The BIG APPLE of Study Habits: Parent’s Guide

B   Brain Food!

Snacks can help students concentrate and keep their focus. . Many students can become uninterested if they are concentrating on the rumbling in their stomachs instead of their assignments.   The snacks should not be a distraction.  Finger foods that are not too messy are best.  For instance, you could provide fresh vegetables and a dip. It is a good idea to avoid sugary or other unhealthy snacks.

I Involved

Monitor your child's homework assignments. Make a point to ask your child about their daily assignments, and help them schedule an appropriate amount of time to complete each one. Ask your child's teachers how involved you should be in various assignments. Some homework tasks a child attempts without help, while others are intended to get the entire family involved. By learning more about assignments and their accompanying due dates, you will be able to better monitor your child’s skills and progress.

G  Guidance

If your children continue to struggle with their homework, contact your child’s teacher or the counselor at school. They will be able to look through your children's work and make recommendations that would help your children with their learning. The recommended help may be tutoring.

A  Assistance/ Attention

For students who need individual assistance, a private tutor may be an effective solution. Tutors are beneficial because they provide one-on-one attention that students oftentimes lack in a classroom setting.

P  Place

Give your child a place of his or her own to do their homework. Make sure there is good light, adequate space and all the materials they will need for projects. The place should be private enough that they can leave things undone and come back to them, without having to clean up the materials at the end of each homework period.

P  Proactive

First, show through your own actions that education and homework are important activities. Put an emphasis on education at home in the following ways:

• Talk to your child. Agree on a regular time each day for homework. Stick to the schedule!
• Provide your child with the necessary homework supplies and resources.
• Set a good example by reading and writing, showing that these activities are valuable for other reasons than just school.
• Stay in touch with your child's teachers. Ask them to email you if they have questions or concerns.

When you are proactive in your children's education, you are helping them cultivate values that are needed to succeed in school and in life.

L   Lines of communication

The most important thing for you to do is to keep open the lines of communication with your child and their teachers.

E  Enable

While you should not take over your children's homework, you can certainly provide helpful instruction. When providing guidance, learn about and understand your children's learning styles. People learn differently and this knowledge affects the type of help your children will need to comprehend new material. Additionally, help them to become more organized. Children can be disorganized and lose assignments. When you show your children how to keep an organized notebook or folder, you enable them to keep track of their homework.