EDGE

Take the Stress Out of Homework  

                                                                                     
                                                                                                       By Debra Fryson

If you live with school-age children, do you find homework time to be one of the most enjoyable times of the day? My guess is that most parents would answer with a resounding, “No way!” Book titles further reveal the sentiments of many about homework: How to Do Homework Without Throwing Up, Ending The Homework Hassle, and Homework Without Tears. Because research has shown its benefits, homework is here to stay. How then can parents take the stress and hassle out of homework time? 



Student Success Homework plays a very important role to ensure a student is successful in school. Homework assignments include practice exercises that reinforce classroom instruction, preview assignments that prepare for future lessons, extension assignments that transfer skills or concepts to new situations, and creative activities that integrate many skills to produce a single report or project. 

Student success is also improved when parents create a home environment that promotes learning and reinforces what is being taught at school. So how then can parents turn homework time into a more positive experience? One expert offers the following advice. 

“Eliminate the word ‘homework’ from your vocabulary. Replace it with the word ‘study.’ Have ‘study’ time instead of ‘homework’ time. Have a ‘study’ table instead of a ‘homework’ table. This word change alone will go a long way toward eliminating the problem of your child saying, ‘I don’t have any homework.’ Study time is about studying, even if your child doesn’t have any homework. It’s amazing how much more homework kids have when they have to study regardless of whether they have homework or not.”1 

Homework Tips The U.S. Department of Education offers the following homework tips that parents may find helpful:

• Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework. Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.


• Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils, and a dictionary are available. Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.




 
• Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don’t let your child leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.

• Be positive about homework. Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.

• When your child does homework, you do homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are related to things you do as an adult. If your child is reading, you read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.

• When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.2

When parents are involved in their children’s education at home they do better in school. Because student success is the goal, creating a positive, stress-free study time is of paramount importance.

1. The Response-Able ParentingNewsletter 31, September 24, 2004, http://
    www.chickmoorman.com/newsletters/04- sepPar.html

2. U.S. Department of Education. http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/
    involve/homework/index.html