good habits for homework

Developing Good Homework Habits

Some children get right down to work without much encouragement. Others need help making the transition from playing to a homework frame of mind. Sometimes providing a ten-minute warning is all it takes to help a child get ready mentally as well as to move to the place she intends to work.

There is no universally right time to do homework. In some families, children do best if they tackle their homework shortly after returning home from school in the mid afternoon; other youngsters may do best if they devote the after-school hours to unwinding and playing, leaving their homework until the evening, when they may feel a renewed sense of vigor. Let your child have some say in the decision making. Homework can often become a source of conflict between parent and child—"Johnny, why can't you just do your homework with­out arguing about it?"—but if you agree on a regular time and place, you can eliminate two of the most frequent causes of homework-related dissension.

Some parents have found that their children respond poorly to a dictated study time (such as four o'clock every afternoon). Instead, youngsters are given guidelines ("No video games until your homework is done"). Find out what works best for both your child and the family as a whole. Once this is de­termined, stick with it.

Some youngsters prefer that a parent sit with them as they do their home­work. You may find this an acceptable request, particularly if you have your own reading or paperwork to complete. However, do not actually do the homework for your child. She may need some assistance getting focused and started and organizing her approach to the assignment. Occasionally, you may need to ex­plain a math problem; in those cases, let your child try a couple of problems first before offering to help. But if she routinely requires your active participation to get her everyday homework done, then talk to her teacher. Your child may need stronger direction in the classroom so that she is able to complete the assign­ments on her own or with less parental involvement. One area where children may need parental help is in organizing how much work will have to be done daily to finish a long assignment, such as a term paper or a science project.

If your child or her teacher asks you to review her homework, you may want to look it over before she takes it to school the next morning. Usually it is best if homework remains the exclusive domain of the child and the teacher. However, your input may vary depending on the teacher's philosophy and the purpose of homework. If the teacher is using homework to check your child's understand­ing of the material—thus giving the teacher an idea of what needs to be empha­sized in subsequent classroom teaching sessions—your suggestions for changes and improvements on your child's paper could prove misleading. On the other hand, if the teacher assigns homework to give your child practice in a particular subject area and to reinforce what has already been taught in class, then your participation can be valuable. Some teachers use homework to help children develop self-discipline and organizational and study skills. Be sure to praise your youngster for her efforts and success in doing her homework well.

In general, support your child in her homework, but do not act as a taskmas­ter. Provide her with a quiet place, supplies, encouragement, and occasional help—but it is her job to do the work. Homework is your youngster's respon­sibility, not yours.

As the weeks pass, keep in touch with your child's teacher regarding home­work assignments. If your youngster is having ongoing problems—difficulty understanding what the assignments are and how to complete them—or if she breezes through them as though they were no challenge at all, let the teacher know. The teacher may adjust the assignments so they are more in sync with your youngster's capabilities.

Whether or not your child has homework on a particular night, consider reading aloud with her after school or at night. This type of shared experience can help interest your child in reading, as well as give you some personal time with her. Also, on days when your child does not have any assigned home­work, this shared reading time will reinforce the habit of a work time each evening.

To further nurture your child's love of reading, set a good example by spend­ing time reading on your own, and by taking your youngster to the library and/or bookstore to select books she would like to read. Some families turn off the TV each night for at least thirty minutes, and everyone spends the time reading. As children get older, one to two hours may be a more desirable length of time each day to set aside for reading and other constructive activities.

As important as it is for your child to develop good study habits, play is also important for healthy social, emotional, and physical growth and develop­ment. While encouraging your child to complete her assignments or do some additional reading, keep in mind that she has already had a lengthy and per haps tiring day of learning at school and needs some free time. Help her find the play activities that best fit her temperament and personality—whether it is organized school sports or music lessons, free-play situations (riding her bike, playing with friends), or a combination of these.

Daniel Wong

40 Good Habits for Students to Practise Every Day

Updated on September 3, 2024 By Daniel Wong 56 Comments

Why are some students more successful than others?

While there are many possible reasons, it often comes down to one thing…

They know the good habits for students they ought to practise.

Students with good habits achieve the most success. These habits give them the structure they need to reach their goals.

So I’ve created a list of 40 good habits for students to practise every day.

As you develop these habits, you’ll become a happier, healthier and more successful student.

Enter your email below to download a PDF summary of this article. The PDF contains all the tips found here, plus  5 exclusive bonus tips that you’ll only find in the PDF.

Here are the best habits for students.

Good habits for students are ones that will serve you well in all areas of your life, not just in school .

The following list includes habits to improve your physical health, motivation, self-discipline, and more.

1. Write down the three to five most important tasks to accomplish for the day.

Without a written list to help you stay on track, it’s easy to overlook and put off important tasks.

By writing down your three to five most important tasks for the day, you’ll focus on the critical tasks, not just the urgent ones.

If you want to study smart and become more productive , start cultivating this habit today.

2. Update your calendar with key dates and events.

A calendar is a great way to stay on schedule, day after day, while also planning for the future .

Using a calendar for things related to school is one of the most important habits for students to stay organised.

You can use a physical calendar or an online one like Google Calendar to record test dates, project submission deadlines, term breaks, etc.

This way, you’ll be on top of things at all times.

3. Work on your most challenging task during your most productive time of day.

Tackle your most challenging task when your mind and body are fresh.

This will ensure that you have the energy to complete the task most efficiently. It’ll make the rest of your day more productive too!

4. Write down at least one thing you’re thankful for.

Are you thankful for your friends? How about your family? What about your education?

Gratitude is a good habit for students to practise daily. It only takes a couple of minutes to write down something you’re thankful for .

But this useful habit will help you find long-term success and happiness.

5. Perform focused deep breathing for two minutes.

Stress can negatively impact academic performance, but there’s a quick solution to this.

Deep breathing is scientifically proven to reduce stress and even increase willpower.

So take just two minutes and perform focused deep breathing every day.

I recommend that you do these deep breathing exercises right before tests and exams to relieve stress as well.

6. Read your favourite inspirational quote.

For a quick boost of motivation to study , read your favourite inspirational quote.

My personal favourite is this one by Jim Rohn: “Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” If you don’t have a favourite, here is a list for you to refer to.

7. Perform a random act of kindness.

You’ll feel better about yourself, as well as life in general, when you get into the excellent habit of performing a random act of kindness at least once a day.

This good habit for students to cultivate doesn’t require a lot of time.

It could be something as simple as giving someone a genuine compliment or giving up your seat on the bus.

8. Get five minutes of sun.

Be sure to include going outside in your list of healthy habits to practise.

There are many benefits of getting some sun every day.

For example, it improves brain function, enhances sleep quality, and reduces the risk of certain cancers.

So don’t spend your entire day cooped up inside!

9. Do something that scares you.

This is the best way to build courage and develop confidence.

Yes, it’s scary to face your fears, so I encourage you to start small. List your fears and decide on a tiny action you can take today to overcome just one of those fears.

10. Spend time with like-minded people whom you want to learn from.

As a student, you come in contact with many people throughout your day.

Spend time with like-minded individuals whom you want to learn from.

These people will change the way you think, while giving you advice about how to improve your life.

11. Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up.

Eating breakfast is a healthy habit for students that you shouldn’t overlook.

It’s easy to find a reason to skip breakfast, but this is a mistake.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you should eat it within 30 minutes of rising.

This will give you the energy you need to take on the day.

12. Drink at least eight glasses of water.

The health benefits of drinking water are tremendous. Everyone knows they should drink eight glasses of water a day, but few people actually do this.

Make this a habit and your body will thank you down the road.

13. Exercise for at least 15 minutes.

You may not have time to hit the gym for an hour or two, but a short burst of daily exercise is an essential healthy habit for students.

Everyone can find 15 minutes in their day to exercise.

This can be as simple as going for a brisk walk or doing some calisthenics.

Over time, you’ll find that you’re more energetic and that you fall sick less often too.

14. Go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time every day.

It’s hard to be well-rested when your sleep schedule is all over the place.

You might find it hard to go to bed and wake up at exactly the same time every day, but try to stay within a 30-minute window.

15. Get at least eight hours of sleep every night.

Getting enough sleep is a healthy habit that many students struggle to incorporate in their lives.

Most people need at least eight hours of sleep every night in order to function optimally.

So set your schedule to ensure that you’re working toward this goal.

(Learn how getting eight hours of sleep a night helped me to become a better – and happier – student.)

16. Follow a bedtime routine.

If you lack a bedtime routine, you may find it difficult to wind down and enter “sleep mode”.

Establish a routine that you can follow, night in and night out. This can be as simple as:

• Take a shower
• Dim the lights
• Put on some relaxing music
• Read a few pages of your favourite book
• Journal for a few minutes
• Turn off the lights

17. Set up your phone so that you receive reminders for things you have to do.

With a reminder or task app like Todoist , you can turn your phone into your personal assistant.

Set up your device to remind you of things you have to do, a meeting you have scheduled with your advisor, or a phone call you need to make.

18. If you’re trying to change a bad habit, set up a reward and punishment system.

Bad habits are hard to break . To give yourself an extra incentive, set up a reward and punishment system.

When you make progress, reward yourself. But when you take a step back, enforce a punishment. This holds you accountable, allowing you to change the habit sooner rather than later.

19. If you don’t understand something that was taught in school, clarify your doubts on that same day.

Even the best students don’t understand everything at first.

If you don’t understand a particular concept that your teacher talked about in class, clarify your doubts that same day. This good habit will ensure that you keep up with the material.

20. Create a study plan for any upcoming tests or exams.

Without a study plan to enable you to concentrate , you’ll lack the structure you need to best prepare for an upcoming test or exam.

Make your plan clear and specific, and add in timelines too.

If there’s one study tip you should implement , it’s this one!

21. Be at least five minutes early for every appointment.

Arriving late for an appointment is never a good idea.

It’s a good habit for students to arrive five minutes early for every appointment, as this will ease your stress and show the other person how much you care about the appointment.

22. Review your homework list.

There’s nothing worse than finding out you have an assignment due the next day that you haven’t even started on.

Guard against this by keeping your homework list current and combining it with reminders on your phone (see Point #17 above).

23. Before you start work, make sure you have all the materials and resources you need.

Organisation is essential to reaching your goals.

Before you start any task, make sure you have everything you need, e.g., notes, stationery, textbook, calculator.

Not only will this keep you organised for school-related tasks , it will also help you avoid unnecessary distractions and interruptions.

24. When memorising information, use mnemonic devices whenever possible.

For example, if you’re trying to memorise the electromagnetic spectrum, you might use this mnemonic device:

• R icky (Radio)
• M artin (Microwaves)
• I s (Infrared)
• V ery (Visible)
• U nique (Ultraviolet) and
• e X tremely (X-rays)
• G lamorous (Gamma rays)

Such mnemonic devices help you to learn information faster, while aiding in recall too.

25. Focus on one task at a time; don’t multitask.

Research shows that multitasking negatively affects productivity. If you think you’re more productive by multitasking, you’re just tricking yourself.

So choose one task to work on and stick with it until you’re done. This study habit alone will make you a much better student!

26. Before you get down to work, remove all distractions.

There are many things you can do to avoid distractions while studying.

Before you begin your study session, remove as many distractions as possible, e.g., phone, Internet, games, unnecessary notes on your study table.

27. Break down a big task into several smaller ones.

A big task, such as a 10-page report, can be intimidating. But if you break that task down into 10 writing sessions of one page each, you’ll find it much easier to complete the report.

Adopt this approach and you’ll gradually overcome your habit of procrastination.

28. Whenever possible, do your regular homework at the same time and place every day.

Just as you should establish a sleep routine, you should also establish a homework routine to ensure that you don’t procrastinate .

Have a time and place for completing your regular homework, as this will improve your overall productivity and allow you to get your homework done faster .

29. Check through your homework after you’ve completed it.

As you reach the end of a homework assignment, you’ll probably begin to think about what you’re going to do during your break.

But don’t mark the assignment as “complete” until you’ve checked through it for mistakes.

This little bit of extra effort will pay off in the long run!

30. Take regular breaks – at least one every hour.

Research shows that taking regular breaks improves attention and productivity .

Taking one break an hour will keep you fresh, allowing you to work at your peak concentration for a longer period of time.

31. Give yourself a small reward after you complete each major task.

Reward systems don’t just work for young children.

Students benefit from such systems as well, as it gives you the incentive to work through a task in a timely manner.

32. Organise your notes and assignments.

Being organised is essential to succeeding in school , so establish good habits for staying on top of your schoolwork.

Take just 5 to 10 minutes every day to organise your notes and assignments.

When it’s time to prepare for your next test or exam, you won’t find yourself looking all over the place just to find the resources you need.

33. Clear your study table at the end of each day.

When your day comes to an end, clear your study table so that you’ll have a fresh start the following day.

You don’t want your day to start with a desk full of clutter, because this will likely make you feel unmotivated.

34. Read for at least 10 minutes a day.

With so many benefits of reading – from reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease to lowering stress levels – it’s something you should do every day.

I recommend that you include reading as part of your bedtime routine (see Point #16).

35. Whenever you face a problem, ask yourself: “What is one thing I can do right now to make the situation better?”

This is a difficult habit to get into, as many people instinctively shy away from a problem or try to think past it.

Don’t do this. Instead, find the one thing you can do right now to make the situation better.

This may not solve your problem immediately, but it will put you on the road to doing so.

36. Ask for help, if necessary.

This doesn’t mean you should always rely on others for answers, but there’s nothing wrong with reaching out for help when you’re stuck.

Furthermore, research shows that asking for advice makes a good impression on others.

37. Learn something outside the syllabus.

School has a syllabus, but life doesn’t. Learning for the sake of learning is an excellent habit for students to cultivate that will last a lifetime.

Every day, strive to learn something outside the school syllabus. I encourage you to read a book , take an online course, or learn a new skill.

There are so many resources available on the Internet, so the information is really just a click away.

38. Spend a few minutes reflecting on the day gone by.

At the end of each day, take the time to look back and reflect on what happened during the day.

Did you make progress toward your goals? What were your successes and failures? What good (and not-so-good) decisions did you make?

This simple habit of reflection will help you to get better, day by day.

39. Spend at least 15 minutes talking to your family.

You probably already know you should do this.

