Tips for Improving Your Child's Study Habits

I realize that the title of this article makes the assumption that your child already has study habits that we are now going to improve. Unfortunately, it is more often the case that students don't actually have any regular study habits. Many students get to high school and readily admit that they don't actually know HOW to study. This is especially true in math classes. This list of tips applies to students of all ages, but my hope is that parents of early elementary age children will instill these habits into their young children and then continue to reinforce these all the way through high school. What if your child is already in high school? Then start immediately. It is never too late.

1. Always encourage your child. Make sure your child feels that you have confidence in his/her ability to master the material. Likewise, provide a safe place to fail. Your child needs to feel confident that you will support and help him even if he is not successful at first. Take care, though, that your child understands that homework is his responsibility--not yours!

2. Remember that your child is preparing the groundwork for his/her future. Stress success! NEVER say, I wasn't good in math either." (Insert any subject name.) This simply provides an excuse to fail. Likewise, if you were a whiz in school, avoid making an issue of it. Your child may just decide he/she "can't measure up" and won't even try. Keep the emphasis on the child.

3. In your home, set up a study area (not the child's bedroom), and have a consistent study time. Have space for you or a tutor to work with your child. Study sessions should be limited to 15-45 minutes at a time (the time increasing with the age of the child.) Then allow a snack or phone break for 10-15 minutes. Then repeat the pattern until homework or studying is finished. Check over completed homework every day. You do not need to know if the homework is correct. Just check for neatness and completion. If necessary, get an assignment sheet from the teacher so that you know what is expected. If the math homework shows only answers with no work, check with the teacher about the homework policy. Math teachers generally require that students show their work. Do insist on some review time with your child for any subjects causing difficulty.

4. Don't accept "I can't learn math." Remind her that if she can memorize the words to 25 different songs, and the steps to get to level ten in a video game, and the phone numbers or her 15 closest friends, then she can learn!

5. Have your child read homework chapters and questions to you OUT LOUD. Then have him try to explain what he just read. If he can't explain it, then he doesn't really know it, and won't be able to pass a test over it. You don't have to understand the material yourself. Just listen for hesitations and/or the ability to complete a thought. If he obviously doesn't understand it, he should read it again and do so until he understands what he is reading. If he never understands it, then ask the teacher for suggestions.

6. Far too many students do not know how to study for a test, especially a math test. Students tend to think that if they did the homework, they are ready for the test. NOT TRUE! Studying means reading and re-reading the material, verbalizing concepts both old and new, reviewing all previous lessons, studying/reviewing with others, and practicing some of the previous homework questions. If the chapter ends with a practice test, he should do it. Be sure to have a test schedule for each subject. Do not allow your child to slip into the habit of being absent on test day. This creates a situation of the student being behind for the remainder of the school year.

7. Help your child study by using flashcards. This "old-fashioned" idea has lots of new-fangled value in learning in all classes--definitions, math facts, dates, etc. Just because we used flash cards "in the old days" doesn't mean they have no value today.

8. Encourage your child to use his strengths for learning in all classes--if he is artistic, he can make pictures to help understand the material; if musically inclined, he can set class information to music; if addicted to the computer, then you could invest in a good educational program, etc. Learning strengths from one area can help learning in difficult subjects.

9. Keep in close contact with the teacher. Arrange to meet the teachers early in the school year. Check on your child's grades early in the year and check often. Do not wait for six or nine weeks to find out that your child is struggling. Do not expect the teacher to contact you frequently. The teacher may have 150-200 students and contacting all parents frequently is impossible. However, if you initiate contact by phone or email, the teacher will be thrilled to respond to an interested parent! REALLY!

10. Get a tutor at the first indication your child is struggling. Sometimes students are embarrassed to get or ask for help from parents, but would welcome a tutor; and the cost of a tutor is nothing compared to the emotional cost of failure.

The sooner you can establish a good study routine, the quicker it will become ingrained in your child's mind and become habit. If you can start this routine during the early years of school, then your child will begin to grasp the concept that learning is his responsibility, and less and less supervision will be required by you.
About this Author

Shirley Slick, "The Slick Tips Lady," is a retired high school math teacher and tutor with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and additional training in brain-based learning/teaching. Her goals: (1) to help parents help their children with math, (2) to help eliminate the horrendous Algebra failure rate, and (3) to inform the general public about problematic issues related to the field of education. For your free copy of "10 Slick Tips for Improving Your Child's Study Habits," visit her website at http://myslicktips.com/.

