What is the best way for parents to help their children with their homework?
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Many parents have children who refuse to do their homework, but doing their own homework isn't good for the child. Melissa Barnes and Katrina Tour , lecturers in education at Monash University in Australia, explain how parents can help their children with homework without depriving them of learning opportunities.
How to help your kids with homework (without doing it for them)
https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-your-kids-with-homework-without-doing-it-for-them-126192
Barnes et al. point out that 'parents are the first and most important teachers a child will ever encounter in life.' A 2019 study analyzing over 400 survey results confirmed the benefits of parental involvement in their children's learning, regardless of the child's age or socioeconomic status, such as improved academic performance and increased motivation to study. However, this analysis suggests that parents should be careful about how they involve their children in their learning.
Ways for parents to be involved in their children's learning include holding meetings with teachers, discussing school with their children, and providing opportunities and encouragement for learning. Helping their children with homework can also be considered an involvement in their children's learning, but it seems that when parents help their children with homework too much, their children's academic performance deteriorates.
While few children like homework, comprehensive analyses of homework and academic achievement suggest that homework improves academic performance, especially among children aged 7 to 12. Therefore, Barnes and his colleagues argue that in order to help children with their homework without taking away their sense of responsibility for it, the goal should not be to 'make children complete their homework,' but to 'give children confidence that they can complete their homework on their own.'
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In fact, Barnes et al. propose four appropriate ways for parents to help their children with their homework.
◆1: Praise and encourage your child
To motivate children to do their homework, parents should actively praise their children. Even if parents don't understand the content of their child's homework, sitting next to their child, asking questions, and discussing the content of the homework can increase the child's enthusiasm, Barnes and his colleagues point out.
◆2: Model the learning content
Many teachers not only provide children with knowledge, but also provide a 'model' for solving problems. If a child is struggling with homework, it seems effective for parents to present a 'model of how to solve the problem' and actually solve one problem together with the child, teaching the child how to solve the problem according to the model.
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◆3: Create a homework plan
If your child is feeling excessive stress about homework, forcing them to do it can be counterproductive. In such cases, instead of forcing your child to do it, Barnes et al. recommend that parents work together to create a 'homework plan.' The steps for creating a homework plan for your child are as follows:
・Read the homework and understand the content of the task.
- Break homework into smaller tasks.
Consider the time required to complete each task.
- Create a schedule by working backwards from the deadline.
- Keep the schedule in a place where your child can see it.
Encourage your child to check off completed tasks and track their progress on their homework.
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4. Make time for homework
Ensuring that children have time to do their homework is important for fostering positive study habits. Therefore, Barnes and his colleagues recommend that parents also turn off noisy entertainment such as television and games during the time their children are doing their homework, and instead engage in study activities such as reading together. By setting aside time for the whole family to study together, children will be able to work on their homework comfortably.
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