study tips Archives - Dad of Divas

Back to School: Start now to prepare kids for academic success

July 24, 2012 by dadofdivas 38 Comments

Back to School

Start now to prepare kids for academic success

By Rick and Teena Kamal

School will be starting again before you know it, and kids who struggle academically need help learning life skills they need to overcome test anxiety and make good grades in the new school year.

It’s a well-known fact that students lose an average of two months’ worth of instruction over the summer, forcing teachers to spend the first few weeks or more of the school year remediating instead of introducing new concepts. Luckily, staying sharp academically during the summer months doesn’t have to be a grueling process.

Here are some pointers for parents to help kids return to school ready to make great grades:

Reach Out to Your Child’s Teacher(s): Find out which skills are necessary for your child to have in order to succeed academically in the coming year. The teacher may also be able to give you insight into which areas your child needs to work on in order to be proficient in the next grade level. You might also ask your child’s teacher to point you in the direction of useful resources and possibly summer enrichment activities and programs to enhance your summer learning efforts.

Keep Kids Reading: Encourage your child to read at least an hour each day by offering him reading materials directly related to his interests and appropriate for his reading level. Engage kids in activities such as summer reading programs for young children at the library These programs often feature crafts, puppets, singing, and other such activities that help your child associate reading with having fun.

Teach Kids to Prioritize. It sounds simple, but kids don’t naturally know how to set priorities and goals and this key skill is often overlooked in school:

Define goals, especially short-term goals to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed. For instance, you may not know where to begin when it comes to achieving the long-term goal of increasing your overall academic success, but you likely know exactly what to do to increase your grade in math class.
Make a plan including all of the ways to accomplish the goal.
Create a daily task list to break up tasks into smaller, more doable steps (it might include items such as completing an assignment, studying for 30 minutes, or asking a teacher for extra help.)

Teach Kids to Manage Time Effectively. Basic time-management skills include taking small steps to reduce the need for cramming for exams. Teaching kids how taking a little time each day to study for a major test or project can save them from getting stressed out later.

Eliminate Distractions. Help your student make a list of time-wasters that can eat away productivity such as watching TV (keep the TV off during study hours). If your student is bombarded with phone calls, text messages, or emails teach them to turn off their phone and close their email when studying.

Identify Sources of Unnecessary Stress. Help kids identify and get rid of sources of stress such as extracurricular activities that interfere with their schoolwork. Teach them to manage stress through regular exercise, adequate sleep and nutritious foods.

Students who learn to study strategically can actually decrease the amount of time they spend studying while simultaneously improving their GPA. It’s all about making the most of each moment of study sessions by using efficient and effective study strategies.

About Rick and Teena Kamal: Award-winning study and life skills experts Rick and Teena Kamal founded EduNova to prepare students to lead and thrive in the global economy. They worked with 33 top university education experts and many successful senior executives to produce resources that empower middle school, high school and college students to succeed. Edunova’s The Most Complete Student Success System (MCS³) has won three awards from distinguished parental review organizations: Parent Tested Parent Approved™, Mom’s Choice Award®, and Mom’s Best Award. Learn more at www.HowToStudyBest.com.

10 Sure-Fire Tips to Help Your Elementary Schooler Study

May 4, 2011 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

10 Sure-Fire Tips to Help Your Elementary Schooler Study

By Ann K. Dolin, M.Ed.

Helping your child study effectively for tests is vitally important in the elementary years. When the groundwork for good habits is set early on, students are more likely to experience success and have increased motivation. You can make a difference in your child’s academic performance now and in the future by trying some of the following tips.

Studying for Math
1. Use a Dry Erase Board

To practice for an upcoming test, write a few math problems on a small dry erase board. Kids love using dry erase boards and many prefer them over traditional pencil and paper. Try out different color markers; color increases attention, so don’t be afraid to use bold hues.

