Study Tips

Should I bribe my child for doing homework?

This is one of the critical questions! The answer is YES as well as NO! Bribing is good when it is given in form of rewarding the efforts of the child. For example, getting good grades in exam. There is a limit. Bribing becomes bad when you promise to buy something that is very expensive every time the task is completed. Taking out for a dinner, cooking the favorite food, allowing playing games, movie, etc. are good as long as the children are not overpowered with your academic dreams on them. Don’t force the child to something for expensive reward

The gamey learning

Teaching children a few things may be a little bit difficult. For instance, English grammar, mathematics, etc. Incorporating games and quizzes as a part of learning help children learn easily and quickly.

For instance, to improve vocabulary, you may write the alphabets in bits of paper, roll it and put in a jar. Ask the children to pick one each and make them say maximum number of words that starts with the alphabet they have in the paper.

Education at Home - Don’t rush

This is the first rule for parents to consider when you sit with your child and helping them study at home. Don’t rush and don’t push them to complete the homework quickly. Also, teach your child not to rush while studying. It will not cost anything if you go slow and steady, other than helping the kids understand more on what they study.

Home Schooling / Education at Home

Parents play a great role in performance of children in academics. Educating children at home is essential to groom them well. The role of being a home educator is crucial. The part of educating your child involves part of learning for your child. There are many facts you should consider when you become the home educator. Watch this space for tips on education at home, exclusive for parents.

How to study more effectively - Learning

Effectively, studying doesn’t just include doing home work without fail, memorizing, following the schedule etc. It is more about learning. Scoring 100 per cent marks or good grades in exams without acquiring knowledge may be a mere waste of time and effort. The effort you put in your study should be about learning. Develop desires to learn more, it will increase your knowledge.

How to study more effectively - Get rewards and appraisals

We all need some sort of encouragement and approval to excel in something. Every child can excel in studies if you encourage him/ her. In fact, students can themselves set a reward for completion of task. For instance, having a family dine out or watching a favorite movie. Approval and encouragement in the form of rewards encourage children to study with full concentration and effectiveness.

How to study more effectively – Affirmative Signs in the study area

Having positive signs / sign boards with affirmative and encouraging words will induce the subconscious mind of the kids and increase the learning potential. You may create a few sign boards / charts and hang or paste in the study area. A few examples of such sign boards are given below:
 » I have all resources to be highly successful
 » Everything I do deserves the best result
 » It is simple and easy to learn
 » I CAN

How to study more effectively – Have Proper Study Tools

It isn’t just enough to carry all the school supplies and essentials to school. Children need all of these even at home. Make sure you have everything ready before you start studying, for instance, reference books, markers, books, charts, and also writing essentials. If you are not prepared with all the essentials, in between the process of studying you might have to get off your seat to look for a sketch pencil or a chart to make a diagram, and this, would definitely impact the study. Make sure you have all study tools readily available.

How to study more effectively -Defined Study Area

We have already seen about effective studying. Here comes a different approach to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your study time. Of course, the most important thing is to have a positive and inviting environment. And, as seen above, kids need affirmative signs to improve the effectiveness.

In addition, having a specific and separate study area, which is totally away from normal distractions, automatically improves the effectiveness of the efforts put by the children. The defined study area can be the bed room, balcony, separate study room, or anything that creates a good ambience.

Learning Styles

There is no hard and fast rule to follow while studying. Just because parents like and follow a style of learning, it does not automatically follow that the child also must like and follow the same style. It is not uncommon for many parents to force the child to prefer a style of learning that they love to follow. Instead of imposing your preference, you may work with the child to understand the type of learning he or she needs for good results.

Kinesthetic Learning

Learners who learn things through movements are called kinesthetic learners. This is just like involving deeply into something, scrutinizing, research, etc. They do ask a lot of questions like, ‘how does this happen? Why is the sky blue? Why is sea water salty?’ etc. Such children are simply moved by facts and proofs. If something is not proved or explained to them correctly, they are not able to comprehend or remember it. However, these kinds of learners excel in arts. Unfortunately, those who are extremely kinesthetic, struggle a lot in school with traditional teaching methods.

Visual Learning

Visual learning refers to learning new things just by watching. The kids who are visual learners have great memory power and they simply recall the images they have seen in the past to remember and tell it. The images / visuals are stored in the heads of these children, just like photographs are stored in a CD or a USB drive. They do grab quickly by watching anything and tend to never forget the visuals. Surprisingly, around 40 percent children are visual learners. Mostly, they remember faces.

Auditory Learning

Also called as learning through ears, these are the learners who tend to remember the sounds and audios better than visuals. These learners remember the audio, voice or sounds. However, they do carry a kind of discomfort in reading as they lack visualization. Since these children don’t visualize, they recollect only by remembering the important facts they heard. Auditory learners amaze others just by recalling people with their voice, even after years.

Do an activity to identify the preferred learning style

Ask your children, what comes to their mind when they hear the word, ‘Cat or Dog.’ You can administer the same activity on elders also.

A few people think about the barking sound of dog, which means they are auditory learners.

A few may visualize the picture of the dog, which means they are visual learners. Also, a few may think about the spelling of the animal (in case of adults or grown up children), which may also be categorized under visual learning. Those who think about the sharp teeth of the dog or the soft fur, are the kinesthetic learners.

We have seen three major learning styles. While each child has his or her preferred style, it is not possible to rely completely on one style for learning everything. A combination of all styles of learning is crucial. For instance, it is simply impossible to write everything in exams just by recalling the audios. Manipulation or thorough understanding of subjects will help develop knowledge.

Parent Involvement

According to studies, children of those parents or guardians who are involved significantly in the school education and tend to sort out issues with school are more likely to perform greater than other students. Parental involvement improves the academic performance as well as positive attitude in children.

Parental Involvement – How to get involved

 » First thing, talk with them every day and spend quality time.
 » Appreciate their efforts in spite of their low grades or average performance.
 » Have positive connections with the teachers / parents of your child’s friend.
 » Encourage and educate the kids about the value of education.
 » Pay complete attention to solve all school matters.

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