As a parent, how do you balance helping your child do their homework, but at the same time, ensuring that the help and support you offer is actually benefiting your child in the long run? Here are some guidelines that may help you help your child more effectively:
- Keeping the communication lines open is the best way for you to be involved with your child’s schooling. Encourage your child to discuss their homework with you and any difficulties they may have.
- Set a specific time for homework, preferably before leisure activities, such as television or computer usage. This allows for consistency in your child’s routine and sets up clear expectations regarding homework.
- Help your child get organized by setting up a calendar with the due dates of projects and exams. Encourage them to break down assignments into smaller steps that are more manageable.
- Be supportive, but encourage autonomy. It is important for your children to be able to complete the tasks on their own. If your child struggles with a particular question, encourage them to continue to try before providing them with help.
- Encourage your children to seek extra help from their teacher if they struggle with a particular subject. You may also want to communicate with the teacher about how you can help.
- Make homework fun and quality time with your child. If children learn that homework can be enjoyable, then they will be more motivated to complete tasks on their own without your encouragement.
- Be aware of your child’s emotionality when doing homework. Difficult tasks can be a source of frustration and low self-esteem. Encourage your child to separate their ability to complete one task from how smart and capable they are overall.
- Encourage your child’s strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses. With a little creativity, just about any roadblock can be dealt with through finding a new way to conceptualize a task, using visual aids or analogies.
- Have reasonable expectations for your child. Individuals vary on their ability to sustain concentration and complete tasks. Set your child up for success.
- Encourage your child to study in whatever manner they find most effective. Some children prefer to quietly study at a desk while others prefer to curl up in bed while listening to music.
- Develop a contract with your child regarding expectations about completing homework and have consistent consequences, such as losing computer privileges, if homework is not completed. This eliminates the need for constant reminders that can lead to familial conflict.
- Ask to see the completed assignment and discuss it with your child if he/she has a history of not being honest about homework. This enables parents to catch any academic concerns sooner rather than later.
- Do not do your child’s homework. Teachers need to know what your child understands and struggles with.
- Focus on the task at hand, rather than commenting on the importance of doing well in school. Children experience enough pressure to succeed and so discussing the consequences of low marks is not particularly helpful.
Following the above suggestions may improve the way your child approaches school as well as decrease the typical arguments over completing homework. Most importantly, be supportive to your child, but give them space to have their own successes and to learn from their mistakes.
If your child continuously struggles with a specific subject, contact a professional to determine if a psycho-educational assessment is necessary.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Angela Dawn MacKay
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