They say having a child is like watching your heart walk around on the outside.
From the first moments they enter the world, you know you’d do anything for them.
When they’re little, this means attending to their basic needs—like food, shelter, and water. Babies are relatively simple in that way.
But, as your child grows, develops, and enters into the outside world—your role as a parent and caregiver undergoes a shift, as well.
Suddenly, homework support is on your menu. As is making sure their backpack is packed and they complete their school assignments on time.
You realize parenting is never easy—but it’s hard in different ways as your child grows and changes.
When they reach school age, you have a lot on your plate when it comes to ensuring they have the tools to succeed.
Add to this that you’re also holding down a job and have a lot on your plate that doesn’t revolve around your kiddo.
Still, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do to support them and help them reach their potential—even if that means learning a whole new way to do math than you were taught in school.
Sometimes, you may feel like you’re carrying this burden and holding things together all on your own. But you’re not alone.
We understand the struggles you face in supporting your child with their learning.
After all, you’re trying to help them become a fully functioning adult someday—and that is not a task for the faint of heart.
At times, you may feel overwhelmed or lost in the wilderness, wondering—
What are the right choices to support them?
How do I approach this?
What strategies are best for their learning needs?
And where do I begin?
We want to support you in answering these questions and gaining the guidance you need to make the best choices to uplift your child’s learning experience.
This article will offer you our expert tips and advice so you can feel more confident in helping your child navigate their educational journey. Let’s get started!
Tips and strategies to help support your child’s learning journey
When it comes to offering your child the support they need to succeed, it helps to have a game plan.
Here are some tips and strategies to help you help your child learn the ways they learn best.
And remember—you’re the expert on your child.
This means you have a unique understanding of their personality and preferences. This comes in handy when you’re selecting the best strategies to support their learning.
Because the best strategies are the ones you tailor to your child and their unique learning needs.
Let’s explore some examples.
Offering emotional support
You not only want your child to succeed and achieve their potential—you want them to enjoy learning.
For some parents, this may feel like a tall order.
When learning is difficult for children, they often don’t yet possess the emotional tools to effectively cope with their feelings.
This can lead to outbursts, withdrawal, tantrums, and meltdowns when it comes time to complete school and homework.
Finding the best ways to support your child’s learning can reduce episodes of emotional dysregulation, and make the learning process much smoother sailing for everyone.
Particularly if your child is neurodivergent, emotional support from you is an important component of their learning plan.
Children with ADHD often struggle with low self-esteem and self-confidence. These learners can greatly benefit from parents and caregivers who support not only their learning goals but also their emotional well-being.
Asking your child how they’re feeling and really listening to their response can be a component of this strategy. You can also help your child recognize and name their feelings and notice where they show up in their body.
You can support your child in learning how to process their big feelings with strategies such as taking breaks, deep breathing, and mindfulness exercises.
Movement can also be helpful in processing emotions. Guide your child in shaking it out or engage them in a silly dance break to help them move feelings through their system effectively so they can concentrate and apply their best self to their work.
Set them up for success
You’ve heard it before and witnessed it firsthand—kids crave structure and routine.
You can provide this and set them up for success with their at-home learning.
The type of structure that’s best for your child will depend on their individual preferences and needs. For example—some kids might find picture schedules to be very motivating, while others might find them to be anxiety-producing.
Use your knowledge of your child and don’t be afraid to engage in a little trial and error when it comes to finding and implementing the routine that works best for them.
Some specific suggestions to support your child’s study habits and learning routines at home include—
Establish clear expectations around their homework and study needs
For example, discuss with them verbally and in writing what you expect for their school week study habits. You may expect them to read each night for a half hour, or spend 20 minutes after school on their homework before they can have time on their phone or tablet.
Recognize and minimize distractions
This is especially important for kiddos with ADHD or other executive functioning challenges, who may become easily distracted by sights and sounds in their environment. Make sure their homework setting is free from anything they might find distracting. You can also check in with them to see how they’re feeling internally, as kids with ADHD often struggle to focus due to internal distractions. Encourage your child to notice if they’re distracted. When this happens, they can refocus on the task at hand. You can help them recognize and reset when this occurs.
