A new year lets us flip to a blank page. Start a new story. Get a do-over. For kids, a new year can be a fresh start for habits, routines, confidence, and skill-building. In turn, that brand-new chapter can change their learning story from this day forward! Start this year with small, manageable routines and goals to jumpstart and maintain momentum, then let consistency reinforce the habits.
At School Zone, we have activities and resources to help make learning engaging and stress-free. In this post, we share 10 learning habits to help school-aged children thrive academically and emotionally.
Getting started: habits vs. routines
What’s the difference between routines and habits? James Akin-Smith, The CEO Coach®, based in the UK, says, “Routines are actions you do on a regular basis, often in a specific order or at a set time. Habits, however, are behaviours you perform almost automatically without much thinking.” He adds, “Routines take effort to maintain, but habits feel natural once they’re established. To build a habit, you often begin with a routine until it becomes second nature.”
Helping kids establish a few good learning habits can pay off in so many ways. Let’s look at how.
Habit 1: Story Time
Encourage daily reading to start or finish the day. It could be just 10-15 minutes every morning or evening—fiction, non-fiction or a workbook or story-based activity. This includes reading to kids. The National Literacy Trust suggests it’s a good idea to “build a manageable habit and grow a love of reading, rather than it feeling like a chore.”
A regular reading routine:
• Can spark imagination and inspire creativity
• Is a great way to introduce children to new places, people, and the past
• Develops empathy for others
• Helps to improve reading age, which is about matching the book to the age (or ability) of the reader
• Has a significant positive effect—even later in life--on kids’ reading and cognition skills
Show kids that reading is a fun learning activity!
Habit 2: Daily Writing Practice
Incorporate short writing exercises into daily learning routines to develop expression and vocabulary. These could be in the form of a journal, diary, or creative writing prompt.
Daily writing practice:
• Builds writing and critical thinking skills as well as confidence, creativity, and well-being
• Helps to regulate emotions and understand and communicate feelings (as noted in the Linda Stade Education blog, which also suggests that journaling is a great gratitude practice)
• Improves memory and concentration
• Enhances communication skills; it’s a basic tool in kids’ tool kit
• Helps build vocabulary and strengthen reading comprehension
Will AI reduce the future need to write, you might wonder? Notably, the Night Zookeeper blog says in the age of AI, “writing is more important than ever.” They add, “While AI tools can help with grammar checks or idea generation, children still need strong foundational writing skills to think critically, express themselves clearly, and to be able to use these tools responsibly if they're required to.”
Habit 3: Math minute challenges
Quick, daily math exercises reinforce numeracy--the ability to understand and work with numbers. These exercises can be short, timed mental math games in the car or game-like drills with flash cards anytime, anywhere. They can even be something as simple as counting items in the grocery cart (for younger kids) or mentally estimating the total (for older kids). Or set up problems involving travel time or distance. Math doesn’t have to be boring!
Incorporating math into daily routines and activities:
• Lets kids see the real-world relevance and frequency of math
• Builds a foundation for life skills like cooking, conscientious shopping, and overall money management
• Helps keep the brain quick and sharp
• Improves focus and concentration
• Boosts confidence in math/numeracy skills
We’ve all witnessed young adults who are challenged to make change or do other mental math. Even when tools and devices are available for calculations, understanding the process is important and makes us less vulnerable.
Habit 4: Organized homework time
Create a consistent routine and space for completing homework. The benefits are that it starts to build independence, responsibility, time management skills, and routines for the future.
Here are a few ways to make it happen:
• Set a regular time and quiet space - make it a space that is solely used for homework (if possible)
• Help kids break bigger projects or timelines into smaller pieces and tasks
• Use planners, checklists, and a rewards system to help children see their progress and track it themselves
• Make homework, in general, a higher priority than other activities
• Offer rewards for sticking to it and getting it done, like choosing family fun time
Like most learning habits, this one has lifelong application. When self-discipline is in short supply, having solid routines can give us traction and momentum!
Habit 5: Goal setting
Encourage children to set achievable weekly learning goals. Discuss them. Make sure that the goals really are achievable to avoid disappointment or demotivation. Oxford Learning posted 7 Ways Goal Setting Helps Your Child Succeed at School.
Here are five of the goal-setting benefits they describe:
• “Increases motivation”
• “Teaches time management & preparedness”
• “Measures progress”
• “Boosts self-confidence”
Goal setting is an important life skill, valuable in so many areas. Citing multiple studies, Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D., writing for PositivePsychology.com, notes that “Goals direct our energies and focus toward performing actions skillfully." However, with little ones, especially early on or in areas of particular challenge, be sure to focus on effort rather than completion!
