Sunday afternoon, 2:13pm: My son is writing a summary about El Morro for his Spanish Class on Tuesday. He has been on the dining room table for almost an hour, complaining about the heat, scribbling his papers, looking to oblivion, making noises and putting his foot on the table. I’m in front of him, watching his every move. He has been diagnosed with ADHD for over a year now.

Although my daughter is younger, and her assignments are similar to his, I work with her in a different setting. She will complain, say that the task is difficult, cry on occasions, and repeat constantly “Mommy, am I done?”. My daughter is on the lighter end of the Autism Spectrum.

Being an overachiever as a child, my parents never prompted me to begin my homework, nor were with me while I was doing my homework after the 1st and 2nd grade. I was able to complete my tasks, and hand in my assignments on time. But then again, we were a single income family home, my mother was a homemaker, and we went straight home after school. My children are a very different generation.

My schedule has been less busy in the past 2 years with my children. But in the past, my daughter has received Speech, Occupational, Psychological, Physical and iLS therapies, through different periods, since she was 3 years old. Nonetheless, her therapies were mostly after my work hours 3pm and basically 2 hours long Mondays thru Thursdays. Add our recent Tae Kwon Do practices Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Fridays are dedicated to Catechism and Cub Scouts meetings. So, our schedule for studying are pretty limited for both children.

And how DO you study with your children?

With all of these complexities my children have, (and maybe yours as well), it all has to do with scheduling and prioritizing. And while we want our kids to take their own command towards their homework, their conditions obliges me as the mommy to be with them most of the time.

My Mommy Routine

My afternoons starts with arriving at the therapy center and open each notebook for their assignments. Those that have homework are taken out, while the others remain in their backpacks. Normally, my children have different schedules during therapies (my daughter enters first, then my son), so while one of my children is in their session, the other is doing their homework. Once the first session is over and the other child goes in, that child does their homework.

Any additional tasks, such as looking for pictures, the notebook are taken upstairs to look for them and print them before the next morning.

And School Projects, Oral Reports?

School projects and oral reports are usually assigned with at least a week’s notice, so it gives me time to prioritize on a calendar. We may prioritize a day at home to catch up over TKD every so often (specially on Tuesdays), but working on little chunks of assignment every day, makes work less tedious and a lot more to manage. Oral reports are read at least every day, to keep information fresh.

And How are Their Grades?

Their GPA’s at the moment are a 3.0 for my son and a 3.6 for my daughter from a total of 4.0 (which would be straight A’s or 10’s). I try to be realistic with the times, in which they have to establish healthy study habits within their schedule, but at the same time, considering that they are human and entitled to learn at their own space and time.

I can’t force them to be as I was, in part because their circumstances and mine are different. They are different children with very different needs and attentions. My job as a mommy, is to create independent study habits, in small steps (besides, both are still in Elementary School).

So as a community, how do you manage your child’s study habits? As an Improving Mommy, I am open to any advice given, so if you have the same issues as I do, and know how to manage them better, please comment below.