Great Study Tips For Parents

With time comes change and this holds true for methods of parenting. Gone are the days of black and white television or the days when the telephone was connected to the wall in your home and still had a cord! Yes, remember what a telephone with a cord looks like? To even think about having a computer in your home was laughable. Look at us now!

Parenting is not lost among the changes taking place in our world. Let's take a look shall we. The majority of mammals go straight from infancy to puberty. The human baby does nothing of the sort. In fact, although they come into the world with their genetic code intact, without their parents the survival rate for humans would plummet. Looking at the evolution of species, the human baby remains far more dependent upon their parents than any other mammal.

Now for parents of pre-teens and above, the thought of having them fend for themselves at times sounds appealing. You can walk, talk, and dress yourself... see ya! Ah, but that is not how we raise our young, is it? We love and nurture them. We do our best to instill a moral compass. Here is a tantalizing thought, children become capable of reproduction between the ages of 10 - 15, but which one among us would dare say they are ready for the adulthood that awaits them?

What was the parenting style you were brought up in? Does it shape the way you parent now? What's the difference? It is commonly known that if you were brought up strict that as a parent you then lean towards a more liberal approach. The same holds true for those who were brought up with very little boundaries. Did your parents lavish you with hugs, love, and praise, or did they say token words of affection? Does the way we parent have direct consequences on our children's behavior? Very tantalizing questions. Let's look at a few different parenting styles.

PARENTING STYLES:

Indulgent: more responsive to their children than demanding. They don't hold fast to the traditional roles. The lean more towards allowing the child to self-regulate and tend to avoid confrontation with children.

Authoritarian: tend to be more obedience driven. They expect their orders to be obeyed without question.

Authoritative: have clear rules of conduct for their children. Often times are assertive without being overly restrictive. They prefer supportive methods when it comes to discipline.

Uninvolved: self-explanatory... this can lead to neglect and abuse.

Attached: in it's simplest term is to develop a strong emotional bond with parents during childhood.

I was raised in a very strict environment peppered with violence. I learned early that love and affection was earned and just as quickly taken away. How did this affect the way I parent? Dramatically! Although, I will say that through the years of being a parent my techniques have changed with the knowledge gained.

In my early years as a parent (and I will speak only to raising children and not the many complications that are included in the family unit) I did my best to lavish love. To the point of smothering? I tried not, but I definitely did all in power to let my children know that no matter what they did I would always love them.

During the time my children were young, "Attached Parenting" was not as common as it is today. I breast-fed, cuddled, and held my kids when they were crying, hurt, or anything else. I also tried letting them cry themselves to sleep but this often broke my heart. I think those emotions were directly connected to my upbringing. Enough of my parenting attempts, how has your upbringing colored your parenting skills? What do you do the same or different.

Homework Tips for Kids & Teens

Homework has been a perennial headache for kids and teens as well as for their parents. Following are some tips to make homework time more effective and enjoyable for all concerned.

1. No TV. As a general rule, kids should not watch TV while doing their homework. It might be a good policy to have the television turned off any time it's time to do homework, depending, of course, where the television is located.

2. The radio is OK. Contrary to what many so-called experts recommend, actual studies have shown that having the radio on a child's or teenager's favorite music station can actually help him learn better.

3. Set fixed hours. There should be a set schedule for homework. This way, the youngsters can arrange their schedules and make sure they get their homework done every day. It's also a great way for answering those comments. "I'll do it later, after I've finished whatever," which is a standard line among kids when asked if they've finished their homework. You may want to set a standard time for supper and family discussions, followed by study time. If the student doesn't have other commitments and gets home reasonably early from school, some homework can be done before supper.

4. Set telephone rules. As a general rule, kids should not be allowed to use the telephone during those hours when they are supposed to be doing their homework. However, sometimes it becomes necessary to use the phone, say, for confirming homework and the like. In these cases, the parents should set a fixed number of minutes for discussing school-related matters so the kids can get back to their homework right away.

5. Create a good study area. First, designate an area where it would be ideal for your children to do their homework, usually in their rooms. Set up this area to make it conducive for studying by putting proper lighting, an area for studying supplies such as pencils, pens, paper, books, and other essentials and make the area free from distractions. It might be a good idea to set up a bulletin board there as well.

