by Sue Kane

Created on: November 20, 2007   Last Updated: November 23, 2007

If you are like me, you want to find ways to help your children learn and develop good study habits. I have picked up a few tools that you may find fun and effective. I have two boys, Jack and Henry, and each has his own learning style.

My older boy, Jack, is learning multiplication. He is good at math but this handy trick helps him visualize the basic steps. Take a blank piece of paper and draw vertical columns. These are the columns for the numbers that you are multiplying. By keeping the numbers in the appropriate columns your answers will always be accurate. The ones columns to the far right, then the tens and then the hundreds. When your child becomes accustomed to visualizing the lines between the columns, he will use them to organize his thinking in the more complex mathematical process later on.

A fun math exercise that I do with my boys takes place every time we go grocery shopping. The children help me unload the shopping cart onto the conveyor belt. We do this in the old-fashioned "A to B" way. I pass the items one at a time to them and they work together to place them on the conveyor belt. As they do this they count each item. When the cart is empty they tell me how many items they counted. Then I tell Jack to multiply that number by 2 and this number will be the dollar cost of the groceries. It always comes out to within a dollar or so of the exact cost. The children are always thrilled to say the number out loud and sometimes the cashier will ask, "How did you do that?"

My younger son, Henry, is learning how to read paragraphs. Sometimes he says that he can read the words but he doesn't understand what he read and he asks me to reread the page to him. To help him with comprehension, there is a "crutch" the I use. I begin reading to him, and as I read, I run my index finger below the line of text. I read slowly and with expression, but not too much expression, so that he can hear and see only the line of text above my finger as it moves across the page. After two or three paragraphs, I stop and ask him an easy question about the content that we have just read. Then we switch turns and he reads and moves his finger along the line of text. I have seen a significant improvement in Henry's reading ability and comprehension and we enjoy this time together.

Another fun memory tool that I use is to "act out" the meaning of the reading, such as a chapter in history. Say, for example, your child is reading about how the early settlers survived the harsh New England winters. There may be three points to remember: hunting, fishing, and chopping wood. After reading the chapter, I quizz my child and ask,"Name three things that the settlers did to survive a harsh winter." If the child can't think of an answer, then I act out someone pulling a bow string and shooting an arrow (hunting), or casting a fishing line (fishing) or using an ax (chopping wood). Even if the child knows these answers, seeing you act out the part makes a kinetic and visual impression to reinforce learning and it is a lot of fun.

Remember, make your homework time with your child engaging and interactive and it will be a success now and in years to come.

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