marydee sklar Archives - Empowering Families

Part 5 of 5: Parenting Tips For Creating A Good Study Environment

November 13, 2009 by FENadm

Time Management from a Different Point of View

“My child gets so overwhelmed with her homework projects that she just fritters away her time without much progress. How can I help her without rescuing her?”

Discussion
We can give you family-tested ideas to help you teach your child the critical life skill of time management. In our last blog, part 4 of 5, we learned that visual thinkers typically have the most challenges connected to time. Learning tutor and coach, Marydee Sklar, says, “In general, auditory thinkers seem to have internal clocks and can more easily manage themselves using traditional homework strategies. If your child exhibits most of the behaviors listed in the first box (see Part 4), you can describe your child as a visual thinker. It is critical for visual learners to be taught about time management using methods that match their visual brain. I know this because I am a visual thinker and have visual-thinking children. The ideas I use as a learning coach came from problem solving within our family. The list of tools and ideas below are effective because they keep time in the sight and mind of the visual thinker. I recommend the book, Mapping Inner Space: Learning and Teaching Visual Mapping, (Zephyr Press, 2001) by Nancy Margulies for more ideas about visual learning and teaching.” [Read more…]

Part 4 of 5: Parenting Tips For Creating A Good Study Environment

November 10, 2009 by FENadm

An Important Question—Is Your Child a Visual or Auditory Learner?

“I get things done early or on time, but my daughter procrastinates and does everything last minute.”

Discussion
Learning good study skills early can really help with the “homework blues.” Believe it or not, you can teach your child time management skills. My friend, Marydee Sklar, a tutor and organizing coach, says the trick is to use strategies that match your child’s thinking.

She says, “If you’re a parent who is always on time and always plans ahead, your approach using prioritized lists and lecturing won’t work with a child who floats through time. Your message will just go in one ear and out the other. If you’re a parent who struggles with being on time and meeting deadlines and you have a child who is also challenged by these same issues, you may both have the same learning style.”

Marydee has found it useful to divide learners into visual or auditory thinkers, based upon behavioral characteristics. By looking at behavior, she has clues about how the learner’s brain works. Which type is your child? Which type are you? The learning style helps Marydee determine what kind of support to offer. [Read more…]