Family is one of the most important things in the world, so don’t take it for granted.

40. Spend 20 minutes doing something relaxing.

Maybe you enjoy listening to music to relax your mind and body. Or maybe you enjoy reading.

Whatever you prefer, give yourself 20 minutes a day to do something relaxing. This will help you to be a calm, relaxed, and positive person.

Start with just one new good habit

As you review this list of good habits for students to practise daily, remember that you’re always in a position to make a change.

It takes 21 days or more to develop a new habit , so there’s no such thing as overnight success.

But the process will be worth it.

Just make sure you don’t pick up any bad study habits along the way, which will hold your progress back.

As you develop good habits, you’ll experience positive changes. You’ll become a healthier, more productive, and more successful student. So get started today! 🙂

Like this article? Please share it with your friends.

July 11, 2016 at 6:30 pm

that was really an interesting one.THANK YOU

July 11, 2016 at 6:32 pm

You are welcome, Amala.

September 14, 2020 at 11:07 pm

Thank you Daniel

November 16, 2020 at 8:46 pm

sir this was really amazing i cant concentrate and i am a slow learner pls give me some tips

May 1, 2021 at 3:20 pm

same happen with me one year ago , but not now . You should start reading at least 30 min or more by applying finger tips while reading this will improve quality and quantity as well and also helps you to read questions faster in exams

December 8, 2019 at 11:21 pm

That is so informative . I really like it so much.

February 5, 2020 at 1:04 pm

Thank you so much hopefully this we’ll improve my grade

April 13, 2021 at 6:47 pm

Very very thank you Daniel, now i have started following the points that you gave. And I’m gonna do my best in my 10th Board Exams.

July 11, 2016 at 11:05 pm

What do you do if when you sit down to do work and sometimes a random thought comes to you and you end up wasting more time than you expected?

July 12, 2016 at 9:11 am

Thanks for your question, Aaditya. I recommend that you read these two articles for tips to address your question: https://www.daniel-wong.com/2015/08/17/study-smart/ https://www.daniel-wong.com/2016/04/18/top-student/

Hope this helps!

July 14, 2016 at 12:34 am

Ok, thanks!

July 14, 2016 at 8:09 am

You’re welcome!

August 17, 2020 at 3:46 am

If one strategy is not working, just change it . I have done the same and it worked.Thank you for giving the initiative.

July 11, 2016 at 11:06 pm

you’ve helped me so much thank you!

July 12, 2016 at 9:08 am

You’re welcome, Nat!

July 12, 2016 at 8:41 am

I have shared your blog with my friends as it is useful. Thanks

July 12, 2016 at 9:07 am

Thank you, Raja.

July 12, 2016 at 7:36 pm

How long do you recommend the breaks should last?

July 13, 2016 at 9:33 am

I recommend that breaks should be 5 to 10 minutes long in general. After about 3 study sessions, you can take a longer break for lunch, exercise, etc.

July 24, 2016 at 5:50 pm

I have problems coming up with a study plan and sticking to it. What should I do?

July 25, 2016 at 10:01 am

Hi Tricia, I recommend that you read this article: https://www.daniel-wong.com/2015/08/17/study-smart/

I also strongly recommend that you invest in this affordable system, which should address your challenge: https://www.daniel-wong.com/straight-a-student-weekly-checklist/

August 23, 2018 at 2:36 am

how to be more focused of your home.work? in the start of your holiday

September 19, 2018 at 6:31 am

This was such a helpful list!! I’m so glad you put all these important things all together! I had heard most of these things from different places here and there, but having them all together with explanations and tips to accomplish them is SUPER awesome! Thank you so much, Daniel!

October 15, 2018 at 5:57 pm

thank u so much sir

October 24, 2018 at 9:12 pm

Thankyou very much

June 28, 2019 at 2:04 pm

How can we plan our study table and should we learn every subject everyday??

October 30, 2018 at 5:34 pm

It is really fruitful to the student while they are practice

November 1, 2018 at 9:14 am

Thank you sir..

November 15, 2018 at 1:57 am

I read this and the first word I said was WOW amazing tips and I found some of them to follow it right now

December 10, 2018 at 10:08 pm

Thank you sir!! It helped me a lot to overcome my stress.And i will follow this routine to success!!😃😃

December 12, 2018 at 2:59 am

Listening to their elders and parents is another good habit for kids that should be taught by parents. This is a part of respecting their elders but this particular habit will also help them in their daily lives.

Source: https://www.thelearningapps.com/good-habits-every-parent-should-teach-their-children/

January 9, 2019 at 3:14 pm

Thank you ! This article is very informative and practical as well .

January 9, 2019 at 8:51 pm

Sir, nowadays I find my studies going so hard so I am unable to cope with it. What should I do sir in order to rise up above all and become a topper

February 24, 2019 at 3:56 pm

Very interesting and helpful. Thank you.

March 11, 2019 at 10:30 pm

I use to say everday that i will study when arriving at home or school maybe,,but once when i arrive am doing nothing,,and am just staying without doing anything concerned about my studies,,this thing is really frustrating me,,because the examination will be held soon,,so what can i do mr daniel to make to do better in my studies and examinations as well?? Help me please,,!

March 17, 2019 at 9:30 pm

Please I need This Article In My Email It is Good

March 20, 2019 at 11:45 am

Wow … That’s incredible .. Thank you . God bless you and your family.

March 22, 2019 at 5:23 am

Thank you so much for this information, but my brother i still want to improve my poor English speaking, what should i do?

September 3, 2019 at 12:02 am

Thank you so so much

October 15, 2019 at 5:58 pm

Sir, what a great lesson up here. I so love these tips and will do my utmost best to practice them… but Sir. with regards to study, I have this tendency of feeling that I already know what’s ever I want to study. Also, anytime I pick a book to study, I get some serious brain tumor, and it holds me back for a while before I force myself to do the studies.. any advice here please..

December 9, 2019 at 8:31 pm

Dear Daniel, Thanks so much for these very important articles, most of the time I use the tips drawn from your articles to support my son on improving on his study habits . Am glad to say he did so well his end of year exams and he was promoted to the next class. Be blessed.

January 2, 2020 at 10:13 pm

thank you so much . i hope i improve .

January 15, 2020 at 7:40 pm

Wonderfull.👏

February 9, 2020 at 1:38 pm

So amazing !

March 17, 2020 at 1:39 am

thank you very much sir

April 15, 2020 at 3:30 am

This is very inspirational. Thank you

May 27, 2020 at 5:32 am

July 22, 2020 at 12:24 am

Thanks Daniel! I’ll try to implement these rules as much as I can in my daily routine.

July 24, 2020 at 10:05 pm

Thanks Daniel! This was really helpful. But I had a doubt that if I am doing it right or not as I study in short bytes with 2 hours of interval

September 28, 2020 at 8:11 pm

Thank you sir this is very useful for me during exam time when I’m stressed about my exams. These tips help, thank you so much ☺☺☺

November 10, 2020 at 4:36 pm

This is an eye-opener! I now realise how I can tap into success! Thank you very much.

November 23, 2020 at 6:18 pm

Your articles are all really inspiring for us. Thanks 😊

December 25, 2020 at 1:35 pm

December 28, 2020 at 9:00 pm

One of the best articles to change myself, thanks a lot.

February 15, 2021 at 10:08 pm

May 12, 2024 at 8:25 pm

THANK YOU FOR THESE TIPS! I will apply some in my routine…

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Strategies to make homework go more smoothly.

Routines and incentive systems to help kids succeed

Writer: Peg Dawson, EdD, NCSP

Clinical Experts: Peg Dawson, EdD, NCSP , Karol Espejo, LCSW

Here is the best guide to helping kids do homework successfully that we’ve seen, published by the National Association of School Psychologists on their website, NASPonline.org . Our thanks to NASP for sharing it with us.

There are two key strategies parents can draw on to reduce homework hassles. The first is to establish clear routines around homework, including when and where homework gets done and setting up daily schedules for homework. The second is to build in rewards or incentives to use with children for whom “good grades” is not a sufficient reward for doing homework.

Homework Routines

Tasks are easiest to accomplish when tied to specific routines. By establishing daily routines for homework completion, you will not only make homework go more smoothly, but you will also be fostering a sense of order your child can apply to later life, including college and work.

Step 1. Find a location in the house where homework will be done. The right location will depend on your child and the culture of your family. Some children do best at a desk in their bedroom. It is a quiet location, away from the hubbub of family noise. Other children become too distracted by the things they keep in their bedroom and do better at a place removed from those distractions, like the dining room table. Some children need to work by themselves. Others need to have parents nearby to help keep them on task and to answer questions when problems arise. Ask your child where the best place is to work. Both you and your child need to discuss pros and cons of different settings to arrive at a mutually agreed upon location.

Step 2. Set up a homework center. Once you and your child have identified a location, fix it up as a home office/homework center. Make sure there is a clear workspace large enough to set out all the materials necessary for completing assignments. Outfit the homework center with the kinds of supplies your child is most likely to need, such as pencils, pens, colored markers, rulers, scissors, a dictionary and thesaurus, graph paper, construction paper, glue and cellophane tape, lined paper, a calculator, spell checker, and, depending on the age and needs of your child, a computer or laptop. If the homework center is a place that will be used for other things (such as the dining room table), then your child can keep the supplies in a portable crate or bin. If possible, the homework center should include a bulletin board that can hold a monthly calendar on which your child can keep track of longterm assignments. Allowing children some leeway in decorating the homework center can help them feel at home there, but you should be careful that it does not become too cluttered with distracting materials.

Step 3. Establish a homework time. Your child should get in the habit of doing homework at the same time every day. The time may vary depending on the individual child. Some children need a break right after school to get some exercise and have a snack. Others need to start homework while they are still in a school mode (i.e., right after school when there is still some momentum left from getting through the day). In general, it may be best to get homework done either before dinner or as early in the evening as the child can tolerate. The later it gets, the more tired the child becomes and the more slowly the homework gets done.

Step 4. Establish a daily homework schedule. In general, at least into middle school, the homework session should begin with your sitting down with your child and drawing up a homework schedule. You should review all the assignments and make sure your child understands them and has all the necessary materials. Ask your child to estimate how long it will take to complete each assignment. Then ask when each assignment will get started. If your child needs help with any assignment , then this should be determined at the beginning so that the start times can take into account parent availability. A Daily Homework Planner is included at the end of this handout and contains a place for identifying when breaks may be taken and what rewards may be earned.

Incentive Systems

Many children who are not motivated by the enjoyment of doing homework are motivated by the high grade they hope to earn as a result of doing a quality job. Thus, the grade is an incentive, motivating the child to do homework with care and in a timely manner. For children who are not motivated by grades, parents will need to look for other rewards to help them get through their nightly chores. Incentive systems fall into two categories: simple and elaborate.

Simple incentive systems. The simplest incentive system is reminding the child of a fun activity to do when homework is done. It may be a favorite television show, a chance to spend some time with a video or computer game, talking on the telephone or instant messaging, or playing a game with a parent. This system of withholding fun things until the drudgery is over is sometimes called Grandma’s Law because grandmothers often use it quite effectively (“First take out the trash, then you can have chocolate chip cookies.”). Having something to look forward to can be a powerful incentive to get the hard work done. When parents remind children of this as they sit down at their desks they may be able to spark the engine that drives the child to stick with the work until it is done.

Elaborate incentive systems. These involve more planning and more work on the part of parents but in some cases are necessary to address more significant homework problems. More complex incentives systems might include a structure for earning points that could be used to “purchase” privileges or rewards or a system that provides greater reward for accomplishing more difficult homework tasks. These systems work best when parents and children together develop them. Giving children input gives them a sense of control and ownership, making the system more likely to succeed. We have found that children are generally realistic in setting goals and deciding on rewards and penalties when they are involved in the decision-making process.

Building in breaks. These are good for the child who cannot quite make it to the end without a small reward en route. When creating the daily homework schedule, it may be useful with these children to identify when they will take their breaks. Some children prefer to take breaks at specific time intervals (every 15 minutes), while others do better when the breaks occur after they finish an activity. If you use this approach, you should discuss with your child how long the breaks will last and what will be done during the breaks (get a snack, call a friend, play one level on a video game). The Daily Homework Planner includes sections where breaks and end-of-homework rewards can be identified.

Building in choice. This can be an effective strategy for parents to use with children who resist homework. Choice can be incorporated into both the order in which the child agrees to complete assignments and the schedule they will follow to get the work done. Building in choice not only helps motivate children but can also reduce power struggles between parents and children.

Developing Incentive Systems

Step 1. Describe the problem behaviors. Parents and children decide which behaviors are causing problems at homework time. For some children putting homework off to the last minute is the problem; for others, it is forgetting materials or neglecting to write down assignments. Still others rush through their work and make careless mistakes, while others dawdle over assignments, taking hours to complete what should take only a few minutes. It is important to be as specific as possible when describing the problem behaviors. The problem behavior should be described as behaviors that can be seen or heard; for instance, complains about h omework or rushes through homework, making many mistakes are better descriptors than has a bad attitude or is lazy.

Step 2. Set a goal. Usually the goal relates directly to the problem behavior. For instance, if not writing down assignments is the problem, the goal might be: “Joe will write down his assignments in his assignment book for every class.”

Step 3. Decide on possible rewards and penalties. Homework incentive systems work best when children have a menu of rewards to choose from, since no single reward will be attractive for long. We recommend a point system in which points can be earned for the goal behaviors and traded in for the reward the child wants to earn. The bigger the reward, the more points the child will need to earn it. The menu should include both larger, more expensive rewards that may take a week or a month to earn and smaller, inexpensive rewards that can be earned daily. It may also be necessary to build penalties into the system. This is usually the loss of a privilege (such as the chance to watch a favorite TV show or the chance to talk on the telephone to a friend).

Once the system is up and running, and if you find your child is earning more penalties than rewards, then the program needs to be revised so that your child can be more successful. Usually when this kind of system fails, we think of it as a design failure rather than the failure of the child to respond to rewards. It may be a good idea if you are having difficulty designing a system that works to consult a specialist, such as a school psychologist or counselor, for assistance.

