Overloaded school
In today’s reality of Polish education, homework is an integral part of school duties. They complement the material learned during the teaching lessons, its consolidation and, in a way, the implementation of the assumptions of the core curriculum. Educational programs are heavily overloaded, that is why the amount of homework from class to class increases and accumulates. Children’s free time is therefore very limited and centers around homework, which often requires the attention and help of parents.
Check or not check?
Checking the lessons done by your child is worth practicing. However, do not look for errors severely! People learn in the process; it is good to emphasize that mistakes are a natural element and kind inattention is a way to learn. Verification of own mistakes perfectly consolidates the improved knowledge. The parent’s role is support, constructive commentary and clear praise for efforts and regularity.
How to comment on children’s efforts?
Constructively!
Praise is a message that adds wings, encourages further efforts, and strengthens the relationship. That is why it is also worth praising in situations of partial task completion. Try to avoid generalizations (e.g. It’s all wrong). Constructive assessment extracts individual parts draw attention to the manner of performance, correctness, and approach to work. Specification at what stage the mistake was made and what exactly needs improvement. Extract the positive part of the work and motivate to act.
When the child has difficulty with the material?
It all depends on how much free time a parent can devote to the child. When a child does not understand the instructions and repeated the same mistakes many times, he becomes reluctant to learn. This is the time when parents are most needed. The difficulty is that the child is not able to perform the task alone, and we want to teach him this independence.
Patience and teaching aids
The golden rule of small steps will also work this time! Just like the parent’s great patience and a large set of home teaching aids. Sticks for counting, abacus, calligraphy pattern of written letters, spelling dictionary, multiplication table – available on the student’s desk, will support him during the struggle with the task. The more attractive the items are, the more likely they will be to use them. There are also a lot of educational games on the market that will help turn learning into fun. This will teach a small student both perseverance and faith in the possibility of overcoming problems. Greater involvement in the development of the material will make memorization lighter.
Difficult tasks – difficult emotions
Nerves, anger and frustration can naturally appear during hardships, quenching them is difficult and they are not always successful. Regulation of difficult emotions is, however, an extremely important life competence, and school difficulties are a natural field for exercise. Although this often requires a parent to show their own example of good regulation of emotions, when the child needs to explain the same thing again, valuable help will be to help them name difficult emotions, understand their causes and choose the most appropriate actions.
Student – a small manager
Homework for each student is a challenge, even if it is not difficult in itself, it is associated with organizing your time. We know perfectly well that this is also a problem for many adults. You should plan your tasks diligently and with full commitment. Let’s help children learn the value of daily routine. The constant rhythm of the day, where you have to do all the duties, from lessons to cleaning, allows you to become independent. The more the child organizes its own time properly, the better it will perform its subsequent duties.
Bibliography:
Joanna Łukasik “Spoko lekcja”
Iwona Czaja Chudyba „ Jak rozwijać zdolności dziecka?”