Make a schedule
Many kids find schedules and calendars helpful in setting expectations and organizing their thoughts around homework and study habits. Picture schedules work well for younger kids, whereas older kids may benefit from written schedules, calendars, or a mixture.
Use a timer
For your child, half an hour may seem like an eternity to focus on something. You can help them manage and organize their time by using visual timers and clearly setting expectations for how long they need to focus and study or do homework, and then how long they can engage in a preferred activity. You can find adorable timers that look like animals on Amazon (our favorite is an egg timer that looks like a fox).
Don’t reinvent the wheel
When you’re trying to support your child’s learning habits, you don’t need to create anything from scratch. Thankfully, this is well-worn ground in the educational community.
Use what’s available to help your child learn in the ways they learn best and develop good study habits.
One great way to learn positive strategies to support their learning is to connect with their teacher. Teachers are often more than happy to offer parents insight into specific strategies they use to help children learn.
One strategy teachers use widely with the elementary school population is the RAP strategy. This strategy was developed to support reading comprehension, but its potential applications go far beyond this use. This strategy can also help with math word problems, science, and other subjects.
The RAP strategy is a three-part comprehension strategy that stands for: read, ask, and put in my own words (or paraphrase).
To use it, children first read a passage, then they ask questions about what they’ve read. Lastly, they rephrase what they’ve read to ensure their understanding. This strategy promotes comprehension by encouraging readers to interact with and process what they’ve read.
The TWA strategy is another learning strategy that’s often used with older kids.
This strategy encourages readers to think actively during, before, and after reading. It supports comprehension by helping readers self-monitor what they’ve read. It can also benefit recall and processing skills, leading to improved reading comprehension.
Another simple yet powerful strategy to support your child’s learning is to encourage them to always review and check over their work. You’d be amazed how many errors can be caught and fixed when this simple strategy is used.
Learn their learning style
You’ve got a bird’s eye view into your child’s strengths and challenges as a learner. You can support their development of good learning and study habits by shoring up their strengths and accounting for their areas of weakness.
For example, if your child is very detail-oriented, you can compliment them on these skills. You can also point out how they can use this to their advantage when studying or taking a test.
Show them how they can apply their innate learning strengths to specific tasks and assignments. This can also help build their self-confidence while teaching them to use the tools they have to become the best learner they can be.
You can also help them identify any areas in which they struggle and create a plan that helps them feel more confident and empowered to address and overcome any potential barriers to learning.
For example, if your child has difficulty sitting still while reading or studying, build movement breaks into their study time. Some children actually learn best when walking around vs. sitting still.
Others find they can focus better when their hands are kept busy with objects like fidget spinners or other tactile objects. These tips may be especially handy for learners with ADHD.
Getting support with your child’s learning needs
Does your child need to be evaluated? Do you need help approaching their needs when they have learning differences or disabilities? Could they benefit from extra support in school to help them achieve their educational goals?
When you’re noticing your child struggling with their learning skills or overall school experience, it can be difficult to know where to turn.
You want to get them the help and support they need to reach their full potential, but you’re not sure where to begin.
Many parents feel at a loss with the steps to take to get their children the help they need to unlock their full educational experience.
That’s where we come in. The Loop partners with Chicago private schools to offer students and their families access to the best in therapy and learning support services.
When your child works with us, we’ll involve you in the therapy process, and can help train you in personalized strategies to help them thrive, both in school and at home.
We create personalized therapy and learning support plans, customized to the unique needs and preferences of each child and family we’re honored to serve.
Because we believe it takes a village to ensure all children can enjoy a full educational experience. Let us help your child access the education they deserve, and reach their full potential.
The Loop is here to support you and your child to develop stellar study and learning habits. Our top-quality therapy services include speech, language, behavioral, and occupational therapy services. We also offer an array of signature educational support services, including learning remediation, educational consultancy and advocacy, and executive function coaching.
Stay in the Loop by following us on social media @theLoopSLL, visiting our website regularly for informative blog posts, or shooting us an email at info@theloopsll.com.