Test: Getty Images/E+? bluestocking; Timer: IStock/Getty Images Plus/ alicjane
Your child’s schedule is
packed with school and
extra-curricular activities,
but she has 20 minutes
before practice or 15 minutes
on the bus or car ride home.

These small gaps of time
between school and activities
are precisely when she
should study. Bus rides
work best for high schoolers
who play a sport and are
in and out of the bus all
afternoon and evening
long. She may not be able
to complete her entire
study guide or review all
of her notes, but studying
in these small chunks of
time will be most eff ective
for her retention of
information. This is because
she will be repeating the
information every day
before practice and putt ing
it into long-term memory
by sleeping on it between
studying. Why will developing
this habit work? Because it’s
tied to something she already
does in her daily routine:
waiting for practice to start
or riding home on the bus or
in the car.

CONNECT STUDYING
WITH HOMEWORK
A lot of kids don’t like
to study for exams. They
will do homework, since
it’s a concrete assignment
with a due date and is
short enough to complete
in one sitt ing. However,
since studying isn’t a set
assignment, they will
often procrastinate.

What can they do to
stop the procrastination
cycle and develop an
eff ective study habit? Tie
studying to homework,
a task that they already
perform each night. Here’s
how it can work:
• Encourage your student
to set aside 10-20 minutes
for studying before
starting homework
each night.

• Encourage your child
to set a timer to hold
himself accountable.

After the timer buzzes,
the student should move
on to homework that is
due the next day. Soon
enough, a routine will
be set.

The key is to att ach the
new activity of studying to
something the child does
every night anyway, like
completing homework.

Surrounding yourself
with an environment
overfl owing with visual
cues and reminders of
whatever habit you want
to develop will help you
stick with something long
enough to incorporate it into
your routine.

What does all this mean
with regard to organization?
It means that you can
surround your child with
a home full of visual cues
Encourage your child to set a timer to hold
himself accountable. After the timer buzzes,
the student should move on to homework
that is due the next day. Soon enough, a
routine will be set.

ORGANIZATIONAL HABITS: GIVE
YOURSELF VISUAL CUES
Let’s be honest, if you have
cookies on the counter,
sooner or later, you’ll eat
them. This is why willpower
is not good enough to form
a habit! But if there is fruit on
the counter, you might not
eat it, but at least you won’t
eat cookies.

that prompt him to stay
organized. Here are
some examples:
• Place a calendar in a
public family space.

Making a calendar
of weekly homework
assignments and long-
term projects is a great
way to visually remind
your child of when
things are due and most
washingtonFAMILY.com January 2019
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