Teaching Methods in Education

To achieve the goal of teaching, the teacher must adopt effective teaching methods in education. The teacher has many options to choose from different teaching methods designed specifically for teaching and learning.

Writing lesson plans is a foremost thing that a teacher must do before executing any teaching strategy in the class. The teaching method should be adopted on the basis of certain criteria like the knowledge of the students, the environment and the set of learning goals decided in the academic curriculum.

Students respond differently to different methods of teaching. Also, the students have their unique way of demonstrating the knowledge acquired and absorbing the information that is imparted. So, to aid this process of demonstrating the knowledge, the teacher has to adopt a technique that assists the students in retaining the information and increasing their understanding. There are many teaching methods for children like questioning. modeling, demonstrating, collaborating and explaining that have been discussed here.

Teaching Methods and Strategies

We all know about the importance of higher education, so now let us learn some methods of teaching as well. Here are some of the basic teaching methods for higher education as well as for the middle education.

Questioning
Testing and questioning are always known to be effective teaching methods due to its interactive nature. The questions are asked by the teacher with an intention to know what the student has learned from earlier discussions and what it helps in deciding what should be taught further.

This can be even vice-verse, students questioning the teachers to clarify the doubts that would enhance their understanding of the subject. The inquisitive instinct of the students evoke them to ask questions and satiate their query.

The teacher should encourage this in a positive way so that the student's critical thinking is developed. Testing differs in one aspect from questioning. Test is done in order to know about the previous knowledge and already taught things to the student.

Explaining
Explaining is one of the very important teaching methods in education. It has taken a form of lectures in teaching methods for higher education where the teacher presents the factual information in a direct and a logical way.

Sometimes the experiences can also be shared as a part of knowledge that would work as a source of inspiration for the students. While adopting this method the teacher should give an introduction and a proper summary. Make sure that the information is specific to the audience.

The explanation should be accompanied with suitable examples for the better understanding of the students. It is like a discourse on a particular subject or topic that is for the entire class or public. Explaining can be clubbed with the modeling process to be more effective and to have a long-lasting effect on the pupils.

Modeling
Modeling is a type of visual aid for teaching as well as learning. It is a known fact that human brain absorbs more and understands better when visual aid facilitates explanation. This method works on three criteria - observing, retaining and replicating. The students learn more by observing the things and acquire it by imitating it time and again.

This is also known as reinforced behavior. This type of learning has very important role to play in the learning process especially during the childhood, though it can happen in any stage of life. This helps the students to visualize the things and, then hypothesize the solution.

Demonstrating
With the help of demonstrative teaching methods in education students get an opportunity to explore the various aspects and understand the theory from a different perspective. Demonstration is a step-by-step explanation along with their reasons and significance for the better understanding of the student. It enhances the student's understanding by practically applying the knowledge and sharpen their skills and hence, they become capable of identifying and organizing the subject matter in a more efficient way. Practical experimentation is a very good method used for demonstrating the subject.

Collaborating
Teamwork is a contemporary form of collaboration. The students are taught to work in a group that makes the instructing easier for the teacher. This method of teaching promotes a sense of mutual responsibility among the students. They learn to put in more effort to research for the topic and apply effective techniques to get the result.

This inculcates patience and develops an ability to critically analyze a subject. It gives an opportunity to the students to solve the problem by a healthy discussion and co-operation. This is what we call 'group discussions' which motivates the students to perform in a team, show leadership skills and enhances the presentation capabilities as well. This is one of the best direct instructional methods.

The teaching methods for special education is a little different from the teaching methods and theories for others. The education is imparted to these students based on their strengths and weaknesses. The teachers cater to the special needs of the students like modification in the regular teaching program, use of supplementary aids that allows students to participate in the learning process. Different effective teaching strategies are adopted on the basis of the disabilities. Four kinds of provisions are adopted in special education and they are inclusion, mainstream, segregation and exclusion.

Apart from these defined methods, nowadays many other teaching methods in education are being adopted to give quality education. The methods like role-play, story or games, seminars, presentations, workshops, conferences, brainstorming, case study, educational trips and modern audio-visual aids like documentary films, computers, internet, etc have been introduced in education. These new methods have increased the pace of learning and understanding. This also enhances the capability of the students to research and logically think for a given problem.

