While many students have heard it before, these tips based on the TeensHealth.org article, Staying Focused on Schoolwork, serve as good reminders about how focusing not only helps get the job done, but gets it done well. As we like to say around our house (while hoping we’re not wasting our breath), “You’re going to do it anyway, so you might as well do it right.”

Get organized. Organization makes everything you do easier, focuses your efforts on what’s important, and keeps you from dropping the ball. Expect to try various techniques before finding find a system that works for you.

Plan ahead. Setting and enforcing your own deadlines helps you manage your time and makes it easier to stay focused on the task at hand.

Claim your workspace. A quiet, orderly environment is essential for focusing on schoolwork. Find ways to escape all distractions to get your work finished faster.

Don’t even think about multi-tasking! Studies show that all of us perform poorly on tasks when we try to squeeze-in additional activities such as talking on the phone, listening to music, checking email, texting, and IMing. If you want to absorb knowledge and retain information, do whatever it takes to avoid these temptations. Then give them 100% of your focus when the work is done.

If the hassle of getting organized, planning, and concentrating doesn’t seem worth the effort, it might help to know that students who train themselves to stay focused 1) perform better in school and 2) have more free time than those who allow disorganization and interruption to derail their work.

Preview,
Question,
and four R’s: Read, Reflect, Recite, Review.

If you are reading a chapter in your biology book, for example, you should start by skimming the whole chapter for an overview. Then create some questions to concentrate on while you study, such as “How does photosynthesis work?” Then read the chapter.

After you’ve finished, reflect–think about how the chapter has answered your questions. Recite the answers back to yourself, explaining the information in your own words. Finally, go back through the book, skimming again for the main points.

Sound like a lot of work? It may take longer than a quick skim, but it’s also a great way to make sure you retain what you are reading, rather than just sitting in front of the book and turning pages.

Check out Encarta for more homework memory tricks.

For parents with children ages 6 – 9

• Establish a consistent homework routine at a time that works for your family; stick with it as often as possible. Make sure lighting is bright and the seating is comfortable. Turn off TVs, radios, MP3 players, phones, organizers, and hand-held electronic games to encourage your children’s concentration. Create a nightly electronics-free zone, and unless children need to use a computer for schoolwork, turn it off.
• Sit near your children when they’re doing homework, and do work of your own: write a letter, pay bills, balance your checkbook, or read work-related material. Continue this routine as children grow older.
• Keep all commonly used school supplies in one place, including markers, crayons, pencils, paper, stapler, tape, glue sticks, scissors, and a dictionary. Buy several sheets of posterboard at a time and keep them on hand for periodic school projects. Kids enjoy choosing a variety of poster colors.
• Encourage children who participate in after-school childcare programs to do at least some of their homework there so that you have more family time in the evenings.

While all parents want their children to develop — socially, emotionally, and intellectually — school-imposed assignments on parents are not going to help. Instead, such assignments cut into, or even eliminate, the few cherished evening hours or minutes that parents have with their children — time better spent lingering at the dinner table, for example, engaged in a good conversation.

In fact, unlike homework, there is a strong association between teens who regularly sit down to dinner with their families and academic success. Family dinner also leads to better psychological adjustment and lower rates of alcohol use, drug use, sexual behavior, and suicidal risk. Needless to say, teens’ diets are healthier as well.

Read “Teachers: Don’t Assign Parents Homework.“

For parents with children ages birth to 5

At this age, the best things you can do to support your children’s learning and readiness for school are to read, read, read to them and help them safely discover and explore the world.

Some preschoolers, especially those with older siblings, may be excited by the idea of doing homework. Consider asking a preschool teacher to send home simple worksheets, or make or buy your children age-appropriate workbooks (in bookstores, toy stores, or at the magazine stand). Don’t worry about whether the work is completed; keep it fun and make it part of the game of “school.”

Surprisingly, most parents are very supportive and appreciate the opportunity to be more involved in their teen’s learning. Even the parents who complain think Mr. Frye is one of the best teachers.

Some parents say they like the assignments because they can spark intellectual conversation with teenagers who are normally less than communicative. “Searching for meaning in literary works is like stretching brain-cell-taffy in this household of literal interpretations and men of few words.”

Another parent commented:

“I take it as giving back to the teacher what he is apparently giving to our kids, a lot of attention and a lot of requirements.”

What would it take to get you to do some homework?

• What is the problem you’re working on?
• What do the directions say?
• What words or directions don’t you understand?
• Where do you think you should begin?
• What do you already know that can help you work through the problem?
• Tell me what you’ve done so far.
• Where can we find help in your textbook or notes?
• Are there similar problems to look at?
• Let’s try drawing a picture or making a diagram.
• What did the teacher ask you to do?
• Who can you call to get help?
• Should we tackle this when you’re not so tired?

• Create an appropriate study environment. Many students have a difficult time keeping up with their studies merely because they feel frustrated and uncomfortable when they sit down to begin them. You must be in an environment that allows for full concentration.
• Take good notes (and pay attention in class). Class time is when much of learning takes place. Paying attention in class familiarizes you with the material, and taking notes firms it up until further studying solidifies it.
• Develop effective memorization methods. Learn when to make lists, use flash cards, and create other memory tools.
• Focus on the areas that need the most attention. Many students feel that any time studying counts as real studying, but studying is less effective if you do not target the areas that need study.
• Work in groups, but only when everyone is focused on studying.
• Practice essay writing.

