Back to School Tips for 2021

Aug 27, 2021 | Novi

As many schools are gearing up for the 2021-2022 school year, there are many questions that parents are asking. How will school look this year? How will my child handle their classes? Do I look for math help in person or online? Well, we have some answers to these questions that will help you and your child adjust back to school smoothly and kick the year off on the right foot. 

Multiple Study Spaces

Do not limit your child to just one study space. While having a home base, like a well-stocked desk in a quiet room, is undoubtedly great, studying in one place every day could make your study sessions go stale and affect how well they go. To break up the monotony, consider finding more exciting places to work. Study for your algebra test at a local park, brush up on geometry at   

Write More Than Homework in Your Planner

    Before your child even sets foot in calculus class and gets their first homework assignment, they should be scheduling out their responsibilities. They have more responsibilities than just their homework. These responsibilities include extracurriculars and house responsibilities and organizing time to be with friends. This gets them in the habit of planning, giving them the freedom to use their time as they want to.

Start Small

    Tieing into the scheduling focus from before, if your child has a big exam coming up, don’t let them cram an entire unit the night before. Please encourage them to review a little bit every night. So that way, the night before the test, they have to go over what they already know briefly. This is what our expert geometry tutors recommend when memorizing tricky formulas. 

Don’t Rely on Only Supplies.

    Just because a planner is expensive does not mean that your child will use it. You don’t need to splurge; a standard planner will teach your children to develop a system that works for them. As long as they can organize their days and weeks, their creativity will shine through, and they will find what helps them the most. 

Routine!

    So now your child has written out a plan that they feel works for them. Now it is time to implement it! Taking their schedule out for a test drive will help them figure out what works and what doesn’t work for them. Finding out what times of day are best for studying is pivotal for making their plan work. Do they do their best studying right when they get home from school? Or maybe after dinner? Test out different times with your child and see what works best for them.

Distraction-Free Zone

    This study done by the Wall Street Journal says that, on average, it takes 25 minutes for someone to refocus on their work after having their focus broken. Being a kid today, there are so many things fighting for their attention, each more fun than the work that they are supposed to be doing. Encourage them to leave their phone outside of the room while they work and turn off social media notifications if they are working on a laptop or computer. It will encourage them to gear their focus to the task at hand and complete them more efficiently.

Be Real With Your Children

    If they have a test coming up and a paper due the next week, help them figure out how much time it will take to do each task. If studying takes them an hour and writing a paper takes them two hours, help them when they would want to take the time to do those, and fit it in with the rest of their daily activities.

Encourage Them to Utilize Their Class Time

    Please encourage them to take advantage of any spare time they may have while in school. Say that their English teacher ends class ten minutes early, instead of talking to their friends, they could begin working on their math homework. This frees up more time after school to see their friends or engage in other leisure activities. 

Review Your Notes Every Night

    This is similar to asking your child what they learned in school today. This helps them reinforce what they learned, 

Study a Little Every Day

Every child has had this experience. It is Thursday night; they have a big math test the next day on fractions. They had been putting off studying all week, and now they are overwhelmed with everything on the study guide, making them panic. This could have all be avoided if they had started looking on Monday when their teacher first told them about the test. Please encourage your child not to procrastinate; they will thank you.

Don’t Let a Bad Grade Break Their Stride.

    Education is a constantly changing and evolving journey. There will always be pitfalls and setbacks, don’t let these discourage your child or make them give up on their work. As long as they keep working to improve their routine and their process, they will be successful. 

Make Friends

    Nothing makes learning more accessible than having a friend who can understand what your child is going through. Encourage your child to make friends in their classes as this can lead to group study sessions, valuable resources, and possibly a long-lasting friendship.