Help Your Kids Learn: Create a Positive Study Environment (page 2)

Affirmative signs

Positive signs will remind your child’s subconscious mind of his or her potential to learn. Help your child create an inspiring atmosphere by making some signs—use lots of color (our brains love color!) and the following ideas to get you started:

• I believe in myself
• Everything I do deserves my best effort
• Learning is fun and natural!
• Every challenge offers a gift
• I am unique and valuable
• I am responsible for what I create
• I can learn this!
• Everyone has the resources to be succcessful

Another good idea is to have an achievement area (a bulletin board would work well) for awards, papers with good grades, and lists of accomplishments. A bulletin board would also work well for posting study schedules and reminders of project due dates.

Homework support

Your show of interest, support, and guidance in helping your child create a positive study environment at home will go a long way toward establishing great homework habits. It’s also a good idea to create and agree on homework guidelines so you can continue to work together toward success. Why not have a special lunch together and set up a plan that will work for both of you? You could also consider a reward for consistently following "the plan."

• Homework time: Sometimes it’s not easy because of extracurricular activities, but try to define a specific time each day that homework will be started.

• Distractions: Fewer distractions equals more productive time. Make a plan with your child about the timing for phone calls, internet “browsing”, and play time.

• Breaks: Breaks are important. Research shows that students remember more of the information learned at “beginnings” and “endings” of study periods. Thus, better retention is experienced when frequent breaks are taken. A ten-minute break after each hour of study time will enhance learning. (For younger children who don't have such long study periods, a five-minute break every half hour will work well.)

• Flexibility: You will both need to agree to be flexible—sometimes homework will have to start a bit later, sometimes a family commitment will mean starting a little earlier, sometimes a break may need to be slightly longer than five or ten minutes. Flexibility keeps you and your child connected!

Chicka Elloy is Programs Director for SuperCamp, a learning and life skills summer camp that runs 7-, 8- and 10-day programs each year at several colleges throughout the United States. More information on SuperCamp is available at www.SuperCamp.com.

This article is reprinted with the permission of SuperCamp, a leading learning and life skills summer camp, and Quantum Learning Network. For more information on the camp and the company, you can visit www.SuperCamp.com and www.QLN.com.