With the high-stakes testing battle teachers and students have to endure, there has been an increasing about of homework being sent home. Since there is almost 8 weeks of standardized testing of some sort in the classroom during the school year, homework has become the burden of both parent and student. Until the Department of Education realizes that the data being collected is worthless since this much testing does not allow for teaching time in the classroom, this trend will continue.
With that being said, I am often asked about the best way for parents to handle the homework load. Since I did my dissertation on Study Skills, I do feel highly qualified to address this issue. Here are my tips on tackling homework.
1. Do not make your child start on homework as soon as they get home.
I can hear the gasps and groans now, but think about it. When you come home from a long day at work, do you really feel like jumping into any major task at home? Of course not. You need to unwind and decompress. You probably need to eat. How many times have you said, "I just need a few minutes to myself?" Your child (no matter the grade level) feels the same way. Give them some time to decompress. They have been sitting all day, working their brains. Let them move around a little and refuel. This will lead to a more productive homework session.
2. All of the homework should not be done in one sitting.
That's right. You need a break every couple of minutes for every 30 minutes of work. The human mind can only focus on new information for about 15-25 minutes before it starts to drift. That means if you make a child (or adult) drone on the same thing without that mental stimulation, it becomes detrimental to learning. Our brains are tricky things. When it becomes tired, it will rewrite information incorrectly just so you move on. It's like studying for a test for 4 hours. If you are spending that much time "studying," you are doing it incorrectly. You cannot learn vast amounts of new information quickly and retain it.
3. Don't over schedule your child's activities.
Parents mistakenly believe that their child has to do everything and be in everything. Wrong! The student's first priority should be school. Everything else falls second. If your child is gone most of the evening due to other activities, you (as the parent) need to be the parent and reduce the load so the child can have proper time to get their work done.
4. Go to bed at a decent time.
Yep, sleep makes all the difference. On average, teenagers need about 6-7 hours sleep a night. Younger ones about 7-8. If your child is up too late because of other activities and homework, that is also defeating the goal of being a successful student.
5. Use an agenda at home.
Plan out your child's time (and yours, too). Ninety percent of student success is time management. Start when they are young. Start now. In 30 minute blocks, write down what the student should be doing. Is it eating dinner? Watching a moving? Playing with the dog? Snuggle time? Working on Calculus? It may sound silly to write down everything, but these are the building blocks to time management. Over time, you won't have to write down everything. It will already be instilled into the student and there will be less stress.
Hopefully, these few tips will help both you and your child.
