Ask your kids to do their homework or study for exams and see how their smile curve goes
upside down! It could be boredom, fear or just any other reason that they shy away from
studies. One way to deal with this situation is to help your kids develop effective study habits.
This will help them to understand the right way to study and develop a learning attitude.
Here are some ways you can inculcate good study habits in your children:
Give Them a Dedicated Study Environment
If your child has to move from one room to another for studies, it could adversely impact their
concentration. They need their special place where they feel self-motivated to study without
any distractions. Let them decorate that space to give their personal touch.
Also, look around the child’s study space and remove all those stuff that distract your child’s
eye from their books. We all also have technology-influenced homes where music systems,
television, laptop, and even mobile phones can disturb your children. Switching them off for a
specific period can be the best practice for your kid’s study.
Know Their Weaknesses
Not everyone loves doing science projects, and not everyone loves to know how the country
has fought in the past. If your children want to play instead of studying, the thought of solving
algebraic equations or mugging up long answers may put them at unease. Hence you need to
understand where the strength and weakness of your children lies.
Help them make a study calendar and let them plan their favourite subject and boring subjects
at their convenience. This way they don’t feel bored. Also, try to make the learning method
enjoyable. Plain texts have less charm than visuals. You can use real imaginations to play with
the numbers or visual presentations to make historical events easy to memorize.
Use the “If-Then” Trick, But Within Limits
This tactic has been observed to work in most cases. Try saying to your little kid, “If you finish
this page, then you can play outside” or “if you do the sums all correct, we will hang out in the
park.”
But, wait a moment! Don’t rely on the trick entirely or else your kids will expect rewards every
time they finish your assigned task. This type of motivation is short-term and won’t do them
any good. Use it only when you feel absolutely necessary or when you feel the child is stuck up
at one point.
Encourage Instead of Nagging
Daily nagging to push them to the study table is not going to work for long. Of course, you
should review their work, guide them or help them but being a helping hand every time makes
them overly dependent on you. Leave your kids on themselves while doing studies. Let them
make mistakes and learn from them. Let your children do their studies on their own and come
to you when they really need your advice.
In case you observe your child lagging in the studies or a particular subject despite your
encouragement and trying all methods, you may want to consider taking the help of a
professional tutor. A tutor has all the knowledge and experience to instil effective study habits
in children.
Lastly, teach your kids the importance of securing good grades but don’t be harsh if they don’t
meet your expectations. Let them enjoy the process of studying as learning and be a
constructive element in your child’s life.
Dedicated environment is very necessary for concentration. I have seen drastic improvement in my child’s marks due to this. Unfortutenly, with everyone working and schooling from home, its very difficult for kids to study with concentation.
The line between nagging and encouraging is so blurred. Good tips, thank you for sharing.
If then trick is not good for kids. They get used to it. Doesn’t work in long term.