Take a look at these top 10 homework tips to help your children have more success at school. This can be achieved when you as parents take an active interest in your child’s homework assignments. It’s true, you’re a busy parent and there’s a lot to cram into your day. You are all worthy of a gold star! However, if you are able to put time aside to help and encourage, it will impress upon your child that you appreciate the importance of their school work. And when we talk about helping your child with their homework, we’re sure you appreciate that it does not mean doing it for them. Support can include teaching them study and organisation skills, or guiding them through a tricky question, or simply sitting with them while they work. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Get to know your child’s teachers and what they are looking for
Take every opportunity to meet and speak with teachers and ask them about homework policies and targets. Talk about the curriculum and how you can be an effective teaching assistant for your child at home.
Create a homework friendly area and a study friendly environment
Make sure your children have a suitable place to do their work. Somewhere with good lighting, comfortable writing position and access to any materials they may need. It’s also important that distractions are kept to a minimum from parents and siblings while work is completed.
Fit study time into your regular household routine
Designate a period of time for study each day. It may be straight after school or after dinner or when younger siblings are asleep. Make it a part of daily life to make it less of a chore.
Help create a study plan
Keep an up to date homework plan and update it regularly so you can see at a glance what assignments need to be done and their deadlines. This will allow you and your child to schedule the week’s study to address any looming deadlines and it will allow them to break larger assignments up into smaller and more manageable chunks.
Make sure they do the work themselves
Children have many tricks to get parents to do their work, but your child needs to think for themselves and make their own mistakes if they are going to learn anything. Doing your child’s homework may get them ahead in the short term but they will suffer for it later on. Parents can make suggestions and help with direction but ultimately the children have to do the work in order to learn.
Keep distraction down
Keeping distraction to a minimum is the best way to get homework completed on time. TV, phones, tablets or music will ruin concentration levels and reduce the accuracy and quality of their work.
Motivate, modulate and monitor
Take an interest in their work and ask about assignments, projects and tests. Praise achievements and encourage improvement. Check completed homework, suggest amendments and make yourself available for questions and advice.
Be a good example
Kids are more likely to follow parents’ examples than their advice. If you have work to do at home, do it in the same structured way suggested for your child’s homework. Whether writing a shopping list, doing a bank reconciliation or planning a DIY project, try sitting down, distractions off and full attention given until the task is complete.
Praise at every opportunity
Take every opportunity to celebrate your child’s achievements, large or small. Put spelling test results on the fridge, artwork on the walls and make announcements over dinner. Tell friends and relatives about every academic success your child has and their attitude to learning.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
If you have concerns about your child’s ability to complete homework tasks, bring it to her teacher’s attention. Some kids are distracted by friends during class, some have trouble seeing the board and may need glasses; others might need an evaluation for a learning problem or attention disorder. The sooner your concerns are addressed the better.
If you would like to discuss any of the homework advice given in this article (top 10 homework tips) please contact Nicola, who will be happy to discuss things further with you.
