Both parents and children complain about the pressures of homework at night and the unrelenting demands of school. But the pursuit of good grades doesn’t have to be a family burden. Try these proven tips, based on modern brain science, to help your kids do better in school.
Get colorful.
When it comes to homework, disorganization is a killer. Too many kids spend 20 minutes looking for their homework sheet and another 20 on the phone asking a classmate, “What were we supposed to do tonight?” Then they take a video game break because they’ve been ‘studying’ for 40 minutes.
It’s a worthwhile investment to equip your kids with loads of school supplies they really love, in bright colors, unusual textures, and even soothing scents. Color activates the brain and makes homework a little more fun.
Also invest in an assignment notebook where your child writes (1) the class, (2) the date of each assignment, (3) all the details of the assignment, and (4) the due date. Your brain’s reward center will love checking off completed tasks each night. Better grades will surely follow.
Insist on routine.
The brain controls all your thoughts, feelings and actions. Your active brain loves habits, and it takes only about six weeks for a new routine to become a habit. That means, with a little effort, you can train your kids’ brains to sit down to do homework every night from 7 to 9 pm, or whenever it fits into your child’s schedule.
Avoid letting your children’s emotional brain control whether they finish their studies. As in “I don’t feel like studying” or “I’ll do it when I feel like it”. Tell your kids, “Your emotional brain chooses your friends and your favorite bands. It doesn’t choose whether you finish school.” Period.
Eat and sleep well.
Tell your kids this: New research shows that a tired brain can function up to 30% below its best effort. That means you can drop a grade from B to an F just by staying up too late the night before a test!
And if your kids can’t get enough rest, it’s even more important to feed them brain-healthy foods like fish, eggs, and nuts. Teach them to avoid the harmful effects of sugary junk food and soda.
Take frequent breaks.
Some research studies have shown that children can only concentrate effectively for about as many minutes as their age. Plan to give your kids short brain breaks during study time.
A good strategy is to tackle the most difficult topic first, and then have your child take a break. Eat a healthy snack, pick flowers in the garden, jump on a trampoline, or shoot some hoops. A five-minute break between each topic really helps.
Instill a growth mindset.
Stanford researchers have documented two mindsets when it comes to intelligence: people who think their intelligence was delivered at birth, and those who believe their brains can learn anything. Your child may have convinced himself, “I’m dumb at math” or “I’ll never be a good reader.”
Those helpless attitudes can be reversed by teaching the growth mindset. How do you do that? Teach your children that their brain is like a muscle. Tell them that it gets stronger each time they use it. Talk about how your math brain improves on fraction problems just like your triceps develop when you do push-ups.
After working with a child on his growth mindset, I heard him say to his dad, ‘My brain knows all this, dad. You have to get me new things to learn so my brain can keep growing.’
Focus the spotlight.
For your children to learn from homework, they need to put information and ideas into their long-term memory. Once it’s there, they can find it again during a quiz and use it to understand new, related concepts.
Scientists have shown us practical ways to get things into our long-term memory. First, your children must focus 100% on what they are trying to remember. Too many competing inputs, like television and instant messaging, prevent memories from taking hold.
On the other hand, your children must use multiple pathways to get the information they want to remember into their brains. Ask them to read it, then write it down, and then repeat it back to you in their own words. Make up a song about it. Draw it. Use fun mental images to remember new vocabulary terms in foreign languages and science. Ask them to self-assess or make flash cards. These memory boosters will help your children get better results from their study efforts.
Enter a learning zone.
When we are anxious or upset, our brain triggers a fight or flight response. Our hearts pound, we sweat, and our pulses race. This is useful when we need to escape from a lion attack, but it is a hindrance when dealing with trigonometry.
If stress and fear of failure set in when your child tackles a difficult topic, help him calm down before continuing. We simply cannot learn when we are upset. Tell your child that his brain will understand. Maybe you need new study skills, extra help from your teacher, or a little time to review previous concepts with a tutor. Redirect your child’s thoughts toward strategizing about how she will learn, not that she can’t learn.
Try these 7 tips for better grades with your kids, or hire a tutor to help instill good new habits. Children are never too young or too old to train their brains to study successfully. Better grades mean more future options in the future, and that’s a great gift for any child.
