Kids Not Getting into the Homework Groove? Try these 7 Tips from Tutor Leo Shmuylovich

Now that school is back in for pretty much the whole country, kids should be getting back into the home groove. If this isn’t happening at your house, maybe you need to check out the tips below from expert tutor and founder of Virtual Nerd Leo Shmuylovich to help make things go a little smoother this year.

• Remove ALL Distractions – when it’s time to study, you need to make sure your child has a distraction-free workspace. That means no TV, cell phones or chit chatting. Also, make sure the computer is being used only for homework projects; otherwise, leave it off or at least away from the student.

• Be Your Child’s Champion – always make sure you know how your student is doing in school and if he or she needs help, talk to their teacher. If you can’t help your child yourself, find someone who can, such as a tutor. Keep up on reviewing homework and tests – the time to find out your child is struggling is not grade card time.

• Don’t Wait; Start Now! – Beginning this week, sit down and really look at your child’s homework. Make sure he or she understands what he/she is learning about. This way you’ll know early on if there are issues that need to be addressed. This will prevent anxiety and prevent your child from becoming overwhelmed.

• Reduce Test-Taking Anxiety – You can tell if your child has test anxiety if he or she does well on homework but performs poorly on tests. To help with this, give them a timed test at home without their books or computer and in a comfortable setting to simulate test taking.

• Make Your Child the Teacher – Ask your child to parrot back the concepts he or she is learning about so you can hear how they are thinking about the ideas. If they know how to explain the concept, they should be able to solve the problems.

• Practice Makes Perfect – While your child won’t like this much, you can ask the teacher for extra worksheets and ideas for more practice. Also look in neighborhood bookstores for workbooks if your child needs extra practice on specific kinds of problems.

• Tap Online Resources for Assistance – Online resources can help galvanize specific concepts. Schmuylovich says sometime hearing it explained slightly differently can help with a child’s understanding.

“It can be challenging for parents to intervene when their child is struggling with homework,” says Shmuylovich. “Sometimes the best thing they can do is offer help indirectly which minimizes he chance of conflict between the parent and child.”

About Leo Shmuylovich

Leo just received his Ph.D in Physics from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is on leave from medical school in order to found the company he’s co-founding called Virtual Nerd (www.virtualnerd.com) He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. He graduated in 3 years and was Magna Cum Laude as well as Merrill Presidential Scholar, which is one of the university’s highest honors. He has been a lecturer and tutor for The Princeton Review and has taught MCAT Physics and Biology classes as well as SAT math prep classes to hundreds of students. He has also taught high school and college-level student on SAT, SAT II, AP exams as well as math and science courses.

Virtual Nerd helps students grades 7-12 learn math and science through interactive tutorials. It uses a patent-pending platform to provide students interactive and personalized learning experiences. Students are able to learn at their own pace and achieve understanding of science and math. Click here to view the introductory video, and follow Virtual Nerd on Facebook and Twitter.