The expert in general health psychology and educational psychology, Silvia Álava, spoke last week in a new session of Sabadell Forum, organised by the Directorate of Religious Institutions and the Third Sector. Álava explained how to help children in their studies. Her message was direct: studying, doing homework or organising the school schedule is the children’s responsibility, never the parents.
If you are one of those parents who is continually pushing your son or daughter to study, who ends up doing the exercises to show their teacher how diligent and a good student they are or you use the parents’ Whatsapp group to ask what homework has to be done because the child wasn’t paying attention in class and doesn’t know, … the fact is you are not doing something right.
At least, that’s what Silvia Álava believes. This specialist in child psychology explained how we must manage the teaching and education of our children from childhood to secondary school, focusing on a key word: responsibility. And not so much in that of adults, but especially in that of infants, because in their understanding the sooner parents know how to transfer responsibilities to their children, the greater preparation and training they will have at an emotional or intellectual level in the future. Otherwise, there is a risk of pushing them towards a lack of tolerance for frustration, lack of resilience or demotivation.
In the childhood stage, from 0 to 5 years old, Silvia Álava explained that children should not do homework. Their life has to revolve around games and especially traditional ones that involve personal relationships. “They have to play as a family, with their peers or alone. Playing is more than having fun, it is a process of learning many things, as it helps to increase confidence, self-esteem, social skills and intellectual processes”, she stressed.
Study for 25 minutes
In the primary stage, from 5 to 12 years old, responsibilities and tasks arise at school. It is a key period to accelerate the autonomy of the little ones, working on habits and planning. “Be careful not to take on tasks that are not yours. Homework, the school schedule are the responsibilities of the children, never of the parents. It is one thing to solve something specific for them, another is to solve the problem as a whole”, warned Álava, while recalling the rule of setting study periods of 25 minutes, which is how long a child’s sustained attention lasts. After that time, there is a switching-off process. For this reason, she believes that it is a mistake to try to do all the homework at once and that this involves a lot of work time. “A 25-minute period must be set. And if there are still homework assignments to finish off, it is good to take a short break and get back on track again with a maximum of 25 minutes”, she explained.
At secondary level, from 12 years old, Silvia Álava stressed the importance of continuing to work on the planning and habits already developed in the previous phase. The aim is to consolidate a study methodology. On this point, she highlighted a very common mistake that students usually make: not carrying out self-assessment exercises on what they have studied. “From my professional experience,” added Álava, “it is what most students fail at. They study, but they don’t take any test that checks how much learning has been achieved. You always have to check how much you have learned after studying”.
Screen use
The Sabadell Forum session ended with a Q&A session from the people who connected to the streaming broadcast. And one theme stood out above the others: appropriate screen time, the bugbear of today’s parents. Silvia Álava left us with the following guidelines: “Until the age of 2, zero screens. From 2 to 5 years old, a maximum of 30 minutes a day and a lot of traditional play. During primary school, a maximum of one hour per day, supervising the content. In secondary school, 90 minutes a day total for mobile and tablet. And in preparation for Spanish A-levels, depending on the autonomy and responsibility of the user”.
If you want to see the entire session you can click here.
