10 Tips to Help Your Child Establish Good Homework Habits

What do you need to do to ensure that your child gets the most out of their homework? Can you help your child develop a sense of responsibility by ensuring they complete their assignments in time? And, how do you go about a child who looks tired, bored, and disinterested at the mention of homework?

As a parent or guardian, one of your primary roles is to make sure that your child gets through their homework, rest, eat, play and sleep well. But there are many times when getting through the homework part is unbelievably exhausting and unyielding. And since giving up or procrastination is not an option, you need to devise smart and effective strategies to ensure that your child learns how to read independently and follow instructions.

He or she also needs to learn how to budget and manage their time, complete the long-term assignments in time and work neatly. That’s a lot, right? Well, you could think of that as the best strategy that will mold a responsible, organized, and time-conscious adult.

In this article, we highlight some of the strategies you could implement for the best learning experience for your child. Don’t forget that your help will be invaluable, every step of the way.

Dedicate a specific time for assignments, daily

Is it easy for your child to tackle their homework immediately they get home from school or in the evening after playing and unwinding? As you learn more about their timing and the best time for homework, you need to make sure that he or she sticks to the one-time plan. If getting through homework then playing seems to work, make it something they do without fail, every day. If they are better at their homework after hours, tap into that and make sure they complete their assignments.

Unfortunately, most kids don’t come to the world with such structures, and you have to ingrain in them some habits. For instance, if your little one has a hard time working at a specific time, set strict rules and make them know that they can only watch TV, go out to play or play video games when they are done with school work, and after you have checked the work. With such systems, it will become easier for both of you.

Give your child a chance to set the rules

Ask your child when they think they should be doing their homework. To make this possible, you and your child must agree on a set time and place for the assignment. This is an effective strategy that makes your child independent, and it will also prevent disagreements between parents and children.

Determine a specific place for doing homework

From the time you are born, there is a habit you follow and often, an activity, place or time cues you to an activity. By designating a specific place for your child to get through their homework, you increase the chances of concentration because your child will become attuned.

You might want to create a specific location that is quiet and free of distractions like phones, television, or other kids playing.

Divide and conquer

Do you feel like your child is getting of feeling overwhelmed when they look at the list of assignments for the week from their teachers and the math tutors in Ottawa? How about offering a helping hand and creating a daily planner for daily and weekly assignments? The planner will have a list of things that your child needs to do after school or by the end of the week, and it works well if your child gets home while you are still at work.

With the planner, you can divide a weekly task so that a part of it is tackled every day so that they have little to do on the due date. You could also set specific days for reading or learning different subjects. Doing this helps in managing homework, and when you let your child cross off tasks from the list, they feel accomplished and motivated.

Reduce the after-school activities

Even with all the energy he or she has, kids, get tired pretty fast, and there is little time between getting home from school, doing homework, and sleeping. To make the most out of that time and to ensure that he or she sleeps at their bedtime, you need to reassess the extracurricular activities they should be taking part in and the ones they can skip or do over the weekend. Note that they don’t have to do everything in one semester. So, give him or her a few minutes to relax the have a schedule for what they should do every day after school. It’s easy for kids to work efficiently when they know what is expected of them.

Make homework fun

The easiest way of ensuring that your kids get through their homework faster is if they view homework as a fun activity rather than a chore. You could use toys, songs, cards, or marbles to help your child get through homework easily. But even as you do your best to help out, you should not take over the homework session by doing all the problems yourself. Guide him or her to the right answers but don’t give them the answers. You also need to check the work daily and challenge him or her to identify mistakes on your work.

Schedule breaks

As kids grow, the amount of homework increases and if they need more than a few minutes to get through the homework, allow stretching time. Breaks help kids think better as it rejuvenates the brain cells. So, whether they take the break to eat some crackers or fruits or water plants, you are assured that they will work better, concentrate more, and the best bit is that the break is a mood-booster.

Give positive feedback

Always go through your child’s homework and praise him or her for the correct answers. You shouldn’t criticize if you spot wrong answers rather review the work and point out the areas of difficulty.

Involve the teachers

If you notice that your child has recurrent homework problems or if they go through the homework as if it’s not challenging, speak to the teachers about it so that the homework can be adjusted to be in sync with the capabilities of your child.

Stress management

If your child looks stressed out when doing their homework, you should check with other parents or teachers about it. You also need to check if the workload is the problem.

Finally, you should help your child identify distractions and how they can lessen the distractions to be productive. You might also want to create a catalog of his or her strengths and work with their weaknesses.