Step 4. Write a homework contract. The contract should say exactly what the child agrees to do and exactly what the parents’ roles and responsibilities will be. When the contract is in place, it should reduce some of the tension parents and kids often experience around homework. For instance, if part of the contract is that the child will earn a point for not complaining about homework, then if the child does complain, this should not be cause for a battle between parent and child: the child simply does not earn that point. Parents should also be sure to praise their children for following the contract. It will be important for parents to agree to a contract they can live with; that is, avoiding penalties they are either unable or unwilling to impose (e.g., if both parents work and are not at home, they cannot monitor whether a child is beginning homework right after school, so an alternative contract may need to be written).

We have found that it is a rare incentive system that works the first time. Parents should expect to try it out and redesign it to work the kinks out. Eventually, once the child is used to doing the behaviors specified in the contract, the contract can be rewritten to work on another problem behavior. Your child over time may be willing to drop the use of an incentive system altogether. This is often a long-term goal, however, and you should be ready to write a new contract if your child slips back to bad habits once a system is dropped.

Click here to download the homework planner and incentive sheet .

Frequently Asked Questions

To help homework go more smoothly, e stablish a routine that includes a time and place where it will be done, a planner that lists each assignment, scheduled breaks when some of the work is done, and a reward system for kids who are not motivated by good grades alone.  

Set a good homework routine following these steps: Find a location in the house where homework will be done. Set up a homework center stocked with needed materials . Establish a homework time. Use a daily homework planner so that your child has everything in writing.  

One tool that can make homework go more smoothly i s a Daily Homework Planner , which lists each assignment, how long it should take to complete, and what rewards may be earned for completing each assignment.    

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How to Establish Good Homework Habits for Kids

Homework is the bridge between the home and the classroom. It reinforces what’s learned at school and can help raise red flags in subjects where children need extra help. It is crucial to establish good homework habits for kids early when the homework assignments are short and simple.

On the other hand, bad homework habits can lead to a negative attitude toward learning and difficulties staying focused on longer tasks. Here are our top tips for how to develop good homework habits for kids, as well as a few quick fixes to remedy bad homework habits.

• Five Good Homework Habits for Kids

Start by building a foundation of good homework and study habits that dictate where, when, and how homework should be done. Here are six of the best homework habits you can help your child establish.

1. Set a Homework Schedule

One of the easiest ways to help your child develop their best homework habits is to set aside homework time each day. Having daily homework time will prevent procrastination and ensure that your child is on track to finish his work on time.

Some children may prefer to do homework as soon as they get home. Others may need some time to play and burn off energy before settling in with their assignments. If your schedule changes daily with after-school sports and activities, consider instituting homework rules instead. For example, your child might have to do his homework before having any screen time.

Setting a schedule will help homework become a regular part of the day, rather than a daily disagreement between you and your child.

2. Provide a Regular Homework Space

Another important part of establishing a regular homework schedule is providing your child with a space to do her homework . Older students may enjoy having a desk with storage for supplies and a large space to work.

Younger children who need more help with their homework may prefer working at the kitchen table or in another communal space in the house. This can be especially helpful when your child is working on subjects or tasks that he struggles with.

Wherever your child is most comfortable, make sure he has the room and supplies he needs to develop good homework and study habits.

3. Assist Your Child (But Not Too Much!)

One of the trickiest parts of establishing good homework habits for kids is deciding how much help they need. Some parents may be tempted to rush over the moment they see their child is getting frustrated. However, it is important for students young and old to challenge themselves and work through frustration.

At the first complaint or sign of frustration, encourage your child to keep trying. Here are a few easy ways to keep him moving on a tricky question or assignment:

• Ask if he has completed all the sections he understands before tackling the ones he doesn’t.
• Provide encouragement and praise when she makes a step in the right direction.
• Ask what she remembers from class that might help her.
• Determine if there are additional resources he may need, words he needs to have defined, or directions he needs to have clarified.

There will certainly be times when your child will need help, but homework is designed to reinforce skills and subjects taught in class. Doing your child’s homework or helping her too much will only hurt her learning in the long run.

4. Stay Positive and Confident

Keeping your cool will help homework become a positive opportunity for students to practice the skills they learn in the classroom. It’s also your chance to see what your child is learning and make sure he has the tools he needs to succeed.

Praise your child not only when she gets the answer right away, but when she struggles and perseveres. Remaining confident in her abilities throughout the process is key to her own self-belief.

5. Give Your Child A Say

With all of the tips above kept in mind — be flexible. School days are long, and some children may need a break before digging into homework after school. Talk with your child about when, where, and how he does his homework best.

Just like adults, some children may work better with music or white noise. Others may prefer silence. Some may like to be left alone and ask questions at the end, while others may like to go back and forth with a parent as they need. Children may prefer to do one subject at a time or bounce between them to stay interested.

Giving your child a voice will help her develop her personal best homework habits. In turn, she will have the skills she needs to grow her homework and study habits for the rest of her educational years.

• Five Bad Homework Habits to Break

If good habits aren’t established early, bad homework habits can take root. Here are five of the most common bad habits and ways to fix them.

1. Procrastination

With after-school sports and extracurriculars, it can be easy to push homework until late at night or even until the morning of the day it’s due. Procrastination is one of the most common bad homework habits.

The solution? Set up rewards or privileges earned only after homework is done. Choose something that will motivate your child, like playing video games or watching his favorite TV show. Establishing this habit young will prevent arguments about when homework is done when he is older.

2. Getting Distracted by Screens

Text messages and social media can be huge distractions for children and young teens when completing homework. Multitasking means that homework is likely to take longer and not be done as well as if the child focused on one thing at a time.

The solution? Designate a place in another room where your child puts his phone during homework time. You may also want to monitor computer usage to ensure it is only being used for homework during homework time.

3. Having No Plan

Writing down assignments in an organized way is key to getting homework done. Students who rely on their memory are likely to forget assignments and struggle to complete long-term assignments.

The solution? Provide students with a planner to write down their assignments for the day. You can also utilize a calendar at home to plan out long-term assignments over the month to make sure they’re done on time.

4. Getting Overwhelmed

For struggling students or older students with a heavy workload, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with homework. When it comes to an especially hard assignment, your child may not be able to focus on it for very long without becoming discouraged.

The solution? Set a timer for 15-20 minutes. If your child stays focused and sticks with her homework, give her a break to cool off and relax. It will take longer to get the homework done, but she will learn more and get less frustrated in the process.

5. Incomplete Work

Your child may appear to be doing his homework, but he could be missing subjects or assignments each week. He writes them down in his calendar, but they aren’t completed.

The solution? Talk with your child. Does he need a tutor? Is he struggling to see the board? Maybe he is simply putting the work off because he doesn’t like or understand the subject. Fixing this problem relies on figuring out the cause through open conversations with your child and his teacher.

The daily practice in this updated series helps students build and maintain ELA and math skills covered over the school year. Ideal for summer school students.

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How to Do Homework: 15 Expert Tips and Tricks

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Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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7 Ways to Promote Good Study Habits

During our school days of yore, many of us were late-night crammers and school-project procrastinators. We chose to play outside with friends rather than finish our math homework. We dreaded huge papers and intimidating tests.

Now that we’re older and wiser–and understand the long-term payoff of homework and studying–we want our kids to have a different attitude towards schoolwork. We want them to make smart, motivated choices (see our Ultimate Guide to Motivating Your Kids! ).

We want them to LOVE studying.

Okay, maybe that’s a parent’s pipe-dream. But wouldn’t it be wonderful?

Considering that most kids aren’t going to fall head-over-heels for homework and studying anytime soon, what is–realistically–the best thing that we can do to help them?

Doing well in school, no matter the grade, takes a good set of habits. It also takes diligence and determination. Learning these skills might even assist them in all of life’s responsibilities and challenges.

If we want our children to be self-motivated for success, instilling the following 7 study habits is a great place to start.

1. Remove Distractions

I’ll bet this sounds familiar.

“Alex, please just focus on your homework for 10 minutes!”  

“Riley, If you stopped goofing off, you’d already be finished with your reading assignment!”

We know that one of the biggest problems with homework isn’t our kid’s inability to do the work. It’s the avoidance. While there can be multiple reasons for this avoidance, we can combat it by removing distractions. 

It may be an obvious solution, but in our technologically-inundated households it’s becoming increasingly harder to remove diversions like cell phones, iPads, and TV. The more we do so during study hours, however, the more our students can truly concentrate on the tasks at hand.

Also, if we’re in the habit of playing background music while our students study, we should make sure to ask if it is helping or distracting them. Sometimes it can be quite helpful (like for some kids with ADHD), but other times, even soothing music disrupts a child’s concentration. 

Fewer distractions simply equates to higher quality work –and less time spent doing it!

2. Make Homework Less of a “Chore”

The most common reason for homework avoidance is that it feels too much like a chore. It’s understandably the last thing kids want to do after a long day of school. They just want to relax or play. Yet, the homework still needs to get done.

Whenever possible, instill the idea that homework can actually be fun . Or, at the very least, that it can be interesting. 

I know–you’re wondering how you could ever make thirty algebra equations even remotely intriguing or fun. Especially when kids ask, “When will I ever use this in the real world? This is useless.”

To give them a dose of practicality, consider associating school lessons with family activities. Maybe your second grader is reading about food groups for a book report. While she studies each food group, she can help plan that night’s dinner menu. Later, while serving the family an eclectic dinner representing the food groups–and their rainbow of colors–she can proudly explain what she’s learned.

If your junior high student is dreading his science project but really loves Star Wars, help him brainstorm project themes that play to this interest–like the concept of traveling at light speed–that he can embellish with his favorite Star Wars characters and stories. 

And back to those algebra equations. 

Lots of interesting, real life-examples can come into play through math (like How Can You Win Every Prize at Chuck E. Cheese’s? ), so try to encourage some imagination when your kids are just staring at numbers.

It may take extra time on our part to be creative (and we’re all short on time, I know), but we’ll bank time later when they’re interested enough to cooperate and start imagining on their own. 

Not everything in life is fun, of course, and kids need to understand this. Sometimes, things just need to be done –homework included. But learning should be much more enjoyable than washing dishes and taking out the trash. And the more fun kids have with it, the more addictive it will be. 

3. Encourage Independent, Self-Learning

It seems like a cruel joke–you’ve been chauffeuring your son to school and extracurricular activities all day when you get home and realize that his Solar System project is due tomorrow!

You enlist your son’s help for about half an hour before; A) he sees your exponential effort and lets you do the work; B) he gets bored; or C) he just needs to go to bed. And, alas, you’re the one up until 11 PM finishing HIS project because you love him and want him to get a good grade.

Many of us are stuck in the habit of helping our kids–sometimes to the point of exhaustion–with their schoolwork. After all, we care.

The honest, simple fact is that kids need to do their own work. They need to see how taking time to understand and accomplish something can pay off. They need to feel empowered by the fact that getting a good grade on their Solar System project came from their own effort–not from the help of (or nagging from) their parents. Sure, we can help guide, inspire, review work, and teach our kids overall homework management, but the y need to put in the most effort. End of story.

Or maybe the homework hassle at your house has escalated from mere helplessness to an all-out power struggle? Raise your hand if you (like me) have found yourself in an emotional, frustrating, angst-filled battle of wills at the kitchen table. 

Even kindergarteners can be encouraged to do their homework as single-handedly as possible. As soon as they can read their own instructions, they have all the information they need to complete the task. Plus, the younger they learn, the easier managing their increasing workload will be.

Please Note: For Positive Parenting Solutions Members, please review our battle-tested blueprint, Help With Homework Hassles for more strategies to take the stress out of homework time.

4. Use a When-Then Routine

Things run smoothly when homework becomes a part of the daily schedule. Structuring the routine into a “When-Then” format allows homework to be completed before the distractions come back into the picture and your child pursues other activities. 

You can present the schedule as “ When you’ve finished your homework, then you can use the phone.” or “ When you’ve practiced your spelling words, then you can play outside.”  

Give your child some input into the daily “then” activity, and solidify it by sticking to the routine every day.

Routines are powerful because they let kids know what to expect. They aren’t surprised by suddenly being told it’s time for homework when they’re in the middle of an Iron Man vs. Barbie battle or an online video game with friends.

Using a When-Then Routine also helps homework feel less like a chore. It’s not an extra, unpleasant activity–it’s just a normal part of the daily checklist. It also involves a lot less nagging , because the When-Then Routine becomes the boss and the reminder–not us. 

5. Instill Time Management

Having a studying routine is also a great way to learn time management–a crucial, life-long skill. Young kids encouraged to carve out time for homework in daily routines are more likely to continue doing so in high school and college. 

Setting timers can help kids dedicate a concrete amount of time to their work. Visual timers like the Time Timer are helpful for kids that struggle to focus and/or misunderstand the flow of time. They also help kids manage transitions. 

The Time Timer

Additionally, if our kids are wiggly, antsy, and unwilling to concentrate during scheduled study time, consider built-in breaks. These can be especially helpful for kids with ADHD. 

Note: For Positive Parenting Solutions members, check out the battle-tested blueprint, Homework Skills for Kids with ADHD/EFD . You’ll learn life-changing homework strategies for kids with learning differences and without.

Your child might also benefit from an after-school snack or a quick break with a Dog Man comic book before starting homework. Although it’s easier to use the When-Then tool before they begin the more enjoyable parts of their day, some kids simply need to take breaks to maximize focus. We can try out different timing with each of our kids to see what works best. 

If you feel like your kids are being assigned an unmanageable amount of homework, don’t be afraid to discuss this with their teachers. Many parents request to opt-out of homework because they don’t feel it’s benefiting their child. The point of homework and studying should be to supplement school work and teach good study habits, but if it’s too much of a burden, it can produce resentment and anxiety . 

Monitoring a healthy, routine timeline for homework in our children’s after-school schedules will protect their relationship with learning, reinforce time-management, and decrease procrastination. 

6. Help Kids Embrace Failure & Be Constructive

When kids do their own homework and study independently, they are bound to make more mistakes, fail some tests, and even get some bad grades: all of which can be difficult for us to allow and see. 

Embracing–even encouraging–failure is becoming harder in our society. We’re focused on the competition and coming in on top. However, letting our children make mistakes and turn wrong answers into learning opportunities is an invaluable, life-long skill.

