Never do your child's project or research for her. The work ethic and study skills students learn from doing it themselves will have a much greater effect in the long run than how well they do on the project itself. Good help keeps the ball in her court while leading her through key project management steps. Consider the following strategies:

Make Student Homework Relevant

• Help her see the big picture. If she doesn't understand what she's doing and why, she'll have less energy and focus to get it done. Seeing the real-life relevance of student homework will help to motivate your child. Talk about how the project relates to something she likes or cares about. (e.g. You like chocolate don't you? Well, we wouldn't have chocolate to eat without photosynthesis!) Make learning concrete by showing her how you use the concept in your life. (e.g. I used multiplication of fractions today when I doubled the brownie recipe for your class bake sale.) This will help her understand that when she's an adult, she'll need this skill too.

• Clarify the required outcomes for the project: when it's due, what it needs to look like and what ingredients are needed for "A" quality work. The assignment instruction sheet should clearly lay out the expectations and evaluation criteria so be sure to read this together, carefully. Send her back to the teacher to fill in any missing info.

Provide Studying Tips that Guide Work

• Ask her questions about what she already knows about the subject. This strategy primes her brain for deeper thinking and boosts her confidence when she realizes that she does know something already.
• Ask how and where she might find answers for what she doesn't know. Ask her to make a list. When she's exhausted every resource, she can come back to you for additional suggestions.

• Ask what major steps she'll need to take to complete the project. Then help her breakdown each phase into smaller "to-do" steps.

Teach Time Management for Students' Projects

• Make a schedule with her for completing the project bit by bit. Put the schedule in a prominent place - on the family calendar, the bulletin board or fridge so there's no hiding the deadlines.
• If your child is working on the project with other students, help her sort out how her part of the project connects with her teammates' parts. What is the group expected to accomplish? What part of the project is she supposed to complete? What deadlines have been set? Are others counting on her work in order to complete their own parts? What qualities does she appreciate in her fellow group members? Is she modelling these qualities herself?
• Take her to the library and let her lead the way; help her write down questions for the the librarian about where she might find information on her subject. Sit with her as she searches the Internet and talk about what sites provide better information than others.

Project Management Is an Important Study Skill

Learning to manage big projects is one of the most important skills children learn in the middle years. By high school, they may not have mastered the process, but when parents consistently reinforce effective project management strategies for their children, the lessons eventually sink in. As they say in French "courage" - higher-order skills like project management take time to develop and require consistent guidance from teachers and parents before they become habit.

Bryan Taylor is President of EduGuide.