• Create an environment that is conducive to doing homework. Youngsters need a permanent work space in their bedroom or another part of the home that offers privacy.
• Set aside ample time for homework.
• Establish a household rule that the TV set stays off during homework time.
• Be available to answer questions and offer assistance, but never do a child’s homework for her.
• To help alleviate eye fatigue, neck fatigue and brain fatigue while studying, it’s recommended that youngsters close the books for 10 minutes every hour and go do something else.
• If your child is struggling with a particular subject, and you aren’t able to help her yourself, a tutor can be a good solution. Talk it over with your child’s teacher first.

It can wreck marriages and destroy family life, and it’s more burdensome than travel soccer, football practice, or the Boy Scouts: It’s the school project.

Ask a bunch of mothers how they spent their week, and they will tell you that they built the Parthenon with sugar cubes, the Pyramids from milk cartons, and Mount Olympus using Cocoa Puffs.

1. Use checklists.? Use checklists to post assignments, household chores, and reminders about what materials to bring to class.
2. Organize homework assignments. ?Before beginning a homework session, encourage your child to number assignments in the order in which they should be done.
3. Designate a study space.? Your child should study in the same place every night.
4. Set a designated study time.? The best time is usually not right after school — most children benefit from time to unwind first. Include your child in making this decision.
5. Keep organized notebooks.? Help your child keep track of papers by organizing them in a binder or notebook.
6. Conduct a weekly cleanup.? Encourage your child to sort through book bags and notebooks on a weekly basis.
7. Create a household schedule.? Try to establish and stick to a regular dinnertime and a regular bedtime.
8. Keep a master calendar.? Note dates when your child has big exams or due dates for projects.
9. Prepare for the day ahead. Cut down on morning confusion and allow your child to prepare quickly for the day ahead.
10. Provide needed support while your child is learning to become more organized.? Help your child develop organizational skills by photocopying checklists and schedules and taping them to the refrigerator. Gently remind her about filling in calendar dates and keeping papers and materials organized. Most important, set a good example.

• Read the textbook, assigned or not. Take thorough notes on reading and lectures, go over them, rewrite/type them if you need more review, and have a highlighter system.
• Make flashcards. Even if you don’t use them, writing them out helps a LOT and they’re a quick way to review/test yourself.
• Do your homework. And do extra problems/questions, if that helps.
• Be engaged in class. Participate in discussions, and try to get yourself interested in what’s going on.
• Even if there aren’t discussions in class, discuss things with people. Try classmates, friends, your parents….
• Get a tutor if you need one, or ask your teacher for help.
• Understand how you’re graded.
• Read. Just read a lot in general – this improves your writing SO much. Also, learn to diagram sentences. Even if you have all the facts write, (hopefully) you’re also graded on how you write, so you want to write well.
• Aside from the obvious “listen/do your work,” become interested in what you’re learning. Build rapport with your teachers, drink lots of coffee, and create mnemonics for everything. Confidence/outlook definitely plays a huge role…if other people think that you’re smart, you’ll feel the pressure and rise to the occasion, etc.

Parents’ and students’ responses indicate that they are both struggling to adjust to the demands of the middle school workload, which is both heavier and more varied than typical grade school assignments:

• Two-thirds of parents (66 percent) say that their middle school student seeks the parent’s help with homework.
• More than one-half of middle school students (57 percent) and their parents (59 percent) report that parents spend at least one hour a night helping them with homework.
• Parents also report helping their middle school students with homework almost two and one-half nights a week on average.

Look familiar to you too? There are a number of things the NEA says you can do to help – what they call “bridging the great homework divide.” These include:

• Be prepared . Assume your children will have studying to do every night and work with them to create a comfortable, distraction-free homework zone.
• Understand teachers’ policies and expectations . Encourage your children to ask their teachers questions, reminding them that an in-person visit before or after school is often most effective.
• Be available and teach by example . Check in with your children while they work, offering to be a sounding board or source of advice. Help them cope with feelings of failure or frustration.
• Identify other resources . Encourage your children to find homework buddies, and do not hesitate to line up extra support if needed.
• Stay in touch with your children’s teachers . If teachers have access to e-mail, it can be an effective way to maintain regular contact in addition to telephone calls and in-person visits.
• Inspire learning outside school . Nurture your children’s personal interests, perhaps finding activities that parallel what they’re studying in school, thus fostering their enthusiasm for learning as a life-long endeavor.

A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says free and unstructured play is healthy and – in fact – essential for helping children reach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient.

At TeamUP! Tutors, we’ve long counseled parents of pre-schoolers to send their children outside to play rather than gain an early advantage in reading and arithmetic. At the same time, home tutoring is a way to relieve some structure and, for many children, is a way to avoid some of the stress of homework.

• Write down homework and test dates as soon as your teacher assigns them.
• Divide long-term projects into small, manageable daily tasks.
• Review your planner before leaving class to confirm all assignments are included.
• Look at your planner while doing homework to be sure you’re on track.
• Check that all assignments are marked as complete at the end of each day.
• Put finished work neatly into a binder or folder to return to school.