By Erin Croddick Avery
We have all read the research that when starting a new routine, it takes 21 days to form a new habit. For this back to school challenge, take a highlighter to your wall calendar for the first three weeks of September and do the following:
- Set up individual, reduced distractions study spaces for each of your learners. Buy a simple spinning caddie, available at places such as Pottery Barn Kids in the Grove West or Lairds in Fair Haven, and stock it with highlighters, pens, pencils, mechanical pencils for left-handers (they don’t smear), firm sticky tabs, erasers, sticky no tes, Mindbinders (the best flipping flashcard) and any other colorful tools that incentivize students to have fun studying.
- Study Hall 101. Reduced distractions – visual and sounds – is critical. According to Philosopher Bernard Lonergan, the brain responds to relaxation and that this is an indisputable condition for eureka moments. So, create a space that is work-focused but Zen at the same time.
- Set a kitchen timer at the same time each night for three weeks – Ask students to work for 30 minutes without asking for help. This is crucial as it will build their resilience and grit in working out obstacles on their own. For older students, reset the timer up to four times but no more in those first two weeks. And if they have completed assigned work, have them pick a book and read. It’s the discipline of showing up each day and the positive habit-forming behavior that we’re after!
- Find out what they love. For young learners, it may be dinosaurs, Disney, Ever After High, Star Wars, etc. Print from Google images, cut them in circles the size of a half-dollar and photocopy them onto a blank page in a path, like a board game. Get a bowl of plastic gems (think Michaels or Hobby Lobby) and for each page read or math problem solved, give him or her a gem in a bowl to place on the board. They will work twice as long with this incentive!
- Mark your textbook page. Students lose valuable minutes searching for their assignment. Sturdy sticky tabs get you to work instantly and can be moved ahead each day by peeling and resticking.
- Design a technology charging station in the kitchen. Students who take phones and devices to their bedrooms get much less sleep and sleep is vital for learning in teens and growing children. Studies reveal that taking a nap after learning an intricate concept boost retention significantly! Screen light counteracts the serotonin secretions, inhibiting one’s ability to “settle down.” So check in the devices at 8 p.m. Make your home a sanctuary.
- Chinese medicine advocates a proactive approach to wellness. During the changing of the seasons, wise parents slice ginger into their children’s water to help keep sore throats at bay.
- Blood sugar must be stabilized throughout the morning at school for optimal learning. So think protein for breakfast, not cereal or bagels. Pumpkin seeds are superb brain food. Also, try Buckwheat groats with almond milk and honey. (P.S. It’s not a grain.)
- Have students make a chart with a clear goal. They can color in the time spent each day in their study space (like the ones that measure fundraiser donations and are colored in as donations increase.) At the end of the Three-Week Got Your Back To School challenge, evaluate and celebrate if the student has reached his/her goal.
- Time for a celebration? How about a sit-down to a family meal. Students who eat with their families multiple times per week report having better grades than students who do not. Food for thought!
Erin Croddick Avery, D.Min., is a certified educational planner and founder of Avery Educational Resources, LLC., in Fair Haven, an independent educational consulting practice that specializes in counseling students and their families throughout the college and boarding school search and application process.