Reviewing our children’s homework with them is a great way to acknowledge their hard work while keeping an eye out for any difficulties they’re having. If we choose to do this, we need to be sure to keep the focus on the effort put into the work , not just the mistakes they may have made. We need to encourage their progress. 

If your child doesn’t want you to review her homework, that’s perfectly fine. She will receive feedback from the teacher on the assignment which will be highly instructive. In fact, most kids will remember the incorrect answers better than the answers they got right. 

Even basic tasks like failing to put their names on their homework or forgetting to bring their homework to school are great learning opportunities. If they don’t get credit for the work they forgot, they likely won’t make the same mistake twice. And the less we’re involved, the more they’ll notice all these necessary steps (plus, they can’t lay the blame on us)!

7. Avoid Rewards

Offering rewards is a common and tempting way to help homework-resistant kids get their work done.

The problem with this tactic, however, is that it focuses on short-term motivation. 

Promising our third grader a handful of Oreo cookies if he completes his book report isn’t motivating him to be interested in the subject he’s reading. His thoughts are only of the sugary end result. Similarly, if we pay our high-school students for their good grades , they are only motivated by money. Whatever they need to learn or complete to earn that money isn’t valued. 

And beyond the enjoyment of learning, the critical, crowning achievement of their completed homework and good grades– hard work –is either disregarded or overlooked.

If we want self-motivated learners, they need to accept–and respect–the process of work itself. They need to feel empowered by their effort. Alternatively, kids rewarded for accomplishments can grow up with an attitude of entitlement. They may be less likely to pour in the hard work, sweat, and tears that are required.

Whenever we feel the urge to promise a reward in exchange for studying, we can opt for the When-Then Routine instead. When they complete a task, then they can do something else. 

A When-Then Routine isn’t a reward, because the “Then” is not something special or out of the ordinary. It’s not a bribe. The “Then” of a When-Then routine is a regularly occurring event–such as leaving for soccer practice. We are simply controlling the order in which that event can be enjoyed. 

Parents worldwide hail the Positive Parenting Solutions When-Then Routine as a life-saver because it motivates kids to get the “yucky” stuff done without expectation and entitlement . 

When Homework Isn’t Challenging

There are a lot of intelligent kids out there who are simply underwhelmed by schoolwork . It’s too easy, boring, and uninspiring. They may do well on their tests without having to study, but they hate doing homework. 

Again, don’t be afraid to discuss your child’s workload–or work difficulty–with her teacher. Children enjoy a challenge because of the good feeling that results from figuring something out. 

We want kids to be inspired by learning–and certainly never bored. As an equal partner in your child’s education, don’t be afraid to ask the teacher for more challenging activities for your student to work on at home. Or, you can find loads of websites with engaging at-home learning activities.

Kids with ADHD (and Other Learning Differences)

Kids with learning differences like ADHD and dyslexia can greatly benefit from the same habits we’ve already discussed: this includes routines, timers, and study breaks. 

The main thing to remember is while we all need to tailor study to our kids’ individual personalities and needs, kids with learning differences may need additional outside-of-the-box ideas.  There are many excellent online ideas and resources for keeping kids with learning differences engaged, like these helpful planners for time management.

Daily academic planner from Order Out of Chaos

Please Note: For Positive Parenting Solutions Members, please review: Homework Skills for ADHD/EFD Kids.

Final Thoughts

The strategies in this article are designed to improve your kids’ study habits, but even the best ideas can’t guarantee they will love doing their homework. When the whining starts, we can empathize so they know we’re on their team: “I get it! It’s no fun to stay inside doing homework on such a nice day!”  

If the whining won’t let up, just tune it out. Ignore the fussing and complaining about homework. Complaints will happen, and responding to them will only encourage our kids to keep them coming. Instead, fostering their internal motivation by connecting effort to results helps our children tackle homework and studying more positively.

It’s a simple approach that might, just might…trigger a lifetime love of learning.

Want kids that are self-starters? I assure you, it’s possible! Check out our Ultimate Guide to Motivating Your Kids.

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Rethinking Homework for This Year—and Beyond

A schoolwide effort to reduce homework has led to a renewed focus on ensuring that all work assigned really aids students’ learning.

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I used to pride myself on my high expectations, including my firm commitment to accountability for regular homework completion among my students. But the trauma of Covid-19 has prompted me to both reflect and adapt. Now when I think about the purpose and practice of homework, two key concepts guide me: depth over breadth, and student well-being.

Homework has long been the subject of intense debate, and there’s no easy answer with respect to its value. Teachers assign homework for any number of reasons: It’s traditional to do so, it makes students practice their skills and solidify learning, it offers the opportunity for formative assessment, and it creates good study habits and discipline. Then there’s the issue of pace. Throughout my career, I’ve assigned homework largely because there just isn’t enough time to get everything done in class.

A Different Approach

Since classes have gone online, the school where I teach has made a conscious effort as a teaching community to reduce, refine, and distill our curriculum. We have applied guiding questions like: What is most important? What is most transferable? What is most relevant? Refocusing on what matters most has inevitably made us rethink homework.

We have approached both asking and answering these questions through a science of learning lens. In Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning , the authors maintain that deep learning is slow learning. Deep learning requires time for retrieval, practice, feedback, reflection, and revisiting content; ultimately it requires struggle, and there is no struggle without time.

As someone who has mastered the curriculum mapping style of “get it done to move on to get that next thing done,” using an approach of “slow down and reduce” has been quite a shift for me. However, the shift has been necessary: What matters most is what’s best for my students, as opposed to my own plans or mandates imposed by others.

Listening to Students

To implement this shift, my high school English department has reduced content and texts both in terms of the amount of units and the content within each unit. We’re more flexible with dates and deadlines. We spend our energy planning the current unit instead of the year’s units. In true partnership with my students, I’m constantly checking in with them via Google forms, Zoom chats, conferences, and Padlet activities. In these check-ins, I specifically ask students how they’re managing the workload for my class and their other classes. I ask them how much homework they’re doing. And I adjust what I do and expect based on what they tell me. For example, when I find out a week is heavy with work in other classes, I make sure to allot more time during class for my tasks. At times I have even delayed or altered one of my assignments.

To be completely transparent, the “old” me is sheepish in admitting that I’ve so dramatically changed my thinking with respect to homework. However, both my students and I have reaped numerous benefits. I’m now laser-focused when designing every minute of my lessons to maximize teaching and learning. Every decision I make is now scrutinized through the lens of absolute worth for my students’ growth: If it doesn’t make the cut, it’s cut. I also take into account what is most relevant to my students.

For example, our 10th-grade English team has redesigned a unit that explores current manifestations of systemic oppression. This unit is new in approach and longer in duration than it was pre-Covid, and it has resulted in some of the deepest and hardest learning, as well as the richest conversations, that I have seen among students in my career. Part of this improved quality comes from the frequent and intentional pauses that I instruct students to take in order to reflect on the content and on the arc of their own learning. The reduction in content that we need to get through in online learning has given me more time to assign reflective prompts, and to let students process their thoughts, whether that’s at the end of a lesson as an exit slip or as an assignment.

Joining Forces to Be Consistent

There’s no doubt this reduction in homework has been a team effort. Within the English department, we have all agreed to allot reading time during class; across each grade level, we’re monitoring the amount of homework our students have collectively; and across the whole high school, we have adopted a framework to help us think through assigning homework.

Within that framework, teachers at the school agree that the best option is for students to complete all work during class. The next best option is for students to finish uncompleted class work at home as a homework assignment of less than 30 minutes. The last option—the one we try to avoid as much as possible—is for students to be assigned and complete new work at home (still less than 30 minutes). I set a maximum time limit for students’ homework tasks (e.g., 30 minutes) and make that clear at the top of every assignment.

This schoolwide approach has increased my humility as a teacher. In the past, I tended to think my subject was more important than everyone else’s, which gave me license to assign more homework. But now I view my students’ experience more holistically: All of their classes and the associated work must be considered, and respected.

As always, I ground this new pedagogical approach not just in what’s best for students’ academic learning, but also what’s best for them socially and emotionally. 2020 has been traumatic for educators, parents, and students. There is no doubt the level of trauma varies greatly ; however, one can’t argue with the fact that homework typically means more screen time when students are already spending most of the day on their devices. They need to rest their eyes. They need to not be sitting at their desks. They need physical activity. They need time to do nothing at all.

Eliminating or reducing homework is a social and emotional intervention, which brings me to the greatest benefit of reducing the homework load: Students are more invested in their relationship with me now that they have less homework. When students trust me to take their time seriously, when they trust me to listen to them and adjust accordingly, when they trust me to care for them... they trust more in general.

And what a beautiful world of learning can be built on trust.

Top 10 Healthy Homework Habits

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Your homework habits might be affecting your grades. Are you staying on track with your assignments? Feeling tired, achy, or bored when it comes to homework time? Are you arguing with parents about your grades? You can change the way you feel by taking better care of your mind and your body.

Use a Planner

Did you know that poor organization skills can reduce your final scores by a whole letter grade? That's why you should learn to use a day planner the right way. Who can afford to score a big fat "0" on a paper, just because we got lazy and didn't pay attention to the due date? Nobody wants to get an "F" because of forgetfulness.

Use Practice Exams

Studies show that the best way to prepare for a test is to use a practice exam. If you really want to ace the next exam, get together with a study partner and create practice tests. Then switch exams and test one another. This is a great way to improve test scores! 

Find a Study Partner

 Practice exams are the best way to prepare for a test, but the strategy is most effective when a study partner creates the practice exam. A study partner can help you in so many ways!

Improve Reading Skills

Critical reading is "thinking between the lines." It means reading your assignments with the goal of finding deep understanding of a material, whether it is fiction or nonfiction. It is the act of analyzing and evaluating what you are reading as you progress, or as you reflect back.

Communicate With Parents

Parents are concerned about your success. It sounds simple enough, but students don't always realize how much parents can stress out about this. Whenever parents see a small sign of potential failure (like missing a homework assignment), they start fretting, unconsciously or consciously, about its potential to become a big failure.

Get the Sleep You Need

Studies show that teens' natural sleep patterns are different from those of adults. This often causes sleep deprivation among teens, since they tend to have trouble going to sleep at night, and have trouble waking in the mornings. You can avoid some of the problems that come with sleep deprivation by changing some of your nighttime habits.

Improve Your Eating Habits

Do you feel tired or dizzy a lot of the time? If you sometimes avoid working on a project because you just don't have the energy, you can increase your energy level by changing your diet. One banana in the morning might increase your performance at school!

Improve Your Memory

A great way to improve your homework habits is to improve your memory with brain exercise. There are many theories and ideas about improving memory, but there is one mnemonic method that has been around since ancient times. Ancient accounts show that early Greek and Roman orators used the "loci" method of remembering long speeches and lists. You may be able to use this method to enhance your memory at test time.

Fight the Urge to Procrastinate

Do you get the sudden urge to feed the dog at homework time? Don't fall for it! Procrastination is like a little white lie we tell ourselves. We often think we’ll feel better about studying later if we do something fun now, like playing with a pet, watching a TV show, or even cleaning our room. It's not true.

Avoid Repetitive Stress

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11 Effective Ways to Improve Study Habits for Your Kids

Written by Ashley Crowe

• Parent Resources

• What makes studying difficult for some children?
• 11 Ways to help kids study
• How good study habits impact real-world development

Kids have a lot on their plates. The school day is already long, and after you add in extracurriculars, there’s little time left for anything else. 

But the homework has to get done. And they have to find time to prepare for the big test next week. Your child needs to maximize and improve their study time .

Many kids struggle with studying. And the pandemic didn’t make things any easier. In the Fall of 2020, more than half of college students reported struggling to complete their coursework. And even more found it difficult to stay focused.

The stress of the last year has been felt by younger students too. It’s important for middle and high school students to refocus on their studies. That’s why we’re here to help you steer your child towards more productive study habits and find study strategies that work for them.

With these tips, your child will be more able to effectively use their study time to thrive in school this year. Even better, working on these habits now will set them up for success for years to come — both in school and in the workplace!

Some children find it more difficult than others to crack a book open when they get home. This can be for a variety of reasons. 

The school day is already long, and many children are not getting enough sleep . Add in extra after-school activities, and it’s easy to understand why shutting off their brain is often their number one priority.

Even children who find the time to sit down and study may struggle with using this time well. A few reasons your child may find studying difficult include:

• Lack of Interest — As a kid, you probably didn’t like every subject. Some felt plain boring. And it’s the same way for your child. When something doesn’t interest you or feel fun, it can be easy to put it on the back-burner.
• Distraction — There’s a lot going on at home in the evenings. Dinner being made, younger siblings running around, friends calling on the phone. Often, there’s so much else your child would rather do than study.
• Worry — Whether students are in elementary, middle or high school, school can be a high-stress time. Tricky social situations may be weighing on them, or they may be worried about assignments. Plus, the pandemic added even more worry to the normal stress of school and childhood. There’s a lot whirring around in their minds every day, making it hard to settle down and focus.

School is full of things students have to do. Much like how work can be for adults. The trick is to figure out how to keep pushing forward. That’s where you, the parent, can help. 

If your child is struggling with studying, they’re not alone . Think about why they may be having a difficult time. Then sit down and talk with your child, one on one. Give them a judgment-free space to share what’s going on in their lives. Figure out their most pressing issues, then work together to find an answer.

How to help kids study

Watching your child struggle with school work is hard. Here are our suggestions to help your child thrive during their study sessions.

1. Make use of at-home learning technology

Technology is all around, and it’s not going anywhere. With internet access, you can learn just about anything at any time. And learning how to use online resources is key to your child’s future success in school and life. 

Help your child learn to navigate educational apps and technology. Set appropriate limits and monitor as needed to keep the focus on homework. If you can find fun and entertaining learning resources, you’ve hit the jackpot!

If your child dreads math homework, for example, try a fun game-based option like Prodigy Math Game . With Prodigy, your child can practice curriculum-aligned math skills while they play an engaging fantasy video game! Prodigy helps take away the stress of math practice, making it feel more like a needed brain break than homework. Learning while having fun is what great EdTech is all about.

Ready to help your child love learning math? Sign up for a free parent account to get started.

2. Eliminate distraction

As much as we want to believe it’s possible, no one can multitask perfectly. Focus and concentration are needed to complete any project well. And that often means eliminating distractions. This is important for every student, but especially if your child is one of many students diagnosed with ADHD.

