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Nurture good study habits and self-discipline. Set aside a regular, daily study time for homework in a quiet, well-lit room. Be sure that your kids have a study environment that's sound physically, as well as conducive to mental concentration. A quiet room is important, but so too is good lighting, a chair that provides good back support and access to all
materials that your children need to complete projects. Supply them with pencils, erasers, rulers, and so forth.
Encourage kids to keep their desk or other study area neat and well organized. This will prevent lots of time-wasting searches for materials and will really pay off as your children get older and their school assignments become more complex. Good organizational skills, which include arrangement of physical objects, plus logical structuring of steps involved in completing any given project, can last a lifetime.
Take an interest in your kids' day-to-day school life
Take an interest in your children's school projects. Encourage them to show you reports they've written or pictures they've drawn. Make them see that you care about what they're doing and about how they're doing, but don't make them feel like they're constantly being monitored or judged. Don't add pressure, just give them plenty of support, encouragement and praise for jobs well done. Provide them with resources they need (such as Internet access, library time, books and magazine articles) to do a good job on school assignments, but... resist temptation to do school projects for them.
Take same approach with everyday homework. If your child's having trouble with a math problem, review rules, explain procedures, and check results, but don't just give a child answers. The learning process is more important than a list of correct answers to hand in to teacher.
Go that extra mile
Among most precious gifts that you can give to your children is your time. Put them first and make time for them. Build a happy, stable home environment, full of love and security, and you've already gone a long way towards helping your children thrive and succeed both in school and in life. Be involved in big and small events that make up their daily lives. Offer your support, encouragement, resources and love. Be there for them, no matter how busy your professional life is or whatever other commitments you have. Before you know it your children will be grown up and what they'll become depends largely on you. For their sake, as well as for your own, make most of their childhood.
There are no pearls of wisdom here, just a refresher course in things that we've all heard a million times, but don't always stop to take them to heart. They're so important that they deserve our attention, to periodically remind us of what really counts in life.
Barbara Freedman-De Vito, children's librarian, teacher, professional storyteller, and artist, writes and illustrates animated children's stories which are available at http://www.babybirdproductions.com which also has free games and educational activities for children, teachers and parents. Clothing and gift items decorated with artwork from the stories are also available.
