Break every thirty seconds, looking out the window, sitting over a blank page for an hour? Your child does not come to the desk at all, because he associates with endless lesson? Or maybe he is learning eagerly but inefficiently, and you feel that he could do it faster? There are many ways to help your child work more effectively.
Children, especially at the beginning of school, face an important task: they must learn how to learn. Some teachers willingly guide children through the process of organizing their own learning, but sometimes this obligation falls on parents. So, let’s get to know some simple methods that improve our memory processes and tell them to a toddler who will struggle with homework.
Make a tailor-made study
Often you can hear that nothing improves learning results much better than removing everything that distracts you. When the desk is pushed close to the white wall, and only a notebook and a pen lie on the table, it is impossible for the child to become a small Einstein.
Indeed, sometimes such methods are used to deal with learning difficulties, but this is not a strategy that can be proposed to everyone. This solution is recommended, for example, to children with ADHD with high attention deficits. Do not rearrange your home when your child goes to the first class and do not organize a “science corner” from which you can remove anything that might distract you while learning the poem by heart. Your child may or may not be the person who achieves the highest results in conditions of minimal stimulation. Some children find it easier to focus when something is happening around, and the silence and lack of stimuli from the outside will make them believe. Encourage your schoolboy to look for an environment in which he teaches himself best.
Good and bad soundsWho has not heard of the “Mozart effect”? Would not it be great if, after hearing “Eine kleine nachtmusik”, our IQ would jump up several points? Unfortunately, modern psychology proves that listening to the Viennese classics does not permanently affect the functioning of our brain. Under certain conditions, it may have small effects in the area of performing intellectual tasks, but this is a very short-lived phenomenon and is rather related to emotional processes (stress reduction, relaxation) – because they affect our cognitive abilities (e.g. memorization). Where else is more interesting …In the notebook, eight tasks for fractions, and behind the window, colleagues play football. You do not have to think for a long time to find out what is more interesting? Moving the desk to the other end of the room is symptomatic. Removing an obstacle is making it easier for a child to have a job he is working on – but it will not help him if he finds himself in such a situation in the future and there will be no father or dad next to him. So, what instead? Support for the self-regulation process. Naming what’s happening with a child will help him to consciously pick up his own reactions and emotions. It is not worth forcing the child to stay in the chair if there is no urgent need for it. It is better to help him organize his activities in a conscious way – to indicate that he can take a short break, walk to the window and see what is happening behind him. The Internet is full of recommendations for children’s learning – but it is worth remembering that the main source of knowledge about effective strategies is the main interest. Depending on your needs and temperament, your child will successfully learn in a variety of conditions, with different help. It is worth for the parent to accompany him in the difficult art of building a suitably stimulating environment.