2. Play Beat the Clock

Print out math facts that need to be memorized for an upcoming test from websites such as www.math-worksheets-generator.com or www.superkids.com. These sites allow you to select specific areas to concentrate on such as multiplying with fours or addition of twos. Practicing one fact pattern at a time leads to quicker mastery. Jot down the time it takes your child to work through the page. During the next practice session, set the timer for that amount of time and say, “I bet you can’t beat the clock!” Keep decreasing the time as your child progresses.

Practicing for Spelling Tests
3. Try Rainbow Writing

Kids love Rainbow Writing for spelling words. Instead of writing the words over and over to practice, they trace the words with two or three different colored pencils. Using color helps kids to remember their spelling words on test day and this method is far more fun and interesting.

4. Play the Piano

Often, when children learn with a hands-on approach, they are better able to lodge the information into long-term storage. Instead of asking your child to spell out loud, tell them to play the words on the piano — not a real piano, but to pretend his fingers are the piano keys. For example, one difficult word for kids to spell is “because”. Have your child tap his right pinky on the table and say “b”, then tap his right ring finger, and say “e”, and so on. Encourage him to pause between syllables so that it sounds like “b-e-/ c-a-u-s-e”.

5. Make Up Silly Sentences

Sometimes, common sight words don’t follow phonetic patterns. The word “friend” is one such example. Teach your child a silly sentence such as “Fri your friend to the end” to teach these tricky words.

Preparing for Science and Social Studies
child stressed about homework

6. Utilize Acronyms

Researchers have found that using acronyms can help students improve their memory skills by connecting to-be-learned information to what the learner already knows. One common memory aide is HOMES, which is an acronym for the Great Lakes — Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. This strategy is flexible; it can be used with virtually any type of rote memorization. Once students are shown how to use this technique, they come up with all kinds of catchy acronyms to make retention easier.

7. Let Your Child Hold the Cards

If your child has flashcards that he needs to study, let him hold the cards and quiz you. Studies show that merely allowing the student to hold the cards and take on the role of the teacher increases time on task and retention of information.

8. Draw a Picture

Another easy way for a student to increase memory when using flashcards is to add a picture. By simply drawing a picture next to the to-be-learned term, the student is creating a mental image in his mind’s eye, which triggers the definition. For example, if the vocabulary word is “docile”, his drawing might be of his dog, who is good natured and easy to train.

9. Try Out a 3×5 Card

Encourage the use of a 3×5 card so that your child can quiz himself and review independently. When your child has a study guide or an old quiz from which to study, he should read the question, cover the answer with a 3×5 card, and try to recite the correct response. If he gets it right, he checks it off and goes to the next one. If it’s wrong, he practices a few more times until the information is down pat.

And Most Importantly...

10. Plan Ahead

Breaking down study time over a few days is far better and a lot less stressful than studying the night before. When your child has an upcoming test, help him break the study time into increments. Have him write these simple tasks in his planner or on your family calendar. For example, if there’s a science test on Friday, he may jot down “practice flashcards” on Wednesday and “review study guide” on Thursday.

By teaching valuable study skills now, your child will be able to reap the benefits of better grades, a deeper understanding of the material, and increased confidence.

Ann K. Dolin, M.Ed., is the founder and president of Educational Connections, Inc., a comprehensive provider of educational services in Fairfax, VA and Bethesda, MD. In her award winning book, Homework Made Simple: Tips, Tools and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework, Dolin offers proven solutions to help the six key types of students who struggle with homework. Learn more at anndolin.com or ectutoring.com.

Crushing the "Rushing" Through Homework

September 24, 2010 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Breaking Bad Homework Habits: Crushing the “Rushing” Through Homework

by Ann K. Dolin, M.Ed.

“My kid always rushes through her homework!” I hear this complaint from many parents. As adults, it’s difficult for us to understand why our children can’t slow Girl & Books.jpg down, take time to focus, and check their work. Rushing is not a serious issue if your child only occasionally races through homework because she has “better things to do.” Rushing only becomes a problem when your child can’t slow down, seems unmotivated to do well, and often turns in work that is inaccurate and contains careless errors. For this type of student, rushing is frequently a daily habit.

