How to Teach Independent Learning for Kids

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Ann and I am here to talk about homework tips. And the focus of what our discussion would be this afternoon is self-reliance. It is the independence of the learner. Ultimately what you want to do is see your child become an independent learner. Now how do you go about that, when they are younger, when your daughter or son is at a young age, certainly you want to do hands-on child centered activities that motivate, inspire and are concrete operations where the child is handling the material, handling what you are talking about and you learn from that. Certainly as you go on and your child is older and in the upper elementary school years and middle school years, you want to be there to make sure that your child is on task that he or she understands the assignments, that they are focused in what they are doing that you are trying to help them minimize distractions while they are doing homework and certainly we know what those distractions are, they could be watching television, you know, what they call multitasking listening to the radio, etc. You want to teach them not to develop these bad habits when they are doing homework. And in high school you again want to check with your child from time-to-time and certainly they are verging into adulthood but you need to be there to supervise to make sure they understand what homework assignments they have the responsibility for the various classes and to understand to try to do well, the best they can, because if you are going out to colleges, it is very competitive to get into college, so you need to respect your child, understand at what stage your child is in and you want to give some space and distance but at the same time you need to be there."