Subtitle: Empower them to step up to the plate!
If you’ve made it through the trenches of the elementary years, you’re probably looking forward to your middle-grader working more independently with their lessons. This is an excellent time to start transferring some responsibility! But schoolwork independence doesn’t happen overnight. Approach this as you would any other new task you expect your child to learn.
1. Do it in stages
Handing over all the things at once is not a setup for success. Pick a subject or two to begin with. The ones that your child naturally finds easy or enjoys are great choices!
2. Let them have input
Taking responsibility is a grown-up thing, so begin with a grown-up discussion and involve your child in choosing things like:
- The subjects they will take more responsibility for,
- The chosen curriculum, equipment, and supplies, and
- Their schedule and place of study.
Giving your child a voice in these things will help them shoulder true self-responsibility, instead of just feeling like this is one more thing they’re being told to do.
3. Teach study skills and time management
Equip your child to do what they need to do. Taking responsibility for school work requires skills your child may have never needed before—things like:
- creating a schedule,
- estimating how long tasks will take,
- prioritizing certain tasks before others,
- taking effective notes, and
- finding help and resources when they need it.
Let them choose their own planner or calendar, and consider making study skills and time management an entire course of study for a semester.
4. Consider consequences and/or rewards
If you opt for this approach, try to tie rewards and consequences directly to the behaviors you’re looking to encourage or discourage. For a reward, how about a gift card for a book of their choice after completing all their school reading independently for a month—or, for a consequence, having to miss an outing with friends because they did not complete their lessons that day.
Share your tips! What is your favorite way to instill responsibility for school work? Drop a comment and let us know. OR Hop over to Facebook and leave a comment on this post. OR similar CTA.