I’m a big proponent of establishing a Dedicated Homework Time, otherwise known as DHT. It’s a scheduled block of time each weekday that is dedicated to homework, whether the student says she has it or not. DHT helps break the rushing habit. Regardless of how quickly your child finishes homework, the entire DHT should be dedicated to academically related tasks. If she finishes before the DHT is up, she can study for a test, work on a long-term project, organize her notebook, or read.

The general rule of thumb is that the total time spent doing homework should be equivalent to 10 minutes per grade level. For example, a third grader’s DHT should be 30 minutes; 4th graders should complete 40 minutes and so on. Once 7th and 8th grade rolls around, I recommend an hour. Students in grades 9 – 12 benefit from 90 minutes of DHT. I’ve found that for many parents struggling with the homework issue, implementing DHT is th Man_Boy_ Studytime.jpg e best place to start. The question then becomes, “How do I do it?”

To establish a Designated Homework Time, sit down with your child and discuss why you’re implementing this new concept. It’s best to have this discussion either at the beginning of a month, a new school week, or a new grading period. At this time, you may say, “I know homework has become stressful for both of us. Let’s try this for the next month,” or “Let’s start this quarter off on a positive note.”

A common question regarding DHT is “What do you do if there’s no homework assigned?” It’s been my experience that there is almost always something to do. Ask your child to do a binder check. She’ll probably find assignments she forgot about or is putting off. If there is really no homework, consider the following options:

For younger children:

Begin to work on an upcoming book report or project.

Learn to keyboard if handwriting is consistently difficult to read. Try Type to Learn software to teach or improve typing skills.

Drill math facts on an educational website or computer software. Some great websites are www.funbrain.com and www.multiplication.com.

Simply read a required book or choose one for pleasure.

For Older Children

Plan ahead. Use this time to record long-term projects along with incremental due dates.
Work on anything that’s not due the next day. All incremental deadlines have associated work. Getting ahead during the DHT is one of the best uses of time.
Study for an upcoming test. Review old tests and quizzes or create a study guide similar to what may be on the test.

I recently worked with a bright, warm, and engaging sixth grade girl named Gianna. Gianna’s parents reported that their daughter would do the least amount of work necessary to get by and often proclaimed that she was finished in less than 15 minutes. Before they turned around, she was out the door, hanging out with the kids in the neighborhood. When there was no one in sight, Gianna was quick to jump on the computer and begin instant messaging with her friends. I recommended that a full 60 minutes be carved out of Gianna’s schedule for DHT. Her parents agreed and were more than happy to add this to their schedule since homework time had become such a battle.

DHT worked wonders for Gianna’s situation. She and her parents no longer argued about the minimal amount of time she spent on homework. In fact, Gianna’s grades improved because she was turning in better quality homework. However, her parents encountered one common problem. On some days, Gianna did not have much Study Time Signboard homework. When this occurred, they felt like they were constantly repeating the same ideas over and over. So, with Gianna, they created and posted a DHT menu on the family bulletin board. It contained a list of activities available to Gianna when she had no homework left to do.

Establishing Designated Homework Time and a DHT menu helped Gianna to complete her work independently. When her 60 minutes of DHT was up, one of her parents asked to see her completed work. They did not check every answer but they made sure the work was generally correct and more importantly, completed.

Establishing DHT is an easy and highly effective solution to homework woes. You may find that your child is resistant to her new found schedule at first, but stick with it. It truly does take 21 days to change a habit. In just three weeks, your child will adjust, and the precious after-school hours will be a whole lot less stressful.

Ann K. Dolin, M.Ed., is the founder and president of Educational Connections, Inc., a comprehensive provider of educational services in Fairfax, VA and Bethesda, MD. In her new book, Homework Made Simple: Tips, Tools and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework, Dolin offers proven solutions to help the six key types of students who struggle with homework. Numerous examples and easy-to-implement, fun tips will help make homework less of a chore for the whole family. Learn more at anndolin.com or ectutoring.com.