Strategies For Tackling Homework at Home

Homework at home is truly one of the first things children get tasked with when working outside of school. This defines their habits as the children grow up, and establishing good work habits early can significantly impact those habits progressively in their life. Tasks such as homework are best accomplished when a routine is set in place. But what methods should you use to best utilize your homework time? Here are five strategies for tackling homework that may make homework productivity much better.

1. Set a schedule for homework to be completed

Before homework should even begin, setting a schedule to keep on top of all of their work and deadlines is crucial. Not only does this help them get into a routine, but it also gets them more motivated to check their agenda off. This timeframe can vary depending on parents’ schedule, the child’s pace of work, and also eating/break times. Create a plan for how long your child will need to work each night, and see what is best for both you and them. Depending on the work, this can be anywhere from 30 minutes up to multiple hours.

Having a conversation with your child about these schedules is also important. You want them to be excited and motivated to start these habits as well! Having a reward system may get them excited to start, helping them understand it’s a good thing rather than a daunting task.

2. Set up a workstation for their homework

Determine the best location for your child to dedicate their time every day to work. Make sure the workspace has supplies they may use such as pencils, pens, erasers, markers, rulers, scissors, paper, glue, tape, a dictionary, a calculator, sticky notes, and if needed graphing paper, a personal laptop/desktop, a mouse, and a keyboard. 

If possible, make the workspace somewhere that won’t be used for other tasks such as playing games. Removing all distractions away from the workspace will help when the child gets temptations. Having this workspace alongside the schedule will further solidify in their mind that work needs to be completed.

3. Remove distractions around them

There are numerous amount of distractions especially at home that can hinder an ability to complete tasks on time. Whether the distractions may be technology related such as computer gaming, television, cell phones, it’s that time to keep them away from it and set them aside.

Distractions can also come in different manners such as thoughts of boredom, hunger, or anything that may come across a child’s mind to distract them. In these cases, it’s always a good idea to check in on the child, offer help and support when needed, and motivate them to finish their work. The main goal is to limit the number of distractions if possible so that your child can accomplish their work in a timely manner.

4. Make use of an agenda and prioritize tasks

When planning out tasks for homework, it is extremely key to make use of an agenda. Whether the school may provide it, or going to your local store and grabbing one, it can be a great habit to get your children doing. Agenda’s are a great organizational tool to help them stay focused on what tasks need to be done later in the day. This can also help the parent prioritize multiple tasks if they have more than one, and see what homework is due first and most importantly.

Aside from writing down daily tasks, it may also be a great place to keep notes for classes, writing down questions you may have for teachers, or even just writing out what classes you have during specific time slots.

5. Offer help and review their homework

Instead of completing the homework entirely for your child which can lead to very bad habits later in life, offer hints and clues here and there to steer your child in the right direction. Have them work independently, and pop into the room every once in a while to see if they have any questions, or if they’re stuck on something. After they finish their work, have a quick review to see if they have everything correct. If they may have missed something, kindly try to give them hints and see if they can figure out their mistakes.

Showing that you’re there and that you care will indefinitely reassure your child that they will be able to finish their work at the end of the day. In school they look to the teacher for guidance if necessary, at home they do the same with the parents. Being the role model and supportive figure is a major key to success when completing homework.

Oak Learners has a great day school and tutoring options. You can check out the day school where students learn all kinds of skills and build on them with personalized study habits. If you want personalized one on one tutoring online or in-person sessions as well, Oak Learners offers private tutoring here! Good luck with studying!

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