Taking Control

Taking Control
Teaching your child to take control of their education has many benefits and increases the odds that your child will be more successful and more responsible. Starting before kindergarten and continuing through high school and into college or career training, your child should spend more and more of their own time pursuing their academic and career goals. Doing this will:

Create more college and career opportunities
Increase the chances for college admissions and scholarships
Increase your child’s level of responsibility
Increase your child’s level of independence
Make changing their major or career path easier

Measuring how much control your child is taking over their education is easy: Simply count the number of minutes or hours each week your child is spending on activities above and beyond what their teachers require or expect.

Teachers may be able to provide some guidance, but to get the full benefit, students should do as much of this work on their own as possible. After all, the whole point is to take control.

The amount of time students should spend each week really depends on the student and their goals, but here are some suggested minimums per week:

Kindergarten: 15+ minutes
Grades 1-3: 30+ minutes
Grades 4-5: 1+ hour
Grades 6-8: 1.5+ hours
Grades 9-12: 2+ hours

Elementary School