Ways to Help Your Child Succeed At School When You’re Pressed for Time

For busy moms, prioritizing and paring back is key. One thing you never want to have to cut back on, though, is helping your children with their homework. Thankfully, helping your children succeed in school doesn’t have to require you to sit down at the table together for hours every night. Here are four great ways you can help your children succeed in school even when you’re strapped for time.

1. Quiz Your Children in the Car

Between driving to work, school and several after-school activities, does it feel like you practically live in the car? Why not use this time to your advantage? Quiz your children on their math facts, ask them to spell words for you or hold up lose change for them to identify. Practice counting by twos, list state capitals or discuss the judicial system–whatever your children are working on in school.

2. Cook Together

Cooking and baking aren’t just fun (and delicious!), they are also a great way to teach your children several important skills and concepts, including numbers, reading, following directions, fractions and science. Depending on your children’s ages, you can have them dump and stir ingredients you’ve already measured or you could have them do most of the work themselves. They’ll have so much fun, they won’t even realize how much they are learning!

Check out the Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cook Book for cooking fun in the kitchen!

3. Have Your Child Read to You While You Clean

If you want to sit down and read with your children but your house is a wreck, why not have them read to you while you clean instead? Pick children’s books that are exactly at your children’s reading levels and have them read aloud while you dust, wash dishes or fold socks. This way, you’ll be right there if your children needs help with a word, but you’ll also get a few things done as well.

4. Sit Down to Work Together

Do you have desk work you need to do? For example, paying bills, replying to emails, grading papers or finishing up a project for the office? Sit down at the table with your children to do your work together. This is a great way to help reinforce good study habits in your children, especially if you get in the habit of sitting down to work at the same time every day.

A busy lifestyle may cause you to miss out on a few things, but helping your children with their schoolwork should not be one of them. Thankfully, if you can get creative and find ways to use your time well, you’ll quickly see that there are plenty of chances for study and learning no matter what you are doing.

Of course setting everything aside and sitting down together is always ideal, but for those days when you are simply overwhelmed with little to no time to spare, helping your children with their homework doesn’t have to be the item that gets left off of your list.

Do you have any creative tips for helping your children with their schoolwork even when you’re busy? I’d love to hear more suggestions!