Great study skills, a key to school success: SouthFlorida.com

As the school year kicks back in, plenty of parents will be moaning – to each other, at least – that their children have too much homework. Meanwhile, children in schools across the country are failing to keep up.

When students are working hard and still getting poor grades, that's a problem. Often, the biggest difficulty is that those children don't have the study skills they need to succeed.

Most schools don't teach children how to study. Instead, they pile on the homework assignments and leave kids on their own to figure out how to get it done. Many parents don't think to teach their children how to study either. Children aren't born knowing how to study anymore than they are born knowing how to read. And, like reading, study skills can be taught.

"One of the most important things is to allow the child to have as much responsibility for doing their homework as possible," Amy Smith, director of Kumon Math and Reading Centers in McKinney, Texas said. "They need to know what the expectations are and what their role is in the process."

According to the National Education Association, children in grades 3 to 6 can handle up to one hour per day of homework. In high school, it might be two or three hours or more. It's easy for that hour per day to be wasted if the child doesn't know how to effectively use homework time.

Smith offers several tips for parents to help their children be successful.

Location: Choose an ideal study location in the house that offers plenty of space for books, has good lighting and is free from distractions, such as the television or computer.

Materials: Keep school materials organized and available. Make sure your child is well prepared with all the necessary resources, such as pencils, paper and a dictionary. Children can spend a lot of time just looking for a pencil.

Schedule: Check your child's planner daily for notes from the teacher and go over the homework with your child. Use a calendar to mark important exams and project due dates.

Breaks: Have your child take a break if he or she becomes frustrated. Offer a cool drink or snack, or send your child outside to run, swing, skate or swim for 10 – 15 minutes before returning to the homework. Do not allow computers, TV or video games until the homework is finished.

Discipline: For parents, not kids. You have to stop yourself from helping. As much as you may want to do the work for your child to just get it done, it's your child's assignment, not yours. Your child is learning nothing if you do the assignment, except that whining, frustration and procrastination do get the job done.

Routine: Create a designated homework time and stick to it. Make sure that no other activities interfere with homework time. It's OK if it's not at the same time every day.

Last Resort: If, after you have the homework routine down, you think that your child's homework is too much or too difficult, by all means, have a conference with the teacher. Homework should reinforce the day's or week's lessons, not introduce new material.

Jacqueline Bodnar is a freelance writer that lives in Port Orange, Fla. with her husband and two children.