Being there for your kids - Tools for Academic Success

Episode Date: May 25, 2020

You wouldn't start a DIY project at home without the proper tools, would you? Of course not. Some parents, however, just let their kids do homework and home school willy nilly, whatever. There's a saying that applies here: For anything worth doing, you get out of it what you put into it. To help equip your child for academic success, give him the proper tools to get the job done. To create the habit of homework and home schooling, equip your child with structure and routine. Application of these tools consistently leads to their ultimate tool, muscle memory. Muscle memory enables your child to get it done without hassle, distraction, or excuses. It leads to greater efficiency on task and greater retention come test time. Structure, routine, and muscle memory are tools for academic success  

I'm Dr. John Robinson, and this is Teachable Moments. Recently, I posted my top 10 tips for homeschooling success, whether it's just helping with homework or being full-time homeschool teacher to them. Now I am elaborating on each item on the list. Parenting tip number three is this. Structure, routine, and muscle memory are tools for academic success. Studies show that habits take six to eight weeks of consistent behavior to be formed. Bad habits, good habits, study habits. Study habits. habits, it doesn't matter. If you want to change behavior from occasional to habitual, do it regularly for at least six to eight weeks. For parents of homeschoolers and for parents who just want their kids to get the most out of their homework and study time at home, help them create a structure for success and a routine for getting the job done. Structure and routine will lead them to developing muscle memory for learning and for retrieving that learning at test time. I've played a lot, I mean a lot of baseball in my time.

Starting with T-ball at age five, I progressed through coaches pitch, Little League, teenager league, high school baseball, American Legion Baseball, and then onto scholarship at Wake Forest University, and ultimately men's senior league baseball, until I retired at age 54. Few! One time in high school, I didn't even get a foul ball at the plate for four games. That was 12 at bats.

Talk about a major batting slump, and I regularly batting. between 300 and 400, which is a pretty good batting average. Well, I went back to the drawing board. I was in the batting cage for hours each day. I hit off a tea. I hit soft toss. I studied the pitchers to know what was being thrown to me. Everything. Nothing seemed to work. Then my coach told me, John, you know what? You're thinking too much. Get out of your head and do your thing. Boy, that was like giving me permission. I knew I had the talent. I just needed to get unstuck. Next time up, I just cleared my head and focused on the ball. First pitch, foul ball. Second pitch,

base hit. I got out of my slump by being prepared and not thinking too much. For any good habit, and especially for developing good study habits, start with helping your child develop a structure to the task. Does he have a dedicated workspace or desk where he can always study? Does he have pens, markers, paper, folders, notebooks, stylises, iPad, laptop, in his workspace. and readily available to him. Is this space free from distractions? Then help him develop the routine of studying. Same relative time each school night.

That is, Sunday through Thursday nights, he knows that he's attending to school matters at the same time and in the same space each night. School systems usually have a formula for the amount of time that should be spent on homework for given grades. The range is usually from 30 minutes for primary and elementary school grades to one hour for middle school grades, grades and two hours for high school grades. If your child correctly completes his homework quicker

than these estimates, good for him, as long as you have checked the quality of his work. Where kids are struggling for good grades, have this be both homework completion and extra study time with your help. With structure and routine, muscle memory kicks in, creating more efficient use of your child's time hitting the books. With muscle memory, his working on school stuff becomes unforced and natural. These are the tools for life. and academic success. I'm Dr. Jonathan C. Robinson, licensed clinical psychologist and Christian author of Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting. And this has been Teachable Moments. Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting is available online at Amazonbooks.com and in local and

national bookstores. More on Dr. Robinson at TMC-P-I-N-C.com.