Virtual Worlds For Kids That Focus on Education

In an age of highly advance computer technology and the World Wide Web at our disposal, using virtual worlds for kids that focus on education is a good way to get children interested in learning. It is recommended that you read this article to learn more about these virtual platform of learning to enhance your child's educational development.

Research has shown that children who actively use virtual platform for learning, not only benefit in terms of education but also learn to be technologically smart and the art of socializing. The educational value from using virtual worlds for kids that focus on education can be quantified in terms of engaging a child's mind in study and the ethical values that a child learns from playing games that require ethical decision making skills.

There is this virtual world which allows a child travel to over one hundred factual places around the globe; travelling through time and space, you will meet many famous people, plays loads of enriching and fun games, party with new friends, buy island and build houses, explore many secret places and solve mysteries and puzzles. What could be more inspiring or fun? A safe site that allows children to learn about history and geography and so much more, giving the player fun filled hours of exploration and discovery.

Virtual worlds replicate all of the bullying and racism found in the real world to help educate your child on the realities of life. Parents are advised to take an active approach with their children in these virtual worlds. Going into the virtual world with your child will give you a better understanding of the level of education the child receives from playing these games.

Educational virtual worlds are a combination of different learning activities, imagination and plenty of fun for your child and the adult too. Virtual worlds offer children a range of activities that include puzzle solving, action games, contests, fascinating facts and a host of learning activities, all combined to make learning fun. There are various educational elements of math, history, geography and English woven into the fabric of the games, so children learn while they play.

These virtual platform offer the opportunity of earning virtual money as various activities are completed. The money can then be used to buy different items like homes or pets. The really good part about virtual worlds for kids that focus on education is parents can also register an account and link it to the child's account. In this way parents can control the child's play and chat safety features.
About this Author

Galen spends 48 hours on the Internet every day as the Online Marketing Manager of Mediafreaks. He is currently driving the online marketing efforts of various free online adventure games and commercial projects produced by the award-winning 3D animation studio based in Singapore and China. Galen is also known fondly as 'The China Man' by his colleagues as he spent years in China running the Mediafreaks China office.

Tips to Choose an Online Education Program

Would you like to know tips to choose an online education program? Well, with the many options of online education program, choosing one for you sometimes can be troublesome. As you seemingly have realized, when you have to choose one among so many options, you might become confused. This happens to many people especially to those who try to find an online education program for the first time. If you are trying to find an online education for the first time, you seemingly have not yet known how to choose an online education program. In this situation, you might not be able to choose an online program that is right for you.

Actually, there are three simple tips to choose online bsn programs and other online programs that can become your consideration. The first tip is to listen to other people’s recommendation. Whether it is a friend or family recommendation, you should listen to it because recommendation from people who have ever attended an online program is surely based on the reality. Then the second tip is to read online sources about online education. These days, there are many websites providing information about online education so you can easily find a list of online education programs opening rn msn. You have to visit those online resources and read related information there to help you finding an online program that is worth to consider. Since there are many online resources, you can get comprehensive information that can be used to help you making a good decision.

Furthermore, the third tip is to choose a program offering online masters in psycholog that is listed on the top of certified and accredited online programs. As you should have known, good online programs have certification and accreditation as a token that the programs have met the standards of online education.

Get to know some tips before writing an essay

For some people, writing an essay is not easy. For them, writing an essay will spend their time. Now, I want to ask you some questions. Do you find some problems in finishing your essay? Do you know how to solve your essay? Do you need help for doing your essay? Well, if you want to write a good essay, you need to know some tips on how to create a good essay. Some teachers are really frustrated because many students are not able to write a good essay. It’s not because they don’t have skill in writing, but it’s because they have no idea how to write an essay. What do you know about persuasive essay? How is the difference between persuasive essay and other essays?

Many people say that persuasive essay plays important role in life. How come? In writing persuasive essay you need to know how to defend your views. Just remember that you are the one that creates this essay. So, you have to able to defend on something that you have written. Then, how to write a good persuasive essay? These are some tips to write a good essay, especially persuasive essay. The first thing is about the topic. Choosing a topic is very important because it will be the main key for the rest of your essay. You need to find some sources or articles that can support your essay. Many people don’t really know how to make a good topic. It’s something that must be relevant and logic.

If you need free help with essay writing, then this site is perfect for you. By knowing about some tips to write a good essay, you don’t need to order at writing or essay service. Writing a good essay it complicated, but every people can create a good one if they know some tips to write essay.