Motivation for Difficult Homework Session – Leading Questions Will Help
ByMotivation for difficult homework session is important for the student to start with the right mindset. Leading questions can help create that. Parents can help with this technique and the student can learn to do this for herself.
The role of leading questions in creating mindset is this. Since hearing a question stimulates the mind to come up with an answer this action alone will start the ball rolling. Granted it is a small thing but it does cause the student to start thinking about the solution to the difficult task they are facing.
An excellent starter question might go like this. You are driving your 7th grade son from baseball practice and he is saying he is tired because it was a tough workout today. You also know he has a math test coming up in 2 days and he sometimes does not study for tests until the last minute. You get the feeling he is planning to do the minimum on homework tonight. You also know the math teacher probably said, “You’re homework tonight is to study for the test.” As you add all this up you get a picture of your son looking at his assignment book and reading the math assignment: “Study for test.” Next you see him flipping through the chapter in the math book, glancing through the examples, and maybe taking a quick look at his class notes. The total time spent is 7 minutes. You know that he needs to spend about 30 minutes of seriously engaged study time to do well on the test.
Here’s where you can make the difference. You can acknowledge that it was a tough practice today and it also ran later than usual and you realize that will make it a bit challenging to get all the homework done tonight. Then you start with your leading question. Remember the purpose of this is just to get him thinking, strategizing and planning how he is going to tackle the overall task of having a successful and engaged study session.
Leading questions should always be specific and open ended. Open ended questions cannot be answered with a quick yes or no.
A great leading question in this situation would be this. “Since you are tired tonight and have that math test coming up in two days, what kinds of study activities would help you do your best on that test?” Just coming up with an answer to this will cause him to start thinking in a strategic manner about the task.
Stay tuned for more details on how to craft leading questions and have a productive and motivating conversation with you child. This is how to get them started toward the best mindset to succeed with the upcoming task.
