My nine-year-old son looked up from his book, turned to me and burst out, “But how can I learn an entire chapter in just one day?” I kept silent and wondered what to do. He had me worried as well.

I knew that I had never before asked him to complete a full chapter from his textbook in a day. Instead I had told him to relax and not rush through his studies because it would have been easier for him to learn as well as retain his lessons that way.

The different techniques of learning have to be implemented and inculcated in children so that they can use them as they grow up and begin to study independently. It is, I know for certain, very easy for us to say “go and complete your work”, but it would be easier on the child to practice good study habits which bring success at school, foster feelings of competence, develop a positive attitude and lay the grounds for successful work habits when they grow up.

Earlier, it was usually the fathers who were the breadwinners of a family but today mothers work also. Teaching your child with patience after a long and tiring day of meeting the demands of the workplace becomes difficult. Therefore teach him to help himself.

Establish a study routine so that your child is in the habit of studying at the same time each day. This should be done keeping in view the child’s ability to concentrate at different times of the day, family commitments as well as other activities. The family should agree that during this time, the television is switched off along with blocking all other distractions. This should be a time when not just the child but the entire family reads or completes their work. It will not only help the child but the entire family get organised.

Before settling down to work, ask your child to make sure that all his supplies including paper, pencil case, calculator, reference books, etc., are at hand. It can be very frustrating when your child starts searching for a pencil sharpener or any book in the middle of a lesson.

I make it a habit to always discuss with my son the topics and subjects we would be doing on a specific day and make it a point that he writes it down in an assignment book along with the time he would require to cover each topic. In fact, he has now become so used to it that this is the first thing he asks me when we sit together.

Ticking off what has been covered on his list gives a sense of achievement and we also know exactly how it has been completed and what is still left to be done. The assignment book can also be used to break down long-term assignments and projects into smaller parts. So that our sessions are not just work-oriented, they can also contain other commitments including sports, games music lessons, etc.

Planning ahead is one of the best ways to do well. I encourage my son to go through the same material many times over so that he can absorb lessons gradually, become familiar with the text as well as learn at his own pace without stress.

Writing two drafts can also help. You can also ask your child to proofread and check for success/failure in answering the purpose of the assignment, legibility, spelling and punctuation errors. This will help him gain insight into where he needs to concentrate more and these rectifications will remain with him and thereby be prevented in the future.

However, it is not just hard work which will help your child climb the ladder of success. Attitude and perspective also play a major role. Praise works wonders. It can help achieve the impossible, so help your child imagine himself as an excellent student. This will not only help him achieve success presently but also in later life.

Once your child feels he is a success, doing well will come easily if you brainstorm what needs to be done to make that a reality. Display work done well in a prominent place to further encourage your child. Celebrate success together. This will not only boost his morale but also strengthen your relationship with him. After all, life is not not just about good marks and grades nor is it about success and failure and neither is it only about ladders and rungs. It is also about relations and values and what is imbibed into making who we are and what we stand for.

The writer is a teacher.