And the most common distraction for students? Their mobile devices . Designate a place outside of their study area to stash their phone or tablet during study time. If they need their phone’s calculator, try setting it to airplane mode to disable talk and text.

A mobile device is not the only distraction, of course. A nearby TV or noisy siblings may also make it difficult to focus. If possible, find a study space outside of the home’s common areas. If your child works well with white noise or music, let them turn it on. It may help drown out other distracting noises, helping them focus on their studies.

3. Set regular but short breaks

Sitting and studying for an hour straight without taking brain breaks will likely produce poor results. Instead, make sure your child takes breaks during study time to refresh their brain.

Many professionals use the Pomodoro Technique to increase productivity — working for 25 minutes, then taking a five-minute break. This is a great place to start when planning study breaks as well. But it’s certainly not the only option.

Try out a few options, see what works best for your child, and stick with it. But don’t force it — one trick may not work forever. If your method stops working, be flexible and adjust as needed.

Does your child need some ideas for those brain breaks? During break time, they can:

• Take a walk
• Grab a snack
• Check in with friends
• Work on a personal project or hobby

The important thing is to set a time to return to work , then get back to it without delay. 

4. Designate fixed studying and school work areas

During the pandemic, everyone spruced up their home offices. And for good reason! It’s easier to focus and stay productive when you’re in a space you enjoy . And it’s the same for your child.

The kitchen table can be a great space for younger children to work. But as your child moves into middle and high school, they may need a desk they can customize and settle into. One that is away from the distractions of the main living areas. 

If it’s time to upgrade their desk, let them have fun decorating their new space! Choose a desk large enough for textbooks, notepads and their computer. Then add in some color and personality with a customizable cork board and accessories. When their study space fits their style, they’ll more likely enjoy using it.

5. Try alternatives to reading

Reading back through notes and textbooks can become tedious. There’s only so much time your child can focus during, before eyes start to glaze over. If your child struggles during studying, try other methods, like these :

• Work together to design flashcards for vocabulary words
• Search for an online video explaining the subject in a new way
• Ask them to draw a picture or diagram to illustrate science concepts
• Find an interesting audiobook or podcast about the topic they’re studying

Kids learn in different ways. Find what works best for your child and use it. Just be sure to keep the focus on studying and avoid the online rabbit holes of distraction.

6. Set a fixed time to study

Most kids don’t just head straight home after school with a free evening. Usually, there's sports or band practice, plus dinner and family time to fit in. Scheduling study time may be the only way to ensure it gets completed. 

Sit down with your child and schedule this time together. Set a start and end time, and include study breaks. Then help them stick to their new schedule. Things may come up, so be flexible when needed, but keep study hours a priority. 

It may take a couple of weeks to find a groove. So try setting reminders on your phone to make sure time doesn’t get away from everyone. After a while, study time will become a regular and expected part of the day.

Bonus — learning to work around life’s events, both planned and unplanned, is a skill that will follow them throughout school and their career. Time management for the win!

7. Give Regular praise

You sat down together, planned a schedule, and they’ve stuck to it. Amazing! Let them know that you notice all of their hard work. Positive parenting and celebrating their wins (both big and small) may be just the encouragement they need to keep it up. 

Make sure to celebrate effort over outcome , to show your child that trying is the most important thing. Some great wins to celebrate include :

• Solving a tricky problem
• Sticking to their schedule
• Having a lightbulb moment
• Reaching a reading or math goal
• Finishing a project or assignment

Share how proud you are, and tell them they should be proud of themselves too. They are accomplishing a lot and working hard to do it. Add in a surprise treat or outing every once in a while, and they’ll be excited to keep moving forward!

8. Reassess on a regular basis

You’ve followed steps one through seven, but it just isn’t clicking. Don’t worry! Strong study habits don’t develop overnight . It may be time for another sit-down and planning discussion with your child.

Where is there a problem? 

Are they still not finding the time to study? Try a different schedule. Are test scores not improving? Ask about their understanding of the material, or if anything is affecting their study time. Problem-solve together and try again.

Even when things are working well, it’s a good idea to check in. Every week, take some time to discuss how effective their study schedule and strategies are. What’s working? What is a struggle? Then make changes as needed. Even if something works for weeks, a change may help breathe new life into an old routine.

Be flexible and work together to find the best study plan for your child. 

9. Plan in advance

Planning ahead is a strategy for success in everyday life. There are only 24 hours in a day. Maximize that time and don’t wait until the last minute to cram .

If a test is coming up on Friday, encourage your child to start reviewing on Monday. Break down the material into manageable chunks and tackle it one day at a time. 

Add these details into the study schedule for the week. If they can think beyond tomorrow, they’ll save themselves a lot of stress — both in the immediate future and in their adult lives.

10. Prioritize frequent exercise and getting enough sleep

These are easy to overlook, but so important for student success. Daily exercise will keep the brain active. During study breaks, or before and after study sessions, encourage your child to get outside. Let them run around and get out some of that pent-up energy!

If that transition from school to home to studying is difficult, try exercise to move the mind forward. You don’t have to spend a lot of time here. A 10-minute bike ride or a 5-minute yoga session may be just the trick to moving on to the next phase of the day. If they’re coming from a sports practice and are already wiped out, suggest a quick meditation or calming activity to help with the transition from home to focused study time.

Even better, take studying out in the fresh air when possible. Exposure to sunlight will help your child stay energized during the day, and prepare their bodies for sleep at night. 

There’s always a lot going on, but try to keep an early and consistent bedtime for your child. Ensure they get enough sleep to help all their hard work stick. 

11. Stay Involved & Follow Through

A lot of this list involves you, the parent, helping your child learn the dos and don’ts of studying. These skills take practice. You may even struggle with procrastination and time management yourself. 

Developing good study habits can be tough, and your child needs your help to succeed. One more way to help — use this time to study as well. Take time to dive into topics you’ve always wanted to learn. Study alongside your child . Read a new book, learn a foreign language or get ahead of tomorrow’s work. 

Studying with your child can model good habits and improve their view on learning. Learning really is a lifelong pursuit. You just have to take the time for it!

School success is the focus now, but establishing strong study habits will help your child throughout their life. 

Time management, goal setting and balancing self-care are important skills in the real world. Helping your child thrive in school prepares them for all of life’s challenges (plus, you may even improve some of your own life skills 😃).

Good study habits are essential for developing children into lifelong learners. Looking for more ways to help your child succeed in school and beyond? At Prodigy, our mission is to help every student in the world love learning! 

Explore our website and blog for more helpful tips and suggestions on creating a life-long love of learning for your child.

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Create Good Homework Habits With This 3-Step Plan

Motivate your child to finish their schoolwork successfully..

If your elementary schooler doesn’t like reading or doing homework without resistance, you’re not alone. 

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to spark your child’s interest in learning outside of the classroom. Creating structure in your child’s day with an after-school schedule will help them stay focused and avoid homework fatigue.

Here are tips to help your child use their after-school time well and ease some of the stress you both may be experiencing.

1. Set Up a Schedule 

Agree on a “lights out” time and work backward. Here's a sample homework schedule to help you with your planning. This schedule is designed for a child who dislikes doing homework, so it allows multiple breaks throughout the evening. (It’s worth noting, however, that some children do their best work right after school, when energy levels are still high.)

• 4:00 p.m.  Rest, relax. Kids need space and downtime in their schedules.
• 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.  Sports, art, and other planned activities.
• 5:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.  Homework time! Have your child do theirs in the kitchen or somewhere close by while dinner is being prepared, so they don’t feel isolated and can ask questions. If your child has a dedicated “homework nook,” be sure to pop in often to see how they’re doing and offer words of encouragement.
• 6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m. Dinner and quality family time.
• 7:30 p.m.–8:00 p.m.  Homework wrap-up (if needed).
• 8:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m. Free time! If your family typically watches TV in the evening, you might consider switching on a streaming series or documentary that complements your child’s classroom instruction.
• 8:30 p.m.– 9:00 p.m. Nightly read-aloud! This is the time to get your 20-30 minutes of daily reading in for stronger literacy skills. (Here’s some benefits of reading to your elementary schooler nightly .)

2. Talk to the Teacher 

Your child’s teacher can tell you how much time students should be spending on homework nightly. Generally, students in elementary school should have between 10 and 15 minutes of homework for each grade year. This means a child in 4th grade may have between 40 and 60 minutes of homework a night; often this includes some reading.

Teachers will also have ideas for motivating students who are disinterested in doing homework. When you speak with your child’s teacher, raise any concerns you have about at-home learning, like if your child struggles to do their homework, since these may be signs of a learning disability .

Your child’s teacher will be able to discuss in-class performance, and together the two of you can create a day-to-night plan that promotes your child’s success.

3. Develop the Homework Habit

Once you establish a schedule that works for you and your child — including any limits on TV and tech time — be sure to stick to it. Consistency is key to developing good homework habits.

These are valuable years for teaching your child how to keep schoolwork, play, fitness, and other activities in balance. You’ll be helping them with an important life lesson — and hopefully establishing a little more harmony at home.

Get ready for your child to go back to school with our guide — it's full of recommended books, teacher tips, homework strategies for parents , and more resources for a successful school year. 

Shop workbooks to support your child’s skills below. You can shop all books and activities at The Scholastic Store .

For more quick tips and book recommendations, sign up for our Scholastic Parents newsletter!

You'll also get 10% off your first order at the Scholastic Store Online.

Science of mind

Why is homework good for your brain?

Did you know that homework has a profound impact on brain development? It’s not just about completing assignments; homework can actually improve brain function and enhance cognitive abilities.

Homework is designed to help students prepare for the future and develop skills that are essential for success in life. It offers several cognitive benefits, including the development of memory and critical thinking skills. By practicing and repeating new skills through homework, students can enhance their memory and retain knowledge for exams and future tests.

But that’s not all. Homework also helps students build suitable study habits, learn time management, realize personal responsibility, work independently, and improve their ability to use resources and conduct research.

Key Takeaways:

• Homework improves brain function and enhances cognitive abilities.
• By practicing and repeating new skills through homework, students can enhance their memory and retain knowledge.
• Homework helps students build suitable study habits, learn time management, and realize personal responsibility.
• Homework fosters independence and the ability to use resources effectively.
• Research shows that designing and assigning homework correctly can optimize its effectiveness as a learning tool.

The Cognitive Benefits of Homework

Homework is not just a task assigned by teachers to keep students occupied after school; it has far-reaching cognitive benefits and contributes to brain growth and development. Through various homework assignments, students have the opportunity to enhance critical thinking skills, memory retention, and problem-solving abilities.

One essential cognitive benefit of homework is its ability to challenge and develop critical thinking skills. By applying the concepts they’ve learned in class to real-life situations, students can deepen their understanding and improve their analytical thinking abilities. This practice fosters a deeper level of comprehension and encourages students to actively engage with the material.

Another cognitive benefit of homework is its positive impact on memory retention. Through practice and repetition of new skills and knowledge, students reinforce the neural connections in their brains, making the information more accessible and easier to recall. This improved memory retention helps students perform better on exams and enhances their overall academic performance.

Homework also plays a crucial role in developing problem-solving abilities. Assignments that require students to think critically and find innovative solutions to complex problems help cultivate their analytical and logical thinking skills. These problem-solving abilities are essential for success in various aspects of life, from academic pursuits to professional careers.

Overall, homework has a profound impact on cognitive development, providing students with opportunities to enhance critical thinking, memory retention, and problem-solving abilities. By engaging in regular homework assignments, students can nurture these essential cognitive skills and lay a solid foundation for their future academic and professional success.

Building Essential Skills Through Homework

Homework plays a vital role in building essential skills that are crucial for academic success and beyond. It provides students with the opportunity to develop effective study habits, learn time management, cultivate personal responsibility, and engage in independent work.

One of the key benefits of homework is the development of study habits. Through regular homework assignments, students learn how to plan their study sessions, set realistic goals, and effectively organize their time. By following consistent study routines, students can maximize their learning potential and improve their overall academic performance.

Time management is another vital skill that homework helps students develop. By juggling multiple assignments and deadlines, students learn to prioritize tasks, allocate their time effectively, and meet their academic obligations. These skills are essential not only for academic success but also for managing responsibilities in other areas of life.

Homework also fosters a sense of personal responsibility. Being accountable for completing assignments on time and to the best of their ability teaches students the importance of taking ownership of their education. It instills a work ethic that can significantly impact their future success, both inside and outside the classroom.

Furthermore, homework promotes independent work and critical thinking skills. Through assignments that require students to apply concepts learned in class, they develop their problem-solving abilities and deepen their understanding of the subject matter. This type of independent work encourages students to think creatively, analyze information critically, and develop their own perspectives.

By engaging in homework, students are actively building these essential skills that will benefit them throughout their education and beyond. The combination of effective study habits, time management, personal responsibility, and independent work fosters self-discipline, resilience, and a lifelong love of learning.

Testimonial:

“Homework has been instrumental in developing my study habits and time management skills. It has taught me the importance of setting goals and staying organized. Through homework, I’ve become more accountable and independent in my learning.” – Jane Smith, High School Student

Homework and Research Skills

When it comes to homework, research skills are essential for academic success. Homework assignments often require students to explore various resources, such as research papers, books, websites, and videos. By delving into these resources, students develop the ability to effectively use different information sources and enhance their understanding of the subject matter.

Research skills acquired through homework not only improve students’ academic performance but also prepare them to navigate the vast amount of information available in the digital age. By honing their research skills, students become adept at finding relevant and reliable information, analyzing different sources, and critically evaluating the credibility and validity of the information they come across.

Research skills acquired through homework contribute to academic success and prepare students for future challenges.

Through homework, students develop the persistence and resilience necessary to delve deep into a topic, locate relevant information, and synthesize their findings in a coherent manner. These skills are not only valuable during their academic journey but will also benefit them throughout their lives as they continue to learn and grow.

Moreover, conducting research for homework assignments instills a sense of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge in students. It encourages them to explore beyond the textbook and develop a broader perspective on the topics they are studying. They learn to ask questions, seek answers, and develop a lifelong love for learning.

Overall, homework assignments that require research skills play a vital role in shaping students’ intellectual growth, fostering critical thinking, and preparing them for the challenges they will face in their future academic and professional endeavors.

