We live at 200 miles per hour. Between children, work, home life, cooking meals, a social life, and then the activities, plans, and tasks that fill up our agendas, we are surviving day to day. But when the dust settles and we get home, we are faced with homework!
How can I help my child do homework?
Before Anything: Peace and Quiet
If it comes time for homework and you are agitated and doing 10 different things, this state of nervousness and distraction will most definitely be transmitted to your child. Which is why, when it is time for homework, you should turn off your phone, television, and any other electronic device you have. Sit next to your child so that they see that homework is a shared time where you are there for them 100%.
Set a Schedule
It is important to create habits with little ones to get them accustomed to leading an organized life. Sunday afternoons are a great time to plan for the week. Remember that it is always recommended to have homework planned for the same hour every day, be flexible and positively encourage them when they complete their homework.
Find a Place to Study
Homework is a little ones ”job” and they cannot just do it anywhere, under any circumstances because that takes value away from the task which has been given to consolidate knowledge from school. Therefore, look for a designated quiet place, with good lighting and free of distractions.
Time Should Be Limited
Beforehand, you should pick a time to complete homework. Harris Cooper, professor at Duke University, proposed the ”10 Minute” rule: Each grade at school should increase the study time by ten minutes. For example, First Grade starts with 10 minutes, Second Grade with 20 minutes, and so on until Sixth Grade when they reach an hour of homework. This theory supports the importance of habits and at Smartick, with our 15 minute daily sessions, we agree.
Positive Reinforcement
So long as they receive homework, their teacher will value it whether is it right or wrong. It is important to have open communication with their teacher in order to know about their school performance and the quality of their work.
They Need to Be Independent
Helping them does not mean that you do it for them, they are two different things! Your job is to resolve any questions or doubts that may come up, ask them about the lesson, and use different teaching tools so that as they grow up your help becomes redundant so long as you have helped to create good habits and minds.
Focus on the Homework
When in front of your little one, leave behind the criticisms about the amount of homework they are given and focus on what they have to do that day. If you have any objection, that should be communicated directly to the school. However, your job as a parent is to support and encourage your little one because in the future they will be put in difficult situations where they will need to give their best effort and right now is a good opportunity for them to learn.
Learn More:
- 10 Mistakes Parents Make with Their Children’s Homework
- 10 Tips to Help Children Do Homework Independently
- Should Homework Be Banned?
- 6 Pieces of Advice for Children to Make Good Use of Cell Phones
- No More Homework? A Texas Teacher’s Letter Goes Viral
Master’s in International Education from the Universidad de Alcalá– Instituto Franklin.
She has worked as a teacher in three different countries and is now a Translator on the Content Creation Team at Smartick and helps to adapt content for blog posts.
As a native Rhode Islander she loves any activity on the water and when she’s not working you can find her traveling, kickboxing, or trying out a new recipe.
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