Habit 6: Brain breaks
We have all experienced the need to step away from a task for a few minutes to reset. It’s even more important for young people. The Henry Ford Health® website says, “Challenging mental work requires ‘brain breaks,’ especially for kids and teens.” Expanding on the idea, they say, “A brain break is scheduled time away from a task that requires concentration or focus. The break can be almost anything your child enjoys, as long as it’s unrelated to the project they’re working on.”
Incorporating short breaks for movement and play:
• Gives the brain a chance to recharge, reducing stress and fatigue
• Takes the edge off frustration
• Helps tasks and projects feel more manageable
• Leads to improved focus, creativity, and overall performance
• Provides incentive and reward
Periodic breaks make us more—not less—productive.
Habit 7: Step into the unknown
Every now and then, it’s important to try something new. Encourage kids to stretch their comfort zones academically and creatively. Use School Zone workbooks to explore new subjects or difficulty levels. Or try a new book genre, STEM activity, writing style, or math challenge. Let kids see you try something brand-new too!
Stepping into the new and different:
• Stimulates the brain
• Shows kids that trying something new, failing, and trying again is important
• Reinforces that mistakes are part of learning, not something to fear
• Helps build confidence
• Develops resilience, adaptability, and a growth mindset
Routines and habits are important for consistency and well-being. But making it a habit to occasionally step outside our routines is also important. A blog post from North Range Behavioral Health in Colorado notably reminds: “Exploring new activities, skills, and ideas is essential to nurturing curiosity, joy, growth, and purpose — at all ages and stages of our lives.”
Habit 8: Ask questions
Normalize the idea that it's good to be confused sometimes and encourage kids to write down questions they have while studying or doing an assignment, whether it’s for a parent or teacher or something to look up later. Warren Berger, author of the book A More Beautiful Question, on his website of the same name, cites a Newsweek article from several years ago that reported, “Preschool kids ask their parents an average of 100 questions a day. By middle school, they’ve basically stopped asking questions.” That’s unfortunate.
Asking questions:
• Develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Deepens understanding and improves memory
• Encourages curiosity and engagement
• Empowers kids to take ownership of their learning
• Builds confidence and social skills
Children who ask questions are more likely to be motivated to learn!
Habit 9: Practice self-assessment
Teach kids to check their own work, reflect on their progress, and make improvements independently. While asking questions is important, encourage kids to review their answers before asking for help.
Self-assessment:
• Encourages kids to assess their own learning
• Helps them see they went wrong and/or could improve
• Develops a deeper understanding of their own learning process
• Identifies patterns over time, including strengths and weaknesses
• Builds independence and responsibility
Self-assessment offers the opportunity to fully embrace learning and make adjustments. The Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation sums it up well: “Self-assessment activities help students to be a realistic judge of their own performance and to improve their work.”
Habit 10: Celebrate efforts, not just results
Reward perseverance, creativity, and participation, as well as achievements. It builds motivation and the right mindset for persisting in challenges—both in the immediate task and those in the future.
Here are a few ways to do that:
• Use stickers, certificates, or verbal praise
• Highlight moments when a child doesn’t give up, even if the outcome isn’t perfect
• Focus on growth mindset and consistent effort
• Point out how far they have come and be specific; use phrases like “I notice...,” “You worked so hard on that,” and “I’m proud that you _____ (fill in the blank)”
• Refer to what they’ve learned for “next time”
Oxford Learning reminds that “Praising effort rather than skills or natural ability helps students of all ages learn that the work they apply leads to the results they want.” The article adds: “Skills such as perseverance, dedication, and determination help students learn to take risks, learn from their mistakes, and move on from setbacks."
Supporting your young learner in 2026
These 10 habits can develop important life skills for kids. Supportive strategies to help children stick to new learning habits can include using School Zone resources.
Here are a few other tips for making learning habits for kids stick:
• Keep the routines flexible and age appropriate
• Rotate the activities to maintain engagement and excitement for learning
• Encourage independence while also providing guidance
• Use a reward system with stars, stickers, or treats to keep up motivation; one resource is School Zone's Alphabet Fun Write & Reuse Workbook that includes reward stickers.
A few New Year learning habits for kids can be the start of a story that has many happy endings. And remember: Good habits for kids are usually good habits for grown-ups too!
