How young is to young for study skills?

Homework is dreadful term among students but in actuality teaching children early on good homework habits may be the most influential lesson they will ever learn.  Despite popular belief among children, homework is not a useless torturing device.  

In fact, homework sharpens organization skills and encourages the self- discipline that is needed to work independently which carries throughout life.  Children need the tools and support from schools, teachers and parents to succeed in learning and absorbing materials.

Two resources to help parents with homework battles are “Helping Children With Homework” (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy866) and the helpful online guide offered by the U.S Depart of Eduction, “Let’s Do Homework.”

Homework can start as early as kindergarten.  Children love to learn, they absorb every thing that happens from playing, listening and watching the behaviors or children and adults around them.  What adults need to realize is that children need the freedom to make mistakes, ask questions and work on their weaknesses without feeling embarrassed, belittled or ashamed.  Mistakes are the learning tools for our future.

When a child is not able to concentrate or learn there is an emotional barrier that is frustrating for both the child, teacher and parent.

• Listen, Listen, Listen.  Open your ears and listen to what your children are struggling with in order to help them conquer the emotional block that prevents progress.

Schools are experiencing larger class sizes and less teachers.  They are not set up to help children with the stresses that prevent them from learning and keeping up with the rest of the class.  It is natural for children to crave one on one attention in order to learn, the idea of twenty children all competing for one teachers attention is the unnatural aspect of learning in school.  

At Kumon we strive to identify the origin of learning frustrations and give the one on one attention that children need to get over the learning bumps and feel confident in raising hands, showing math problems and participating in the classroom.

When you went to school how many students were in your classroom?

The effects of a great book!

Summer reading may be over but reading throughout the school year has more than just good grades  associated with it.  Research shows that an immersive read, regardless of the type of book, can result in an immediate mental insight boost.

How could that be?

1)   As you picture the scenes from each chapter your visualization skills sharpen.

2)   A workout for your brain as memory and focus come together to organize the incoming details as you read.

3)  Critical thinking heightens as you begin evaluating what your are absorbing from the content.

Individuals who read books that engage their minds regularly reap the long term benefits such as,

feeling more compassionate and empathetic within one month.  Having your children read opens their minds to different views, opinions, experiences and places that help them put themselves in other people’s shoes to 

see other aspects of life.

3) Want to be 52% less likely to develop cognitive impairment?  According to a study in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, a theory for this statistic is that reading activates the neural pathways that lessen with age.

Reading each night with children encourages reading habits that last long after the dismissal bell.  

For great reads go to www.goodreads.com or http://childrensbooks.about.com/