As the school year gets into gear, long days at the beach are turning into late nights at a desk. You can help your child battle these nerves and start the new year with confidence by using the homework strategies detailed below.

1. Use an assignment book. Many students think they can remember all of their assignments without writing them down. Yet as they move through school and the quantity of assignments increase, accurately remembering their requirements becomes increasingly hard to do. Inevitably, books are left at school, homework is incomplete, and assignments are forgotten.‎ To avoid these hiccups, encourage your child to write down and organize his assignments using this homework management strategy:

Purchase an assignment book for your child with ample space for each day.  Have him divide each day into five columns: The first should be labeled “Assignments” and should be given the most amount of space. The next four columns should be labeled “ET” (for Estimated Time), “AT” (for Actual Time”), “O” (for Order), and “D” (for Done). At school, your child should only write down assignments in the first column (“Assignments”). When he comes home and begins his work, he should first decide how much time he thinks each assignment will take, and write the ET. Based on those times, he should decide on the order in which he wants to complete the assignments, and number them in the O column. After completing each one, he should fill in the AT, and when the assignment is done and put away in the right place to be turned in, he should place a check mark in the D column.

2. Pick a regular homework time. Some students prefer completing their homework right after school, when they are still in “work mode” and can carry over the momentum from school. ‎Others prefer a short snack break, while some thrive on the post-dinner energy surge. Any of those options work, but consistency is key. Your child should pick a time of day for doing homework and stick with it regularly.  If she has after school classes or activities on certain days, sit down with her and come up with specific time slots for completing homework. Have her write those slots into her planner so they are built into her day.

3. Have a designated homework space. Along with a consistent time of day for doing school work, it is important for students to have a designated homework spot. Ideally, this should be a desk in your child’s bedroom, but a table in the kitchen or another room can work as well. If he plans to use a desk, make sure all of the supplies he may need for completing his work are on his desk–pencils, pens, tape, scissors, a ruler, protractor, etc. If he plans to work on a table in another room, create a “homework supplies box” with all of the necessary supplies that he can keep in his room but bring to his homework spot when he is ready to start his work. Just make sure the supplies are always well stocked to avoid any distractions.

4. Implement a filing system. We all know students who continuously overload their binders with papers from school until the sheets literally start to spew out in all directions. ‎Help your child avoid this organizational fiasco with a three-tier organizational system, structured as follows: Tier 1 is a working notebook, or the notebook your child takes with her to school on a regular basis. Tier 2 is an accordion file that she leaves at home for filing, divided into three sections per class – homework, notes, and tests/quizzes (ex. math homework, math notes, math tests/quizzes, etc). She should designate one day per week to be her “clean out my working notebook” day, where she removes any papers she doesn’t absolutely need to be carrying with her to school, and files them into the appropriate section of her acoordion file. Tier 3 is a long-term filing cabinet, where she files away any tests, essays, or projects that she wants to keep for the long-run.

5. Take “fun breaks.” The idea of completing several homework assignments and studying for multiple exams in one night can be daunting for many students. Help your child feel less overwhelmed and more empowered by building in “fun breaks” after every 30-45 minutes of work (or whatever time increment works for your child). During these breaks, your child can eat a quick snack, go for a walk, check her email, or the like. It should be short (about 5-10 minutes) but refreshing.

The post Homework Strategies For Kick-Starting The School Year appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Does your child ever come home from school and complain that he has too much homework, has no idea how to complete the work, or has no homework at all? Kids invent all kinds of excuses to avoid sitting down and doing their homework. Some lack the academic abilities to complete their work independently. Others, however, simply need to learn effective homework strategies. By learning specific tools for time management, organization, and general homework skills, students will be well on their way toward homework success.

Time Management

Time management is one of the underlying components of effective homework skills. When students sit down to work on their assignments, they may feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks they need to complete. They may not know which order is best for completing them, and they might feel that they need frequent, or not frequent enough, breaks. Some may not write down their assignments at all, and may find themselves frantically looking through their notes or calling friends the night before the assignment is due.

To help solve this recurring time management problem, all students should first have some sort of daily planner or assignment book. This should be large enough to provide ample space for each day of the week. (It should not be a monthly or yearly calendar that has only a small box for each day). It should also have space not only for daily homework assignments, but also for any afterschool or evening activities. Students should be able to see a global picture of all school-related, athletic, and social activities for that week.In their assignment books, students should divide each day into five columns: ET (Estimated Time); AT (Actual Time); O (Order); D (Done); and a wide column for “Assignment”. Each day might look something like this:Students should create these columns in their assignment books, in advance, for about two weeks of time. The only place where students should write any information while at school is in the “Assignment” column. Once they arrive home from school and sit down to complete their assignments, their first task is to estimate how much time they think it will take to complete each assignment. They should write that estimated time in the “ET” column.Next, based on the estimated time for each assignment, students should decide which order they will follow in completing the assignments. For example, they might feel that math will take 35 minutes, science will take 20 minutes, and English will take 40 minutes. Based on these estimates, they can choose to either complete the shorter assignments first to get them over with, or focus their energy on completing the longer assignments first. Either choice is fine, as long as they try to stay consistent with their approach. As they complete each assignment, they should time themselves, using a clock or stopwatch. In the “AT” column, they should write the actual time it takes them to complete each assignment.

Finally, when the assignment is completed, they should draw one side of an “ex” in the “D” column, and once the assignment is put away in the right place to be turned in, they should complete the ex. A sample day from a completed assignment book might look like this:

Often, when students begin using this strategy, they notice a large discrepancy between the estimated and actual times for each assignment. Many students initially have unrealistic expectations of how long an assignment might take to complete. The more they practice using this strategy, however, the more realistic they will become with their time.

Organization

Maintaining a well-structured organizational system is important for effective homework management. To organize homework assignments, all students should have a homework “inbox” and “outbox”, contained in a two-pocket folder that they check on a regular basis. The pocket on the left is the “inbox” and the pocket on the right is the “outbox”. Younger students can have one homework inbox and outbox folder to use for all subjects, while older students usually benefit from a separate inbox and outbox folder for each class.

At school, when teachers pass out assignment sheets, students should place these into the “inbox” section of their folder. After they complete the assignments at home, they should put them into the “outbox” section on the right. Thus, when students are at school and are asked to turn in their homework assignments, they will know exactly where to look to find them.

General Homework Skills

As a general note, students should choose a consistent place at home for completing their homework each night. A clean desk with basic supplies, including pens, pencils, erasers, notebook paper, a hole puncher, a pencil sharpener, and other materials for their classes is ideal. They should choose a consistent time to complete their homework, either right after school, after a social or athletic activity, or after dinner. They should stick with this time on a daily basis.

You may want to help them to break down large projects into small steps, and to enter each step into their assignment book. With practice, they will begin to use this strategy independently. Give them positive reinforcement and encourage them to try to complete as much of the assignment independently before you help them. If need be, help them complete an assignment by asking them questions that guide them to their own answers, rather than immediately telling them what to do.

Homework can be a challenging task. Yet with the proper strategies in place, this task can become easier, more efficient, and even enjoyable.

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