Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids mostly finished the bulk of their homework at school. They had other interests and worked on that at home. But, yes, they did work. They also got straight As, aced SATs, aced ECs, and took 12 APs. 8 APs by the end of 11th grade and from all 5 core subjects. 5s in all. So what? They are STEM magnet public school students. By 4th grade they had mastered study skills and time management.
That's awesome. Any tips you/they learned on how to master study skills? Sometimes I feel my kids are spinning their wheels trying to do homework, so it takes longer than it needs to. (Especially getting distracted by technology)
I can tell you what worked for my kids. It may not be palatable.
Dedicated time and place to do the homework - My kids had to do homework, after they came back from school and had a snack. The homework was done with my help and under my supervision on the dining table. They had to do it neatly (or I made them re-do it), write their name, subject, date, and write the question that they were answering. Then I checked their work, they put it in the folder and put it in the bookbag. Train your kids to sit for an hour and do their homework/study, so that they get used to it.
Daily practice - When did they start this? From kindergarten. But before that, we were playing "school" at home. If they did not have homework, I printed out worksheets for them to do the homework. I also sat with them for homework and timed it so that they were not wasting time. No TV, no phone etc. It was a big time commitment from me too. I was not even browsing my phone or doing errands etc. I was sitting with them on the dining table as they did their homework. This was done every single day, including summer vacations.
Enrich and expand their horizons - I was curating curriculum, study guides, text books, tests...so that I could teach them. Education was a serious business at our home. My kids were sitting at home and doing one hour of work from the time they were little kids. It also included watching documentaries, watching PBS programming, reading books, magazine etc. In some ways, I was learning with them and tutoring them. I needed it to be fun for my kids and be in tune with what they were thinking and watching. I needed it to be fun for me.
Build knowledge and skills - By the time they were in 3rd grade, they had memorized multiplication tables, fraction tables and square tables, long multiplication and division with decimals, knew cursive, fractions, ratios and percentages, had learned spellings and word usage. Since they were in magnet programs in MoCo, they had learned to break projects in small chunks and learned how to study for tests by using quizlet app. They knew how to make powerpoint presentations, they knew MS apps - Word, Excel. By 4th grade, they were programming for robotics competitions, knew how to research for a paper, find credible sources, how to make a bibliography, how to quote, academic honesty etc.
From 3rd to 8th grade, I was accelerating them in many subjects not taught in school. Geography, world history, comparative religions, history of art, politics, current affairs, By 6th grade, my expectation was that they would be finishing bulk of their homework and projects at school, when it was handed to them. This freed us to do other things at home. Including listening to NPR and reading about the covered topics in wikipedia etc. The best part of the magnet programs was that they found a number of peers like them.
Be a resource for your kids - You need to put in the time to understand what will be asked of your kids in each grade and have a long term plan, so that you are working smart and in a logical manner. Make them take ownership of the process so that they learn to do it for themselves (under your guidance). It is not a good feeling to be hustling to meet a deadline.
Hurry up and finish - I have one kid who is a perfectionist, another kid who has a tendency to procrastinate. Having a fixed time and place to study, and a training to be able to sit down and just do the work was the most important take away. I taught the kids (because I was there sitting with them), to start something, do a good job, not linger on it, finish it and then put it in their book bag from the time they were 3 or 4 years old.
I think by 8th grade, I became more like a reference guide for them. They were driving how I could help them. By 8th grade, they had a lot of basic skills to study, research, manage time and projects, advocate for themselves and juggle their commitments.
Look, I do not believe that the students - by studying less, or being mired in busy work, or by having long breaks in their school year, or by not learning presentation or research skills, or by not learning creative writing and analysis, or not having a good work ethic, or having knowledge gaps - will become successful. Both parents and students have to work hard to make the students capable and succeed. The teachers and schools can only do so much and they don't lose out if your kid is poorly educated.
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