Promoting Effective Study Habits In Your Child

“When will I ever need to know this?”

Many of us remember sitting in a classroom and wondering when we might ever need to know pre-calculus, the organelles of a cell, the factors leading to the industrial revolution, or any of a number of seemingly niche lessons taught in elementary and high school. The primary benefit of these educational experiences, however, was not what we learned but rather learning how to learn. 

Long after students forget for Pythagorean theorem or how to calculate the area of a cylinder, the study strategies used to approach these lessons will remain. Unfortunately, most of us are not born knowing how to successfully learn in school, and strategies that work for one student may not work for another. Helping a child to develop individual learning and study strategies can be one of the most impactful gifts a parent, guardian, or educator can give a child. Here are some tips on how to promote lasting and effective study strategies in your child:

1. Help your child understand their strengths and weaknesses.
 
All children have strengths and weaknesses, and these qualities often influence how a child feels about certain subjects or activities. Help your child identify and label their strengths and specific weaknesses. For example, a child with motor weaknesses may believe they “hate” writing because they have been required to handwrite or type assignments. Their motor weaknesses may be so frustrating that they prevent your child from recognizing their strong language skills. However, if these motor weaknesses are properly identified, and your child is permitted to use appropriate talk-to-text technology, their true talents can finally shine. A child who can identify and name their weaknesses will be more likely to problem solve and compensate for that weakness rather than misattribute or overgeneralize that weakness and give up entirely.
 
2. Teach your child to recognize and minimize distractions in their environment before they begin working. 
    
Teach your child to proactively identify things in their environment that might prevent them from engaging in their work. You may start by asking them to look around their space and point out the most tempting distractions. You can also ask your child to think about what got in their way during previous attempts to work. As your child beings working, ask them to notice and write down or point out items in their environment that pull their focus. If your child has difficulty doing this, you might offer your own observations. 
 
Rather than removing these distractors yourself, encourage your child to use their problem-solving skills to develop their own plan for minimizing distractions. For example, if their cell phone is distracting, is it enough to turn the phone off, or should they remove the phone from their environment entirely? If a distractor cannot be removed, how else can they adapt? Allow your child to try different strategies and help them track what worked and what could be improved upon.

3. Help your child create a designated “Study Spot.”

Children often benefit from having specific area in the home as their “Study Spot” that is only used for homework and studying. For many, having a specific set of supplies (like pens, pencils, rulers, etc.) that are used only for homework can also be helpful. By keeping the Study Spot and its contents consistent, your child’s brain will learn to associate that environment with study time, easing the transition into working mode.
 
Help your child create a Study Spots with as many of the following characteristics as possible:

• A quiet space away from frequent foot traffic, outside noise, and tempting distractors (e.g., television, snack food, family pets).
• Unless precluded by physical limitations, children should always work at a desk/table while seated in a chair rather than on their bed or a couch.
• Try to make the Study Spot as comfortable as possible. Consider investing in a comfortable chair, sturdy desk, and adequate lighting.

4. Teach your child to make check-lists.

Making check-lists can help a child learn to plan ahead, prioritize activities, and track their own progress. Before starting a project or activity, ask your child to think about all the necessary parts of the upcoming task and write them down in the order in which they want to complete them. The act of checking-off completed tasks is often rewarding in and of itself and can help foster a sense of achievement, even before the ultimate goal has been completed. If your child is having a hard time motivating themselves to get started, ask them to just commit to the first item; often, the sense of accomplishment from successfully completing one task can be enough to encourage continued engagement.

5. Teach your child cognitive pacing techniques.
 
Children and adolescents naturally have a shorter attention span than adults, and their brains do not have the ability to sit and focus for long periods of time. Teach your child to set themselves up for success by scheduling regular attention breaks throughout their work time. A common technique is the “Pomodoro” approach:

• Set a timer for 15-30 minutes (or adjust the timer to your child’s attention span) and encourage your child to work hard during that time. Many children benefit from having a visual timer so that they always know how much time is remaining.
• When the timer goes off, take a 5-minute break to do something relaxing/a preferred activity. Importantly, your child should take this break even if they do not feel as though they need it; the intention is for your child to rest before they become fatigued, so that their brain can ultimately engage for longer periods of time.
• Repeat this sequence two to three times, then allow your child to take a longer break (30-minutes to 40-minutes) as a reward.
• Adjust these suggested times to match their attention span and age expectations.

6. Help your child learn to manage their frustration.

To help your child improve frustration tolerance and re-engage when they become frustrated by their work, help them to develop a coping plan. When your child begins to feel overwhelmed, take them through the following steps:

• Identify the problem (What is the problem and how can it be addressed?)
• What are my emotions? (Help your child label their emotions)
• Engage in a brief relaxation or soothing technique (e.g., deep breathing, taking a short walk, drink of water, etc.)
• What are signs that my brain is ready to try again? (Help your child identify feelings of calm)
• Help your child develop a clear and concrete plan of attack
• Work together to implement that plan, especially if your child is hesitant to try the frustrating task again