Top 10 Ways to Help Your Child with Homework
Parents face a considerable challenge once their child goes to school: How to make them do homework.
Parents face a considerable challenge once their child goes to school: How to make them do homework.Younger schoolers don’t understand why they should read, write, or learn something instead of playing with their favourite toys or watching cartoons. Older children do, but this understanding doesn’t make assignments more exciting for them. YouTube, gaming, or walks with friends remain a priority.
The below tips will help you win the struggle for your schooler’s focus and desire to get homework done.
10 Tips for Parents to Help Their Child With Homework
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #1
Create a Study Space
Homework becomes more engaging for young students when it looks fun. Organise a lively study space dedicated to it: Choose an area with minimal foot traffic and background noises so your child can focus on assignments. For this space to look more attractive, allow them to decorate it:
Colourful stickers, motivational posters, or several DIY crafts — the goal is to make this area a place your child enjoys spending time in. Ensure it has all the supplies for study: paper, glue, pencils, bright markers, ruler, scissors, etc. Place everything in a basket to keep the place neat.
Further Reading: 10 Beautiful Cultural and Educational for Small Children
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #2
Organise a Resource Bookshelf
When organizing a study space, add a bookshelf with all the resources your schooler may need: A dictionary, thesaurus, grammar guide to help make a reflection paper and other written assignments, encyclopedia, etc. Consider reference books able to facilitate homework and minimize distractions from the process.
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #3
Develop Study Habits
Help your child instill strong study habits and work ethic. Teach them to plan time for homework, organise tasks, and prioritise them. You can also explain how they can break assignments into smaller pieces that are easier to manage.
If it’s boring for a child to do homework alone, motivate them to study with siblings or as they get older, with friends. Explain it’s okay to ask for help if they don’t understand a task. If the homework is extensive and time-consuming, encourage your child to take breaks.
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #4
Know the Teachers
Do you know your child’s teachers and their expectations and homework policies? Visit the school, attend parent-teacher conferences, and discuss options for your involvement in the learning process.
If you have concerns about your child’s study habits and grades, consult the teacher and set a plan of what to do. Encourage your young student to check with their teacher to ensure they have homework; remind them to bring it back to school. Once your child gets better at time management and organisation, back off and let them be more self-reliant.
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #5
Encourage
No matter how tired you are, show interest in your child’s work. Ask about assignments, check completed tasks, be open to questions, and support your schooler’s endeavors. Encourage their efforts, be a motivator, and set an example:
Create opportunities for your child to see you reading a book, balancing budgets, planning a day, etc. (Children will more likely follow parents’ deeds than moralising.) Also, please remember to tell your little learners you’re proud of them, every day.
Further Reading: How to Make More Time for Your Children
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #6
Set the Time for Homework
While scheduling one set time for homework can be challenging, aim for as much consistency as possible here. Young children find it hard to focus, especially when they have many out-of-school activities (sports, family time, etc.); knowing when to expect homework can help them get into a routine and prevent objections.
Choose a time when your child works best: after school following a snack, in the early morning, or after dinner. By doing this, you’ll make doing homework a little more comfortable, with the hope your child won’t associate this must-do task as an unpleasant chore! But realistic – there will be good and bad motivation days!
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #7
Limit Distractions
Children get distracted fast: TV, video games, loud music, siblings, and smartphones — all these can influence their focus and motivation during homework time. Keep those distractions to a minimum. However, consider your child’s personality:
While some children concentrate best in a quiet room, others study well with background music or even their pet nearby. Some need a table at the window to read a favourite book, and others feel great when doing math in bed. Remember the discipline, but be flexible.
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #8
Be Aware of Anxiety
Learn to distinguish between your child’s laziness or irresponsibility and anxiety. Their lack of motivation to do homework may be because of shame about academics, and a child may be unable to explain it to you because they aren’t always conscious of it.
Too much anxiety blocks a child’s ability to think and has nothing to do with a lousy attitude to schoolwork. So, don’t hurry to lecture your child – recognise their level of anxiety and help reduce it if necessary.
Further Reading: 7 Helpful Ways to Reduce Stress as a Busy Parent
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #9
Guide If Necessary
Young schoolers focus better when a parent is close by. Help them with reading instructions and ensure they understand the task. Guide if necessary; having you near encourages your child and lets them know you care about what they do.
It’s easier for younger students to remember the information when they enjoy learning. Turn homework into a game: Use toys or household objects to do math, make them write answers on a whiteboard, learn spellings with funny alphabet magnets, etc.
Ways to Help Your Child with Homework #10
Reward
Introduce rewards into your child’s homework routine. It doesn’t need to be expensive: a treat after completing an assignment, time on video games or TV, you name it. It’s a great motivator for children. With something fun ahead, they get extra motivation to work.
Photos by Annie Spratt
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