The Art of Study to Save Time for Students

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It’s difficult to explain to students why they should sit at their desk after a full day of school and do homework. Taking the time to explain that it’s so they can get a good job and be productive in society is a good thing to do, but it won’t generally make an impact. At the end of the day, kids don’t quite understand the importance of this, nor do they think it’s ‘cool’.

This creates a divide between parents and students in why study is (or is not) important.

As adults, it’s our job to work around these issues and give kids the chance to better understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. I do this in the hope that the student will actually make the choice they want to do their work by themselves.

This has an astounding side-effect: Kids will generally begin to do some study.

In fact, they may even like to do it!

Caption: Girl analyses her study in the Art of Study

1. 

I can think of numerous students that have gone from “I don’t like maths, and I’m not doing any homework” to “I really like our sessions, and I’m so glad I got 80% on this test. I’m going to work harder for the next one”.

To make this happen, I like to think about a quote from the master of military strategy and tactics, Sun Tzu. Tzu wrote a little book called “The Art of War”. In this book, he details ways to defeat enemies in combat, but there are many sections on how to effectively win in negotiation, too. This is because, Tzu believes that “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”.

The de-militarised translation of this might be: “The supreme art of study is to convince kids without an argument.”

I think this is a good goal, but obviously one that won’t be achieved 100% of the time.

Realistically, we want to figure out how to reduce the number, duration and intensity of arguments around study.

Let’s look at some de-militarised Sun Tzu quotes and build a plan.

2. 

Something that we aim to do in every session, is to better understand each of our students. We ask them about what they like, what they don’t like. We try to understand them as much as possible.

One benefit of this is that we can start to think about how to explain the importance of their study with things they actually like doing. For instance, if they enjoy Pokemon, we may want to make learning addition relevant to Pokemon. “If we have 151 Pokemon, then catch another 82 Pokemon, how many Pokemon do we have?”

Now maths has become worth understanding.

3. 

It’s important to remember that kids are kids. Their conversation skills aren’t as developed, this is why lots of teenagers say things like “No, that’s not what I meant” when having discussions with adults.

I believe there are 2 forms of golden bridges.

Firstly, we can help students develop their arguments during the discussion for why study is pointless. This way, you prove that you’re listening to them, but you also show that you understand exactly what they’re saying.

When you show them a different point of view, now they’ve already admitted that you understand.

Secondly, we should help students back away from the conversation when they’re wrong. We don’t want them to feel like they have to have their last stand on the discussion point of “study is pointless”. We can show them that they can have their point of view, be wrong, and still fight on another day.

Show them how to back down when they’re wrong, save face and that they can change their own opinions.

4. 

Once you’ve developed a plan that allows students to back away from their point with grace, give them a reward for trying.

For instance, you may say to reduce their study time from an hour to 30 minutes. This can help students realise it’s not so bad to study.

Perhaps, you also have a reward for doing their study, such as pushing back bed time.

Keep in mind, if the student is new to a study routine, the reward should be almost instant. Once they finish their study, they should get their reward.

As the student becomes used to study, we can push the rewards out to longer and longer periods, such as the end of the week or month.

What sort of rewards should be given though?

5. 

The argument about studying between parents and students is going to happen. The best way to handle it is to be prepared. In particular, be much more prepared for this than your kids are.

Parents that prepare are on the right foot in dealing with such things, and they now have the upper hand to calmly deal with the situation.

Consider things you thought about study when you were younger, and think about how you might respond if your child said these things to you. Better yet, how might you have the conversation about this BEFORE your kids start it with you.

For instance, if you used to think “studying is pointless”, how might you start a conversation about this with the family at the dinner table, with the goal of making sure the kids understand its importance?

6. 

Students will do what they see others doing and most students actually want to make their parents happy and proud (even teenagers).

Something that can work is to show them that you work too. This sounds odd, because you probably work a full-time job and do heaps of things around the house. Amazingly, your kids don’t see you do all of that though. The fact that you work hard may get missed.

How to make this work in your favour might be to do some paperwork at the kitchen table, when they’re doing their homework.

They can now see that after school they come home and do some homework, just like you go to work and then do some paperwork.

7. To Sum Up

To avoid arguments with kids and their study at home:

1) Build a solid argument from their point of view on why it’s important
2) Figure out their arguments against study with them
3) Help them back away from their arguments and change opinions
4) Show them that study has its own rewards
5) Be pre-emptive with these discussions
6) Show that you do “homework” too

I wish you the best as you try to get your kids to do their homework and study at home.

If you want to know more about Square Root and our maths tutoring sessions, do not hesitate to send us a message or call us on +61 3 9133 6616 or get in contact via our contact page