BUILDING STRONG STUDY HABITS EDU C AT I O N
I N S I G HT
By Susan Flowers
HELPING YOUR CHILD LEARN MORE EFFECTIVELY There are many elements that contribute to a student’s educational success, including finding the right school, building a strong relationship with your child’s teachers and even encouraging a child’s participation in extracurricular activities. But one of the most important components of a thriving educational career is the establishment of good study habits. Educational achievement hinges on parental involvement that evolves to fit the child’s needs, from the first day of first grade to high school graduation and beyond. Communication with your child is critical, both when establishing a study routine and afterward, to ensure that things go smoothly. That means not only telling a child to do his or her homework, but to learn their existing study habits in order to help improve them. “Encourage them to think about what their own learning styles are,” said Dennis Freeman, co-founder of In-Home Tutors. “Some children do really well visually. Other children are more auditory learners. If you’re an auditory learner, have your mom quiz you verbally for a test. If you’re a visual learner, take some scrap paper and take notes.” Mary K. Olszewski, The Lovett School’s director of executive functioning, said, “The best
20 | Newcomer Magazine | newcomeratlanta.com
advice that I can give parents is to be consistent with their children when implementing and developing new strategies and skills. Consistency is key; it is necessary to recognize that habits do not form overnight.”
WHERE AND WHEN TO STUDY Observing where your child does his or her homework is a good place to start.
