Sometimes the hardest challenges a student and parent face are study skills. Many students tell their parents they are studying and all a parent hears is music on in their bedroom. Ironically, sometimes the complete silence makes it very difficult for a child to study and they need some background noise, (i.e. Music), to help keep their mind focused and their bodies motivated.
Remember when you were a child, getting up early in the morning and going to school all day for 8 hours, and then coming home and many times having play dates or time to rest. Today’s students have it much harder; many elementary schools have gotten rid of recess; don’t you remember recess? It was a break from all the studying to give our minds a rest to veg out and play some kickball and interact with classmates.
Due to the intensity and demand of test scores and grades, students have begun losing out on the social aspect of school. When a student leaves school at 3:00, many times they do not go home but ran to an after school program like Huntington, Homework Helper, or Sylvan so they can get help with their studies. There is nothing wrong with this as long as a few days a week the child can be a child and play with his or her friends or participate in team sports.
The pressure for our children and students to get ahead is prominent but at what cost? Over doing the studying and the nagging about grades will just turn a child against school altogether and this is the last thing you want to happen.
Plan out a schedule for your child including time for studying, breaks, “vegging” out time, time with friends, and time for sports. Grades are extremely important in today’s world but so is having a well rounded, creative student.