The Science of Homework Efficiency

When it comes to homework, there is a science behind ensuring its maximum effectiveness as a learning tool. Research has shown that the way homework is designed and assigned can have a significant impact on student performance. To optimize learning outcomes, homework should provide independent learning opportunities and present challenges that facilitate deliberate practice of essential content and skills.

One factor that can greatly affect the efficiency of homework is task switching. Constantly switching between homework and distractions like social media can significantly prolong the time spent on assignments. To overcome this, it is crucial to encourage students to delay gratification by using social media as a reward after completing their assignments. By eliminating distractions and focusing on the task at hand, students can deepen their learning and complete their homework more efficiently.

Adopting a scientific approach to tackling homework can lead to improved academic performance. By implementing strategies that optimize learning, such as organizing study sessions, setting goals, and utilizing resources effectively, students can enhance their understanding of the subject matter and improve their overall learning outcomes. By prioritizing uninterrupted focus and disciplined work, students can transform homework into a valuable learning experience that prepares them for success in their academic endeavors.

Source Links

• https://www.crispebooks.org/
• http://www.math.usf.edu/~mccolm/pedagogy/HWgood.html
• https://www.edutopia.org/blog/homework-sleep-and-student-brain-glenn-whitman

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10 Tips for Creating Good Homework Habits to Save Your Sanity

It happens to all of us at some point: screaming matches between parent and child over homework habits.

Just saying the word homework can suck the air right out of the room and throw everyone into high-stress mode. I love vacations because they offer a break from my kids groaning and me having to nag. But once they’re back at school the homework issues and frustration come roaring back.

I have often struggled over whether I have helped too much, nagged too much or was being naïve in believing them when they said they didn’t have homework . I didn’t want to be that parent who constantly emailed and called the teacher. There’s a fine line between being a strong advocate for my children and knowing when they need to take that role over themselves.

Unfortunately, homework is a fact of life—but the parent/child struggle doesn’t have to be. Finding a way to reduce the stress can improve not only the family dynamics, but also your child’s ability to focus and retain information, which can help build self-esteem.

So take a look at your child’s homework routine. And if there isn’t a routine, now is a good time to begin:

How to Start Good Homework Habits

1. it’s not too late.

Don’t worry if you haven’t already established good habits. Do it today. Set a routine now because the amount and difficulty of homework continues to grow.

2. Find the right time

After experimenting a bit, I found that our kids did best when they had a schedule. They came home from school, had a snack, and then would dive into the homework. Even when they had friends over, we stuck with the schedule and they all settled into it together. It takes the pressure off because they know they get to hang later.

3. Designate a space

Help your child set up an area dedicated to homework . Ours was our kitchen table because when my kids were young, they liked having me sit with them. My daughter continued that practice until senior year and I think it helped her stay focused. My son eventually moved his spot to another room. Wherever they do their homework, try to keep it a clean space. Messy areas can feel chaotic and be distracting.

4. Break work into bite-size pieces

Sometimes all of the homework is just too overwhelming. That’s especially true if you have a child with ADHD or learning differentials. Work with them to break down the steps they need to take to get the homework done. Setting smaller, manageable goals will make them feel they’ve accomplished something.

5. Give them breaks

Kids can’t just sit still for long periods of time. My daughter, who has ADHD, likes playing music or moving onto the deck when she needs a break. Letting them take a break, and encouraging them to decide when to get back to the homework, takes away the power struggle.

6. A tip for textbooks

Our schools have enough textbooks for the kids to use one in the classroom and leave a second copy at home. This means fewer books are lost and the kids stay better organized, not to mention the ability to actually carry their backpacks! If your school doesn’t have the resources for this, you may be able to access textbooks online or rent them from Amazon.

7. Offer suggestions for coping

Teach stressed-out kids a few mindfulness techniques. Slow, deep breathing, playing white noise, or using an app like Calm can all be helpful for managing homework stress, as well as helping them in other areas of their lives.

8. Feed the beast

No matter how old you are, it’s really hard to concentrate when you’re hungry. Hunger can also make kids cranky without them knowing why. So definitely offer them a snack before or during homework sessions.

9. Encouragement goes a long way

If you believe they can do it, they will too. School can be stressful. When they’re frustrated or say they can’t do it, add this word: yet . As in, “You can’t do it yet .”  Yet is the best little word for offering gentle encouragement .

10. Just relax

Sometimes you need to take a step back. You can give your kids the best environment for doing their homework, but you can’t do it for them. Yes, it’s hard when it feels like grades count so much, but once you’ve prepared them and given them all of the tools to succeed, you need to let go and trust they’ll figure it out.

Dana Baker-Williams is a writer, not-so-perfect mom of two, and a parent coach and teen/child mentor. She offers advice from the trenches, sharing the good, the bad and the anxious—and always the heart and humor.

Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

She can be reached at [email protected] .

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There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

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How to Use Homework to Support Student Success

Covid has brought many changes in education. what does it mean for homework.

Posted January 12, 2022 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

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• Generally, homework should include about 10 minutes per night per grade level.
• The value of homework is debated, with questions about the right amount and potential for inequity.
• Families should view homework as a communication tool, strive to be good helpers, and monitor balance.

School assignments that a student is expected to do outside of the regular school day—that’s homework. The general guideline is 10 minutes of nightly homework per grade level beginning after kindergarten. This amounts to just a few minutes for younger elementary students to up to 2 hours for high school students.

The guidance seems straightforward enough, so why is homework such a controversial topic? School disruptions, including extended periods of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, have magnified the controversies yet also have provided an opportunity to rethink the purpose and value of homework.

Debates about the value of homework center around two primary issues: amount and inequity.

First, the amount of assigned homework may be much more than the recommended guidelines. Families report their children are stressed out over the time spent doing homework. Too much homework can challenge well-being given the restricted time available for sleep, exercise, and social connection. In a 2015 study , for example, parents reported their early elementary children received almost three times the recommended guidelines. In high school, researchers found an average of three hours of homework per night for students living in economically privileged communities.

Second, homework can perpetuate inequities. Students attending school in less economically privileged communities may receive little to no homework, or have difficulty completing it due to limited access to needed technology. This can translate into fewer opportunities to learn and may contribute to gaps in achievement.

There isn’t a ton of research on the effects of homework, and available studies certainly do not provide a simple answer. For example, a 2006 synthesis of studies suggested a positive influence between homework completion and academic achievement for middle and high school students. Supporters also point out that homework offers additional opportunities to engage in learning and that it can foster independent learning habits such as planning and a sense of responsibility. A more recent study involving 13-year-old students in Spain found higher test scores for those who were regularly assigned homework in math and science, with an optimal time around one hour—which is roughly aligned with recommendations. However, the researchers noted that ability to independently do the work, student effort, and prior achievement were more important contributors than time spent.

Opponents of homework maintain that the academic benefit does not outweigh the toll on well-being. Researchers have observed student stress, physical health problems, and lack of life balance, especially when the time spent goes over the recommended guidelines. In a survey of adolescents , over half reported the amount and type of homework they received to be a primary source of stress in their lives. In addition, vast differences exist in access and availability of supports, such as internet connection, adult assistance, or even a place to call home, as 1.5 million children experience homelessness in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic has re-energized discussion about homework practices, with the goal to advance recommendations about how, when, and with whom it can be best used. Here’s a summary of key strategies:

Strategies for Educators

Make sure the tasks are meaningful and matched. First, the motto “ quality over quantity ” can guide decisions about homework. Homework is not busy-work, and instead should get students excited about learning. Emphasize activities that facilitate choice and interest to extend learning, like choose your own reading adventure or math games. Second, each student should be able to complete homework independently with success. Think about Goldilocks: To be effective, assignments should be just right for each learner. One example of how do this efficiently is through online learning platforms that can efficiently adjust to skill level and can be completed in a reasonable amount of time.

Ensure access to resources for task completion. One step toward equity is to ensure access to necessary resources such as time, space, and materials. Teach students about preparing for homework success, allocating classroom time to model and practice good study habits such as setting up their physical environment, time management , and chunking tasks. Engage in conversations with students and families to problem-solve challenges When needed, connect students with homework supports available through after-school clubs, other community supports, or even within a dedicated block during the school day.

Be open to revisiting homework policies and practices. The days of penalizing students for not completing homework should be long gone. Homework is a tool for practicing content and learning self- management . With that in mind, provide opportunities for students to communicate needs, and respond by revising assignments or allowing them to turn in on alternative dates. Engage in adult professional learning about high-quality homework , from value (Should I assign this task?) to evaluation (How should this be graded? Did that homework assignment result in expected outcomes?). Monitor how things are going by looking at completion rates and by asking students for their feedback. Be willing to adapt the homework schedule or expectations based on what is learned.

Strategies for Families

Understand how to be a good helper. When designed appropriately, students should be able to complete homework with independence. Limit homework wars by working to be a good helper. Hovering, micromanaging, or doing homework for them may be easiest in the moment but does not help build their independence. Be a good helper by asking guiding questions, providing hints, or checking for understanding. Focus your assistance on setting up structures for homework success, like space and time.

Use homework as a tool for communication. Use homework as a vehicle to foster family-school communication. Families can use homework as an opportunity to open conversations about specific assignments or classes, peer relationships, or even sleep quality that may be impacting student success. For younger students, using a daily or weekly home-school notebook or planner can be one way to share information. For older students, help them practice communicating their needs and provide support as needed.

Make sure to balance wellness. Like adults, children need a healthy work-life balance. Positive social connection and engagement in pleasurable activities are important core principles to foster well-being . Monitor the load of homework and other structured activities to make sure there is time in the daily routine for play. Play can mean different things to different children: getting outside, reading for pleasure, and yes, even gaming. Just try to ensure that activities include a mix of health-focused activities such as physical movement or mindfulness downtime.

Sandra M. Chafouleas, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

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6 tips to help your kid establish good homework habits.

Homework. It’s often a dreaded word for kids and parents alike. While there’s been debate about the value of homework and whether students have too much these days, homework is still expected in most schools. And it has its good points.

Some teachers use homework to reinforce what has been covered in class or to give children practice in a particular subject area. Homework can also help children develop good study habits, self-discipline, confidence and organizational skills.

As parents, we want our kids to succeed in school. Some kids don’t need much encouragement to get down to work, but others need some help diving in. How do you help put your child on a path to good homework and study habits?

To get started, let your child have some say in the decision-making about how homework gets done, such as a regular time and place for homework. Also remember, it’s your child’s job to do the work, not yours. Giving them the responsibility will also give them confidence in themselves.

Here are 6 tips to help your child develop good homework habits:

• Designate a homework spot – Find a well-lit, quiet location in your home for your child to work on daily assignments. If your child doesn’t have a desk or workspace in his/her bedroom, the kitchen table may work just fine. Have available supplies nearby, like pencils, pens, erasers, writing paper, etc. Just make sure the area is free from distractions like the TV or chatter.
• Set a regular time (if possible) – Many parents find it helps to set a consistent time for their child to do homework, such as right after school. Other kids need some time to wind down and play or are involved in after-school activities, so homework comes after dinner. Do what works for your child and your family.
• Make homework guidelines – Establish a rule in the house that there will be no electronics or other distractions during homework time. For kids who respond poorly to a set homework time, make a guideline such as no TV or no video games until homework is done. Monitor and supervise screen time , including computer and internet use.
• Provide help, but don’t take over – Your child may need help getting focused, approaching an assignment, or organizing his/her work. Just make sure not to do the work for them. You may also want to monitor assignments to make sure your child is finishing them. If you find he/she routinely needs your help, speak to the teacher about it.
• Be encouraging – Be sure to praise your child for his/her efforts — it can go a long way toward motivating them. Take time to talk with your child about school activities in family conversations. Ask about what was discussed in class that day. Try to attend school activities, such as parent-teacher conferences, concerts and open houses.
• Keep your child’s teacher in the loop – Keep the lines of communication open with your child's teacher regarding homework assignments. If he/she seems to be struggling to understand assignments, let the teacher know. For some homework problems that can’t be worked out, a tutor may help.

Once you discover what works best for your child and your family, stick with it. Also, even if there isn’t assigned homework, try to get in the habit of reading with your child after school or at night before bed. This shared time provides quality time together and will reinforce good study habits — and may even help your child learn to love reading, which is a win!

While good homework habits are important, so is play time . The American Academy of Pediatrics states that play is essential to the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being of children and youth. As with any parenting decision, balance is key to a healthy upbringing.

Anne Schneider, D.O. is a family medicine physician with Edward Medical Group. View her profile and schedule an appointment online .

Explore children’s services at Edward-Elmhurst Health .

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The therapeutic power of play for kids

What is too much screen time doing to our kids' mental health?

How to keep your child from becoming a media-addicted zombie

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5 Creative Ideas to Help Your Kids Master Homework

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Helping your kids develop good study habits can set them up for a lifetime of success. But let’s face it—getting kids to do their homework isn’t always easy. Here are five practical tips, with specific examples, to encourage smart study habits in children.

1. Identify the Study Roadblocks

Understanding why your child is struggling with their study habits is the first step to improving them.

Example: If your child waits until the last minute to study, have a heart-to-heart conversation to uncover the root of the problem. It could be due to distractions, a lack of understanding, or even something deeper like a learning disability. Once you know the issue, you can address it more effectively.

Tip: Keep communication open and non-judgmental to make your child feel comfortable sharing their struggles.

2. Set Specific Goals and Rewards

Motivate your child by setting clear, achievable study goals and rewarding their progress.

Example: Create a chart to track their study sessions and give them a small reward, like extra playtime or a special treat, for completing their goals.

Tip: Make sure the goals are realistic and the rewards are motivating but not too extravagant.

3. Encourage Active Learning

Help your child engage more deeply with their study material by encouraging active learning techniques.

Example: Have your child summarize what they’ve learned in their own words, create mind maps, or ask them to come up with questions they think might be on a test.

Tip: Use tools like whiteboards or large sheets of paper to visualize connections and ideas, making the learning process more dynamic and memorable.

4. Use the Pomodoro Technique

Help your child manage their study time more effectively by breaking it into smaller, manageable chunks.

Example: Implement the Pomodoro Technique by setting a timer for 25 minutes of focused study, followed by a 5-minute break. Repeat this cycle four times, then take a longer break.

