find that book, then look up the information you were seeking… all while fighting off a dinosaur? Okay maybe not that far back, but you get the idea.
Our children are born into a world where the Internet and Google has always been around. Information is easily available to them. A few clicks of a mouse inside their home, and they can find the answers to a question.
Developing good study habits because of the world our children now know may not seem as important as it once did. The physical effort to go and seek out an answer is not the same, but the mental and spiritual effort still is. Your child still needs to develop good study habits.
Proverbs 1:5 says, ” Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance…” Studying and learning is important not just for academic success but spiritual success, also. II Timothy 2:15 in the Modern English Translation, use the word “Study”, when it says “study to show yourself approved by God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” There is a connection. Learning to study academically and study spiritually comes from the same good habits.
Here are few study habits you can help your child develop:
1. Get organized and have a plan. Whether it is a younger child or an older child, getting in the habit of organizing their papers, books or supplies will help them focus as they make a plan. Another great habit is making sure your child has all of the the required supplies before they begin. Whether it is a pencil or a calculator, make sure they get in the practice of thinking ahead and having what they need. Finally, together, come up with a checklist or steps to follow for particular assignments or regular work.
2. Find a regular quiet study spot. Get away from distractions and others so they can focus on what they are reading and studying. Help them decide on a regular daily time to make study time. Even as a family come up with a time each day to be a quiet “study time”. Make sure that electronics are off and there is no background noise. Creating a regular time and spot will help your child stay on task and stay focused.
3. Learn active reading and listening. There are 3 keys to developing the habit of being an active reader or listener. First, active reading and listening is about eye contact, continual contact on the speaker or page. Staying focused on the person or the page.
Second is the practice of avoiding interruption and multitasking. Connected to organization and finding a quiet study stop, active reading and listening is making sure your child works to stay on a single, continual task.
Finally, active study habits involve good note taking and questions. As your child reads or studies, teach them to write down thoughts or questions as they have them. This will engage your child’s mind in what is being learned, while also creating helpful reminders afterward.
Developing good study habits now will translate into good independent study habits in college and later good work habits as adults. Take and make the time to help your child to develop these skills now.
Texts/Tweets
TIP: Choose a hashtag for your tweets and use it consistently. That will tell Twitter to store a list of your tweets on one place for later reference.
Tweet One: All hard word brings a profit. #effort #success
Tweet Two: Set manageable goals for your kids. #effort #success
Tweet Three: Work together to create weekly study goals. #effort #success
Tweet Four: Fight homework battles by breaking homework into smaller chunks. #effort #success
Tweet Five: Meaningful rewards will help motivate your child. #effort #success
Tweet Six: Work hard, study hard, play hard. #effort #success
Tweet Seven: Success results from reaching set goals. #effort #success
Tweet Eight: Learning good study habits young will impact life as an adult.#effort #success
Tweet Nine: Model good study habits to your child.#effort #success
Tweet Ten: Gratefulness is the secret weapon against bitterness. #effort #success