After a long day at school, the children are happy to finally come home. But the unpleasant homework is usually already waiting there. Whether homework makes sense or not has been discussed for a long time. But whatever your opinion, many children and parents find doing homework tedious and stressful.
Why is there homework?
A first step for doing homework stress-free is to know what it is actually useful for. Homework should help the children to memorize something better. Looking up, repeating, and completing the tasks independently not only promotes concentration and stamina. Homework can also increase thinking skills and self-confidence, as well as promote creativity. However, the tasks at home must be done stress-free and with joy.
Doing homework made easy
If you want to help your child to make their homework a success, use the following tips. These can help reduce frustration and stress on both sides. It is also clear that some children do their homework and learning is easier than others. The respective subject can also be decisive. Nevertheless, you should always have understanding for your children if things don’t go so well.
1) Self-organization is important
Homework serves to deepen the subject matter and consolidate what has been learned through repetition. Children learn to work independently and in a structured way and to organize themselves. It helps the teacher to get an insight into the level of knowledge and the problems of the child. But this form of organization must first be learned and internalized.
- Order on the desk is the be-all and end-all. It’s difficult to learn between lots of toys and loose sheets of paper and your child will be constantly distracted. When everything has its place, you can study in peace.
- Homework books make organization easier. These can also be held if children are not yet able to read and write. Different colors are simply assigned to the different compartments. Then the respective color of the subject can be entered in the exercise book.
- Making weekly plans can be helpful for older students who have more complex homework to do over a longer period of time. This way you don’t lose track and avoid having to do too much homework at once.
2) Create the right learning environment
Children need a quiet, tidy environment to learn. Therefore, the first thing to do is create order so that they feel comfortable in their learning environment. A bright, friendly place without a running TV or computer is the prerequisite for stress-free learning. It is best to ensure that your child sits comfortably and healthily. Movement breaks every 20-30 minutes also promote concentration and maintain health.
3) Proper time management for doing homework
Appropriate time management when learning is good for you and your child. However, the right time for learning and for homework is individual. You should therefore find out in advance what time is best for your child and clarify the following questions:
- Talk to your child about when they would most like to do their homework. Then, during the conversation, point out that it’s great when things are done because there’s still time to play extensively. Also, keep an eye on the whole week to pick out the best times.
- Between 1:30 pm and 4 pm is the best time to do homework. Then there is still something left from the day. However, learning right after eating is not recommended, as your child will then be less able to concentrate. So better wait another half hour.
4) Questioning and listening
The best way for parents to help their children with their homework is to ask questions and listen. So if your child gets stuck, have the problem described to you. Then try to ask relevant questions and help your child to find the right solution by listening. Then it feels understood and gets a sense of achievement. In the long term, this leads to better learning success and more productivity. Approaching your child with impatience, negativity, and anger is less helpful.
5) Creative homework aids
Various aids and learning materials can help children to learn better through play. Your child can try out and apply what they have learned with the help of drawing boards, chemistry kits, puzzles, and online learning aids. Materials such as index boxes and cards, mind maps, or puzzle books can also give the otherwise tedious learning a different facet. Also, note other useful tips for successful learning.
6) Making mistakes when doing homework
There is a lot of truth in the saying “You learn from your mistakes”. Especially when it comes to experiencing and processing your own mistakes. So keep in mind that it doesn’t matter if your child doesn’t do their homework perfectly. It’s much more important that you try.
- Making mistakes is not a bad thing and the teaching staff in the school should not know the level of knowledge of the parents but that of the child. Therefore, school children should largely do their homework on their own. The mistakes made can be used to clarify questions that are probably also on the minds of some other children in the class.
- Be around when your child is doing homework. If they don’t know what to do or don’t understand the task at hand, they can ask you for help. Sitting next to it usually causes discomfort. To discuss the tasks after everything is done. This way you can help better and explain if necessary.
- It’s nice to get compliments! So when a task is done well, or you see your child’s extra effort and progress, give them praise and show that they did everything right. What motivates and makes you proud.
- However, if a child has persistently severe problems with learning, is very demotivated, and cannot concentrate on the tasks, these problems should not be ignored. Then it is best to talk to the teaching staff because frustration at school can have many causes.