Tip: Encourage your child to use a visual timer and make the breaks active—stretching, walking around, or grabbing a healthy snack.

5. Create a Distraction-Free Study Environment

A good study environment can make all the difference in helping your child focus.

Example: Set up a quiet, well-lit study area free from distractions like TV and noisy siblings. This could be a corner of their bedroom or a spot at the kitchen table.

Tip: Use apps like Focus or Self-Control to block distracting websites and social media during study time.

Final Thoughts

Getting kids to develop good study habits takes time and patience, but it’s worth the effort. By identifying and addressing study roadblocks, setting specific goals and rewards, encouraging active learning, using time management techniques, and creating a distraction-free environment, you can help your child succeed academically. Remember, the goal is to make studying a positive and productive part of their daily life.

Kate is mom of two rambunctious boys and a self-proclaimed super nerd. With a background in neuroscience, she is passionate about sharing her love of all things STEM with her kids. She loves to find creative ways to teach kids computer science and geek out about coding and math.  She has authored several books on coding for kids which can be found at Hachette UK .

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Last Updated on July 23, 2024 by Kaitlyn Siu

Is Homework Good for Kids? Here’s What the Research Says

A s kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the day.

The no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in Texas went viral last week , earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy Young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed early.

But the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:

For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.

But some schools have begun to give their youngest students a break. A Massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired,” Kelly Elementary School Principal Jackie Glasheen said in an interview with a local TV station . “We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.”

A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders.

New solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for kids.

The research

The most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and performance.

Cooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.

Despite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework.

Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.

Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school.

“Correlation is not causation,” she said. “Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs , thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids.

“I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary school.

The issue has been debated for decades. A TIME cover in 1999 read: “Too much homework! How it’s hurting our kids, and what parents should do about it.” The accompanying story noted that the launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to a push for better math and science education in the U.S. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework.

“The complaints are cyclical, and we’re in the part of the cycle now where the concern is for too much,” Cooper said. “You can go back to the 1970s, when you’ll find there were concerns that there was too little, when we were concerned about our global competitiveness.”

Cooper acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned.

“A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. “If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.”

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20 Reasons Why Homework is Good: Unlocking the Benefits

• Post author By admin
• October 26, 2023

Explore the compelling 20 reasons why homework is good, fostering skills and knowledge that extend beyond the classroom

Ah, homework – a topic that has fueled countless debates in the world of education. Is it a valuable learning tool or a relentless academic burden?

In this article, we’re going to shift the spotlight onto the often-overlooked positive side of homework. We’ll unveil not one or two, but a whopping 20 compelling reasons why homework is genuinely good for students.

From solidifying classroom knowledge to honing critical thinking skills, homework is far more than just an academic chore. It’s an essential building block of learning. 

So, whether you’ve questioned the purpose of homework or are simply curious about its merits, join us on this journey as we explore the myriad ways homework benefits students of all ages.

Get ready to discover why homework is a treasure trove of learning opportunities!

Table of Contents

20 Reasons Why Homework is Good

Check out 20 reasons why homework is good:-

1. Reinforcement of Classroom Learning

Homework isn’t just a mundane task; it’s your secret weapon for becoming a true subject matter aficionado. It’s the place where classroom theories transform into real-world skills. 

Homework, in all its wisdom, lets you roll up your sleeves and practice what you’ve learned in class, turning those lightbulb moments into permanent knowledge fixtures.

Just like a musician perfecting a melody or an artist refining their masterpiece, homework is your training ground for excellence. So, embrace it, for every assignment is a stepping stone on your path to mastery.

2. Development of Responsibility 

Homework isn’t just about books and assignments; it’s a grooming ground for something equally important – responsibility.

It’s like a trusty mentor, teaching students to take charge, manage their time, and complete tasks independently.

It’s that early taste of adulthood, where you learn that success often depends on your own commitment and effort.

So, think of homework as your guide on the journey to becoming a responsible, self-reliant individual, armed with skills that will serve you well in all walks of life.

3. Improved Time Management Skills 

Homework is more than just assignments; it’s a boot camp for one of life’s essential skills – time management. Think of it as a mini dress rehearsal for adulthood.

Homework teaches students to allocate their time wisely, ensuring they meet deadlines and complete tasks efficiently. It’s like learning to juggle multiple balls, a skill that will serve them well in their adult lives. So, embrace homework as your friendly time-management coach, preparing you for the real world’s challenges.

4. Enhanced Critical Thinking

Homework is not just about finding answers; it’s your secret laboratory for unleashing the power of critical thinking.

It’s the arena where you get to be the detective, dissect problems, and engineer ingenious solutions. Think of it as mental gymnastics, where your cognitive muscles get a thorough workout.

The more you dive into those homework challenges, the sharper your critical thinking skills become. So, consider homework your daily brain boot camp, molding you into a savvy problem-solver with talents that extend way beyond the classroom.

5. Preparation for the Future

Homework isn’t just about cracking textbooks; it’s your sneak peek into the future. Think of it as your personal time machine, where you’re not just solving equations but honing skills that will propel you to success in higher education and the professional arena.

It’s like laying the stepping stones to your dream career. From mastering time management to sharpening critical thinking, homework is your trusted mentor, preparing you for the exciting journey ahead.

So, when you’re poring over those assignments, remember – you’re not just studying, you’re shaping a future filled with possibilities.

6. Encouragement of Self-Discipline 

Homework isn’t just about filling out worksheets; it’s the canvas on which students paint their self-discipline and self-motivation masterpieces.

It’s like training for life’s grand adventure. With homework, you’re the captain, setting sail on a sea of assignments.

Completing homework isn’t merely about meeting deadlines; it’s about cultivating skills that become your secret weapons in the real world.

So, think of homework as your personal training ground for self-discipline, sculpting you into a resilient and motivated individual who’s ready to conquer life’s challenges.

7. Review of Material

Homework isn’t just an additional task; it’s your golden opportunity to revisit and cement what you’ve learned in class.

Think of it as your personal review session, where you go through the key points and solidify your understanding. Just as an artist refines their masterpiece or a musician practices their chords, homework is your tool for perfection.

The more you review and consolidate, the stronger your grasp on the subject matter becomes. So, embrace homework as your trusted ally in mastering the art of revision, making you a confident and knowledgeable learner.

8. Practice Makes Perfect

Homework isn’t a chore; it’s your backstage pass to perfection. It’s like the endless rehearsals of a musician or the tireless drills of an athlete.

Homework is your playground for practice, where you can fine-tune your skills, ensuring you become a true master in various subjects. Just as a chef perfects a recipe through repetition, your homework is the recipe for excellence.

So, when you’re diving into those assignments, think of them as your chance to practice, practice, and practice some more, turning you into a subject maestro.

9. Teacher-Student Interaction

Homework isn’t just about cracking the books; it’s your backstage pass to building strong connections with your teachers.

It’s like sending an open invitation to ask questions and seek guidance. Homework transforms the student-teacher relationship from a formal handshake into a hearty conversation.

When you embrace homework, you’re not just solving problems; you’re forging connections that can last a lifetime.

So, think of homework as your golden opportunity for dialogue, where you can foster positive relationships with your teachers and make your educational journey all the more engaging and rewarding.

10. Parental Involvement

Homework isn’t just a student’s duty; it’s a chance for families to bond over learning. It’s like the thread that weaves the classroom and home together, allowing parents to actively participate in their child’s education.

Homework transforms the learning experience into a shared adventure where everyone can join in the fun. When parents dive into homework with their kids, it’s not just about helping with math problems.

It’s about creating moments of connection, offering support, and sharing in the educational journey. So, think of homework as the gateway to family engagement in education, making learning a joyful family affair.

11. Real-Life Application

Homework isn’t just about hitting the books; it’s your backstage pass to making knowledge practical. It’s like a secret bridge that connects the world of theory with the realm of real-life application.

Homework transforms you from a passive learner into an active doer. It’s where you take those classroom ideas and put them into action, just like a scientist testing a hypothesis or an engineer building a bridge.

So, consider homework your personal laboratory for bringing theories to life, where you turn bookish knowledge into real-world magic, making your education a thrilling adventure.

12. Different Learning Styles 

Homework isn’t a one-size-fits-all deal; it’s more like a treasure map that caters to diverse learning styles. Imagine it as a chameleon, changing its colors to suit both visual and kinesthetic learners.

Homework knows that we’re all unique, with our own special ways of learning. For those who thrive on visuals, it serves up graphs and illustrations, while the hands-on learners get to dive into practical tasks.

It’s a bit like having a tailor-made suit for education. So, consider homework your personal guide, offering a learning experience that’s as unique as you are, making education a captivating and natural journey.

13. Time for Creativity 

Homework isn’t a creativity crusher; it’s your chance to let your imagination soar. Think of it as a blank canvas waiting for your ideas to paint it with vibrant colors.

Homework isn’t about rules and conformity; it’s about independent thinking and the freedom to express yourself. Whether you’re crafting an essay, brainstorming a unique solution, or designing a project, homework is your invitation to let your creativity shine.

So, consider homework your personal creative playground, where you can set your ideas free, turning learning into an exciting and imaginative adventure.

14. Enhancement of Research Skills

Homework isn’t just about checking off tasks; it’s your secret lair for honing research skills, those superpowers that will supercharge your success in both academics and the real world.

Think of it as your personal training ground where you become a detective of knowledge, learning to explore, dig deep, and unearth answers.

Whether you’re delving into the depths of the library, surfing the web, or conducting surveys, research-based homework transforms you into a skilled investigator.

So, consider homework your gateway to the world of research, where you unlock skills that will not only power your academic journey but also your lifelong adventures.

15. Test Preparation

Homework isn’t just a mundane task; it’s your secret weapon for conquering exams. Think of it as your personal exam prep coach, crafting a roadmap for success.

Homework lets you revisit, revise, and sharpen your skills, so when test day arrives, you’re ready to shine. It’s not just about finishing assignments; it’s about building your confidence for those crucial exams.

So, consider homework your trusty sidekick on the path to acing tests, making your educational journey an exciting adventure.

16. Increased Engagement

Homework isn’t a homework. It’s more like an after-class adventure that keeps the excitement of learning alive. Think of it as your personal quest, where you get to explore the subjects that genuinely pique your interest.

Homework isn’t about killing time; it’s your ticket to stay engaged with your learning journey, even when the school day ends.

So, when you’re tackling your assignments, remember you’re not just checking off tasks; you’re stoking the flames of curiosity, making education an exhilarating and never-ending journey.

17. Achievement of Learning Objectives 

Homework isn’t just a jumble of tasks; it’s your trusted guide leading you to specific educational victories. Picture it as your personal GPS, keeping you on track to reach those learning milestones.

Homework is where you make the connections, reinforce classroom knowledge, and make your education rock-solid. It’s not just about answering questions; it’s about ensuring you hit those educational bullseyes.

So, when you’re diving into your assignments, remember you’re not just ticking off tasks; you’re on a journey to academic success, turning each homework into a stepping stone toward your goals.

18. Inclusivity 

Homework isn’t a one-size-fits-all deal; it’s your versatile tool to celebrate the uniqueness of every student. Imagine it as a buffet, serving up options for both fast learners and those who want some extra practice.

Homework understands that every student is as unique as a fingerprint, each with their own pace and learning style.

For the quick learners, it offers challenges and exciting extensions, while those who prefer more practice can dive into additional exercises.

It’s like a school that dances to your rhythm, ensuring every student has a path to success. So, think of homework as your personal learning adventure, offering choices that fit your taste, making education an exciting and inclusive journey.

19. Fosters Independence

Homework isn’t about spoon-feeding answers; it’s your nurturing ground for independent thinking and decision-making.

Think of it as a playground where you get to flex your decision muscles and spread your intellectual wings. Homework is your training camp for self-reliance, where you take charge of your learning adventure.

20. Overall Academic Improvement

Homework isn’t just a stack of assignments; it’s the secret ingredient for overall academic improvement. Think of it as the magic wand that, when waved effectively, leads to better grades and educational triumphs.

Homework isn’t a mere task list; it’s your strategic ally in the journey of learning. When used wisely, it’s your key to success, a bridge to better understanding and superior educational outcomes.

So, when you’re tackling your homework, remember you’re not just ticking off tasks; you’re paving the way for academic excellence, turning each assignment into a step towards achieving your educational goals.

What are 5 benefits of homework?

Homework is more than just a list of tasks; it’s a powerhouse of benefits that can transform a student’s learning journey. Here are the top five advantages:

1. Supercharging Learning

Homework isn’t about mindless repetition; it’s your secret weapon to reinforce what you’ve learned in class. It’s like a memory boost that makes sure you remember the important stuff for the long haul.

2. Mastering Time and Study Skills

Homework teaches you real-world skills that go way beyond the textbook. It’s your personal coach for time management and setting priorities.

Plus, it’s your go-to guide for developing top-notch study habits like staying organized, taking killer notes, and acing those tests.

3. Fueling Grit and Responsibility

Homework is your training ground for building self-discipline and a sense of responsibility. It’s where you learn to motivate yourself and tackle challenges head-on, no matter how tough they seem.

4. Sparking Creativity and Critical Thinking

Homework isn’t a one-way street. It’s your canvas for thinking outside the box and analyzing what you’re learning from all angles. It’s your chance to bring your unique ideas to the table.

5. Strengthening Home-School Bonds

Homework isn’t just about you; it’s a connection point for your parents and teachers. It’s where they get a front-row seat to your education and can lend a hand when you need it.

But, remember, like any tool, homework works best when used wisely. Too much of a good thing can lead to stress, so strike that balance, and make homework your learning ally.

Who invented homework 😡?

The roots of homework can be traced back to a frustrated Italian educator, Roberto Nevilis, who lived in the 17th century.

He was perplexed by his students’ struggles to retain their classroom lessons, and so, he devised a novel solution – homework.

By assigning tasks that required students to practice and reinforce what they’d learned in class, Nevilis hoped to bridge the knowledge gap. His ingenious idea didn’t stop at the classroom door; it spread like wildfire, first across Europe and eventually finding its way to the United States.

While Nevilis is often credited with inventing homework, history leaves some room for debate. Some scholars argue that homework may have had earlier incarnations in ancient Greece and Rome, although concrete evidence is scarce.

