Here are some additional back-to-school tips to keep your momentum going strong:
- Set up a pattern or routine for after school. However, a flexible grouping of blocks may be better as opposed to a set time schedule. Be sure to build in some downtime and movement time.
- Work in blocks of time as opposed to to-do task lists. Focus for 20 minutes and then do a three-minute movement break. Encourage the student’s help with setting up the order that they want to tackle the work.
- Manage energy, not time. Start with an easy homework subject, then do more difficult subjects and finish up with easy subjects in order to help your student get started more easily. Doing all of the easy tasks first leaves little or no energy for the difficult ones.
- If you have children of different ages, set up a general academic time. If the older students need longer to complete assignments, designate that time for the younger ones as a quiet time. Encourage them to color, read or play quietly. Limit the use of screens during the academic time to only those needed for school. Even if your child finishes their homework during academic time, encourage them to engage with non- screen activities for the remainder of the time.
- Set up the daily after school routine on a whiteboard or someplace where everyone can see it. If your children are tweens or teens, enlist their buy-in by asking them to help you plan the schedule.
- Be sure your child knows where to check for all of their homework assignments. They may be in multiple places such as Google hangout, teacher’s websites or Schoology. Identify teachers’ weekly calendars that help everyone figure out what the homework, upcoming tests, quizzes or papers might be.
If you’d like some more strategies or ideas for your child don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Midwest Educational Therapy and Associates Facebook, YouTube channel and at www.metaoh.org
