Families For Life | Homework

Homework can have many benefits – although your children might not think so! Apart from anything else, it helps children learn useful organisational skills. Here’s how to make the most of homework. 

Homework: the basics 

Homework can take many forms. For example, your child might be asked to do a worksheet or project, to do some reading or writing, or to collect interesting objects to share with the class.

Academic benefits of homework?

In the early school years, there’s no clear evidence that doing homework helps your child do well at school.

As children get older, homework does have academic benefits – there’s a strong link between homework and achievement for children in secondary school.

Other benefits of homework

In general, homework can help your child:

• practise skills learned in class

• get ready for the next day’s work

• work on an ongoing project that needs extra resources, like the library, the internet or a parent’s help

• learn time management and organisational skills, like working to a deadline in class and at home, and finding a balance between work and play.

Homework has benefits for parents too – it gives you the chance to see what your child is learning about at school. It also gives you the chance to let your child know your views and values about learning and education by showing interest in and helping with homework.

Making homework work 

Find the right time 

For some children, the best time to get homework done will be straight after school. Others might need a break to play and unwind first. No matter what, the best time is when you can be around to supervise and give your child a helping hand if needed.

Most children can concentrate for only about 15 minutes at a time before they need a brief break. Get your child to do some neck stretches, arm shakes and finger wriggles or play outside for a few minutes.

It’s normal for children to try to postpone homework or get out of it altogether. You can motivate your child by setting a time limit on homework and making time for your child to do the things she likes, like watching TV or playing outside, when she’s finished.

Create the right environment 

It’s a good idea to set up your child somewhere that has good light, air and enough space to spread out with books, pens and other resources.

Try to minimise distractions by turning off the TV and asking siblings to stay away. For older children, you could also ask your child to leave his mobile phone with you. If he’s using a computer that’s connected to the internet, you might want to keep it in a shared family area so you can keep an eye on the sites he’s visiting.

You could encourage children to do homework in family areas rather than bedrooms so that you can supervise and help more easily. 

Help your child get organised 

You can show your child how to break down big assignments or projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. She might then plan to do one each night. If she has several different assignments in one week, help her plan what to do each night.

Older children might benefit from a homework planner or planning app (such as myHomework Student Planner, My Study Life, ClassManager) so they can see when assignments are due and get themselves organised with a plan and study reminders.

Help your child develop a positive approach 

Schoolwork isn’t always easy. Your job is to help your child develop a positive approach to academic and organisational challenges.

If your child avoids challenges, encourage him to sort the tasks into those he finds easy and those he finds difficult. Get him to do ‘easier’ tasks first to build his confidence, then guide him through the more difficult tasks.

If your child is struggling with a particular assignment, you could help her approach the problem positively by getting her to pinpoint what she’s finding difficult. From there, you can brainstorm some solutions together, weighing up the pros and cons of the different options to find the best one. You can also help your child identify people or resources that could help her further.

Children often have trouble getting started on assignments or projects or coming up with ideas. You might be able to get things off to a good start by helping your child break up assignments or projects into smaller parts or map out steps.

Be a coach 

When it comes to homework, it can help to think of yourself as your child’s coach. You can support your child by creating the right time, environment and approach for homework, but doing the work is ultimately your child’s responsibility.

If you do the homework for your child, your child won’t develop important academic skills. He also won’t learn what to do when he’s faced with a problem like lack of time, conflicting priorities or a task he doesn’t understand.

Being the coach might mean you have to let your child ‘fail’ sometimes – but remember that children learn from failure as well as success. What really counts is the attitude you both have to these failures.

When your child does have homework troubles, try talking with her about what she could do better next time. Always praise and reward your child for trying and for doing her best, especially on tasks she has found hard. It doesn’t matter if she hasn’t finished things perfectly. 

Working with the teacher 

Try to set up a friendly working relationship with your child’s teacher. That way, you can easily talk to each other about your child’s schoolwork and homework. If your child is in secondary school, you could start by talking with his form teacher or subject teacher.

If you have concerns about homework, you should talk with the teacher early on, rather than giving the problem time to grow.

Concerns that teachers need to know about include the following:

• Your child is spending too long on homework. Find out how much time other children in your child’s class are spending on their homework. Other parents might also be able to tell you this. If your child regularly spends more time on it than this, talk with the teacher. There might be some underlying learning issues that your child needs help with.

• Your child doesn’t understand the work. If this is the case, your child might be missing concepts in class. If you let the teacher know, the teacher can fill in these learning gaps during class time.

• Your child can’t concentrate. It’ll help you to know whether this is just a problem at home (perhaps because she’s overtired), or whether it’s also happening at school.

• Your child is struggling in one particular subject. The teacher might be able to suggest another approach to the subject. For example, you could use blocks for addition and subtraction practice, or there are lots of fun online educational games, which can be great for older children.

If your child needs help with a particular subject, ask the school about additional assistance. You might also want to think about tutoring, either by a professional tutor or by a trusted family member or friend. 

If you’re worried about homework 

If you feel your child is struggling with homework or learning, talk to your child’s teacher first. The teacher might suggest you get your child’s hearing and eyesight checked to ensure your child is seeing and hearing properly in the classroom.

If your child’s teacher is also concerned about your child’s learning or concentration in the classroom, it might be worth talking to your General Practitioner (GP), a paediatrician or psychologist to look at possible reasons for the problems.

How much homework? 

There are no hard and fast rules about homework. Some schools, as well as different teachers within a school, give much more homework than others.

More homework doesn’t always mean higher achievement levels, especially in primary school. If students get too much it might get to be overwhelming, or get in the way of other healthy activities like strong friendships, play, sports, music lessons, hobbies or relaxation. If you feel your primary school child is getting too much homework you might like to talk to your child’s teacher.

If you feel your child isn’t getting enough homework or is getting no homework at all, there are still lots of learning activities you can do at home – for example, reading together, writing stories or letters and researching interesting topics.

If your child has additional needs – for example, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability or other health concerns – it might help to talk with his teacher about modifying homework expectations.