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This strategy is win-win: Better homework and more self-efficacy!!

This strategy is win-win: Better homework and more self-efficacy!!

by | Apr 5, 2018 | Self-Efficacy

Homework time isn’t always the easiest or most enjoyable time of day for parents and kids alike.  This only gets worse when your child has low self-efficacy about the task they are undertaking. In fact, the root cause of low motivation is very often the underlying belief that we may not be able to succeed at the task at hand.

Concern about this topic is substantial, which (fortunately) means that plenty of researchers have tackled the issue. Here is one of their findings – start using it today for a better homework experience and improved self-efficacy:

Have your child say their process out loud

This is a simple and effective strategy for getting kids to feel more confident about their abilities.

Just follow these two steps:

  1. Help your child lay out a specific learning strategy and verbalize the plan.  For example,  “I’m going to read through my spelling words, then write them out with the sheet, then have my parent quiz me without my sheet and then rewrite the ones I got wrong three times”.
  2. Proceed through the task and have your child verbalize as they go what the next steps are, while noting their progress out loud along the way.