We all understand that encouraging our children to be good students is important. Any child that does not do well academically will struggle to find their place in the world of work. Rightly or wrongly, most employers are not that interested in employing someone who has not passed their exams. Even the few that are, hold back if the person in front of them does not have particularly strong reading, writing, and mathematic skills.
Children have to attain increasingly higher levels of academic achievement to be able to pass their exams. As countries like China raise the bar, other countries are upping their standards too. As a result, it is vital that your children develop good study habits and do so from an early age. If they do not they will be left behind. Here are a few ways you can make it far less likely that will happen.
Teach your children to rely on their own abilities
Plagiarism and cheating are growing problems. Unsurprisingly, most educational institutions have taken effective steps to stop the cheats. When they are old enough to understand, use this handy definition of plagiarism to teach your children what it is. Explain why they should not do it and show them how easy it is to get caught cheating.
Teach them how to cite their sources
Also, explain that there is a right way to use what others have already discovered in their work. Make sure your children know the correct way to cite the work of others. Giving credit shows respect and enables the person marking your child´s academic papers to see that they have carried out proper research. It also makes it easier for them to accept and follow the arguments they are making, which again leads to higher marks.
Get them into the habit of studying regularly
Doing something at more or less the same time every day makes it far more likely you will do it. In particular, if it is something that you do not enjoy. Getting your children to study every day is an effective way to get them into good studying habits.
Teach them the importance of the right study environment
If left to their own devices, most children will try to do their schoolwork sat in front of the TV or while trying to answer texts from their friends. The majority of adults will do the same. Studies show that it is a very unproductive way to work. The best way to demonstrate this to your children is to sit them down somewhere quiet and time how long it takes them to write a short essay. Then let them do the same task while sitting in front of the TV. When they are finished, show them how much longer it took them to do their work when they were not working in the right environment.
Of course, that means you need to create the right kind of study space for each of your children. This short guide will give you some ideas on how to do that even if you do not have much room available.