What’s more likely is that Nevilis was among the first to formalize the concept of homework as we understand it today.

No matter its true origin, homework has become an integral part of education worldwide. It spans across the spectrum, from the youngest elementary students to those pursuing higher education.

The purpose of homework has also evolved over time. While Nevilis initially introduced homework to help students retain information, today, its role is multifaceted. It serves as a training ground for critical thinking, problem-solving, and nurturing creativity.

Whether you view homework as a boon or a bane, one thing is certain – it has a rich and varied history, and it’s likely to continue shaping the educational landscape for the foreseeable future.

Why is homework good for your brain?

Homework isn’t just about completing assignments; it’s a brain-boosting wizard. Let’s delve into the captivating reasons why homework is a mind-enhancing elixir:

Fortifying Neural Pathways

Imagine your brain as a labyrinth of pathways. When you learn something new, it’s like carving a fresh trail. Homework? It’s your trusty path-paver, helping you practice and reinforce what you’ve learned. This makes recalling information a breeze down the road.

Mastering Executive Function Skills

Executive function skills are like your brain’s personal assistants. They help you plan, organize, and manage your time effectively.

Homework transforms you into the CEO of your tasks, requiring you to set goals, juggle priorities, and work independently.

Cultivating Cognitive Flexibility

Ever wished you could tackle problems from various angles? That’s cognitive flexibility, a superpower for your brain. Homework serves as the playground where you can flex your mental muscles, applying your knowledge to novel challenges.

Boosting Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is your belief in your own success. Homework is your arena for personal victories. Achieving your homework goals and witnessing your growth over time? That’s a confidence booster like no other.

Stress Alleviation

While homework might occasionally seem like a stress-inducing monster, it’s also your coach for the stress-relief Olympics. How?

It equips you with the skills to tackle challenges and manage your time wisely, ultimately reducing stress in the long run.

But, here’s the catch: balance is key. Too much homework can tip the scales. To maximize the magical benefits, you need to find harmony between homework and other essential activities like sleep, exercise, and hanging out with friends.

In a nutshell, homework isn’t just about completing assignments; it’s your secret weapon for unlocking your brain’s potential. It boosts learning and memory, nurtures executive function skills, hones cognitive flexibility, elevates self-efficacy, and even helps you conquer stress.

As we draw the curtain on our exploration of the twenty compelling reasons that make homework a valuable asset, it’s evident that homework is more than just a to-do list. It’s a treasure trove of advantages that students can unearth on their academic journey.

From fortifying those neural pathways to nurturing independence, and from honing research skills to prepping for the challenges that await in the future, homework is a versatile tool. It’s the canvas where creativity flourishes, bridging the gap between theory and practice, and inviting parents into their child’s scholastic odyssey.

Homework doesn’t just aid in academic mastery; it’s a comprehensive roadmap for personal growth and development. It nudges you towards self-discipline, sprinkles in a dash of responsibility, and offers a slice of the sweet taste of accomplishment.

However, as in any art, balance is key. The right amount of homework, harmonized with other life activities, is the secret recipe for success.

So, as you tackle your next homework assignment, remember this: you’re not just completing tasks; you’re shaping a brighter future, one thought at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is homework always beneficial for students.

Homework can be beneficial when thoughtfully assigned, but excessive or irrelevant homework may have negative effects.

How can parents support their child’s homework routine?

Parents can provide a quiet, organized workspace, offer assistance when needed, and encourage good study habits.

How much homework is too much?

The right amount of homework varies by grade level and individual needs. It should challenge without overwhelming students.

What can teachers do to make homework more effective?

Teachers should assign purposeful, relevant homework, provide clear instructions, and offer support when necessary.

How does homework help prepare students for the future?

Homework instills responsibility, time management, and critical thinking skills, all of which are valuable in higher education and the workforce.

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20 Reasons Why Homework Is Good for Students

Homework has long been a topic of debate in the educational sphere, with arguments both for and against its effectiveness. While some may argue that homework adds unnecessary stress to students’ lives, there are numerous benefits that often go unnoticed. In this blog, we will explore 20 reasons why homework is good, shedding light on its positive impact on students’ academic development and overall well-being.

Why Do Students Hate Homework?

Students’ dislike for homework is a complex issue influenced by various factors. Some common reasons why students may express a dislike for homework include:

• Overwhelming Workload: Excessive amounts of homework can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed. When students have multiple assignments from different classes, it can become challenging to manage their time effectively.
• Lack of Relevance: Students may resist homework if they perceive it as irrelevant or disconnected from their interests and real-world applications. When they don’t see the purpose behind the tasks, motivation can diminish.
• Insufficient Understanding: If students struggle to grasp the concepts taught in class, homework can become a source of frustration. Feeling ill-equipped to complete assignments can lead to a negative attitude towards homework.
• Limited Free Time: With busy schedules filled with extracurricular activities, family commitments, and social engagements, students may perceive homework as an infringement on their limited free time.
• Repetition of Tasks: When homework assignments merely replicate what was covered in class without offering additional challenges or opportunities for creativity, students may find them monotonous and uninspiring.
• Family Dynamics: Students from homes with limited resources or unsupportive environments may find it difficult to complete homework. Factors such as a lack of quiet space, parental involvement, or access to necessary materials can contribute to negative perceptions.
• Teacher-Student Relationship: A strained relationship between students and teachers can impact how students perceive homework. A lack of clarity in expectations, communication issues, or an unsupportive atmosphere can contribute to a negative attitude.
• Learning Differences: Students with learning differences may find certain types of homework more challenging. When assignments don’t accommodate diverse learning styles, it can lead to frustration and a dislike for the tasks.
• Burnout: Continuous academic pressure, including homework, can contribute to burnout. If students feel constantly overwhelmed, it can result in a negative perception of all academic tasks, including homework.
• Lack of Autonomy: Students may resist homework when they feel they have little autonomy in the learning process. Assignments that allow for creativity, choice, and personalization can be more engaging.

• Development of Skills
• Improving Time Management Skills: Homework assignments necessitate careful planning and time allocation. Students learn to manage their time effectively, a skill that proves invaluable in various aspects of life.
• Enhancing Organizational Skills: Juggling multiple assignments and deadlines teaches students to organize their work, fostering habits that will benefit them beyond the classroom.
• Fostering Responsibility and Accountability: Homework instills a sense of responsibility in students, as they become accountable for completing tasks and meeting deadlines, preparing them for future challenges.
• Reinforcement of Classroom Learning
• Providing Additional Practice: Homework offers students extra practice on concepts learned in class, reinforcing their understanding and ensuring a more comprehensive grasp of the material.
• Reinforcing Important Skills and Knowledge: Regular homework assignments help consolidate crucial skills and knowledge, preventing gaps in understanding and promoting a strong foundation for further learning.
• Helping Solidify Understanding Through Repetition: Repetition is a key component of learning. Homework provides the necessary repetition to help students master new concepts and skills.
• Preparation for Tests and Exams
• Valuable Preparation for Assessments: Homework serves as a preparation ground for tests and exams, allowing students to review and apply what they have learned in a controlled setting.
• Identifying Areas of Weakness: Through homework, students can identify areas of weakness and seek additional help, ensuring they enter exams with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
• Development of Critical Thinking
• Encouraging Independent Problem-Solving: Homework often requires students to think critically and solve problems independently, promoting the development of analytical skills.
• Promoting Analytical Thinking and Reasoning: Critical thinking and reasoning are essential skills in any field. Homework assignments encourage students to think beyond the surface and analyze information more deeply.
• Deepening Understanding of Subjects: Engaging with homework allows students to delve deeper into subjects, fostering a more profound understanding that goes beyond what is covered in class.
• Cultivation of a Strong Work Ethic
• Instilling the Value of Hard Work and Dedication: Completing homework assignments teaches students the value of hard work and dedication, essential qualities for success in academics and life.
• Preparing for Higher Education and the Workforce: The work ethic developed through homework prepares students for the demands of higher education and future careers, where discipline and commitment are key to success.
• Parental Involvement and Awareness
• Facilitating Communication Between Parents and Teachers: Homework serves as a bridge between parents and teachers, providing insights into a student’s progress and facilitating open communication about their academic journey.
• Active Parental Participation in Learning: Parents can actively participate in their child’s learning process by assisting with homework, creating a supportive learning environment at home.
• Bridging Gaps in Understanding
• Revisiting and Clarifying Class Material: Homework assignments offer an opportunity for students to revisit and clarify class material, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of the curriculum.
• Seeking Clarification on Challenging Concepts: Students can use homework as a platform to seek clarification on concepts they find challenging, promoting a proactive approach to their education.
• Encouragement of Lifelong Learning
• Instilling a Love for Learning Beyond the Classroom: Homework fosters a love for learning that extends beyond the classroom, encouraging students to explore topics independently and pursue knowledge throughout their lives.
• Promoting a Mindset of Continuous Improvement: The habit of engaging with homework instills a mindset of continuous improvement, encouraging students to seek ways to enhance their skills and knowledge.
• Development of Research Skills
• Involvement in Research Assignments: Many homework assignments involve research, providing students with an opportunity to develop and refine their research skills, a valuable asset in academia and beyond.
• Promotion of Creativity
• Allowing for Creative Expression: Certain homework assignments, such as projects and essays, provide students with the chance to express their creativity, fostering innovation and out-of-the-box thinking.
• Fostering Innovation and Out-of-the-Box Thinking: By encouraging creative expression, homework helps students develop the ability to approach problems with innovative solutions, a skill highly sought after in today’s dynamic world.
• Preparation for Real-world Responsibilities
• Teaching the Importance of Meeting Deadlines: Completing homework assignments teaches students the importance of meeting deadlines, a crucial skill that prepares them for the responsibilities of the real world.
• Developing Skills Essential for Professional Life: Homework instills skills such as time management, organization, and responsibility, all of which are essential for success in professional life.
• Individualized Learning Opportunities
• Personalized Practice Based on Individual Needs: Homework allows for personalized practice, catering to individual learning styles and addressing specific needs, promoting a more tailored educational experience.
• Catering to Diverse Learning Styles and Paces: Recognizing that each student learns differently, homework provides opportunities for educators to tailor assignments to cater to diverse learning styles and paces.
• Building a Strong Foundation for Future Learning
• Laying the Groundwork for Advanced Topics: Homework assignments play a crucial role in laying the groundwork for more advanced topics, ensuring students have a solid foundation for future learning.
• Contributing to a Comprehensive Education: A balanced approach to homework contributes to a comprehensive education, offering students a well-rounded understanding of various subjects.
• Improvement of Communication Skills
• Involvement in Written and Oral Communication Assignments: Some homework assignments involve written or oral communication, honing students’ communication skills and enhancing their ability to express ideas clearly.
• Enhancing the Ability to Express Ideas Clearly: Through regular communication-focused assignments, students improve their ability to express ideas clearly and articulate their thoughts effectively.
• Encouragement of Discipline
• Requiring Discipline and Commitment: The completion of homework assignments requires discipline and commitment, instilling habits that contribute to academic success and personal growth.
• Building Habits for Academic Success: The discipline developed through homework builds habits that contribute to academic success, fostering a mindset of excellence and achievement.
• Assessment of Progress
• Providing a Measurable Way to Track Progress: Homework offers a measurable way to track academic progress, allowing both students and educators to assess performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Identifying Areas for Improvement: By reviewing completed homework assignments, students can identify areas for improvement and take proactive steps to enhance their understanding of specific topics.
• Promotion of Self-directed Learning
• Encouraging Initiative in Education: Homework encourages students to take initiative in their education, promoting a sense of ownership and self-directed learning.
• Developing a Sense of Autonomy and Self-reliance: Through self-directed learning, students develop a sense of autonomy and self-reliance, skills that serve them well in academia and beyond.
• Integration of Technology Skills
• Involvement in Technology-focused Assignments: Some homework assignments involve the use of technology, fostering digital literacy and preparing students for the demands of the modern world.
• Fostering Digital Literacy: Engaging with technology in the context of homework assignments enhances students’ digital literacy, a crucial skill in today’s technology-driven society.
• Encouragement of Peer Collaboration

Homework assignments often involve collaborative elements, encouraging students to work together to solve problems or complete projects. 

This fosters a sense of teamwork, enhances communication skills, and exposes students to diverse perspectives, preparing them for collaborative endeavors in their future academic and professional lives.

• Promotion of a Growth Mindset 

Engaging with challenging homework tasks promotes a growth mindset, where students view difficulties as opportunities for learning and improvement rather than insurmountable obstacles. 

This mindset not only enhances resilience but also contributes to a positive attitude towards academic challenges throughout their educational journey.

In conclusion, homework, when approached with a balanced perspective, offers a myriad of benefits (and 20 reasons why homework is good) that contribute significantly to students’ academic success and personal development. 

From the development of essential skills to the promotion of creativity and the preparation for real-world responsibilities, homework plays a crucial role in shaping well-rounded, capable individuals ready to face the challenges of the future. 

It is essential to recognize and appreciate the positive aspects of homework as an integral part of the educational journey.  As educators, parents, and students collaborate to create a supportive learning environment, the potential for harnessing the benefits of homework becomes even more profound, ultimately paving the way for a brighter and more successful academic future.

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Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons

Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates

From dioramas to book reports, from algebraic word problems to research projects, whether students should be given homework, as well as the type and amount of homework, has been debated for over a century. [ 1 ]

While we are unsure who invented homework, we do know that the word “homework” dates back to ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger asked his followers to practice their speeches at home. Memorization exercises as homework continued through the Middle Ages and Enlightenment by monks and other scholars. [ 45 ]

In the 19th century, German students of the Volksschulen or “People’s Schools” were given assignments to complete outside of the school day. This concept of homework quickly spread across Europe and was brought to the United States by Horace Mann , who encountered the idea in Prussia. [ 45 ]

In the early 1900s, progressive education theorists, championed by the magazine Ladies’ Home Journal , decried homework’s negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, leading California to ban homework for students under 15 from 1901 until 1917. In the 1930s, homework was portrayed as child labor, which was newly illegal, but the prevailing argument was that kids needed time to do household chores. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ]

Public opinion swayed again in favor of homework in the 1950s due to concerns about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances during the Cold War . And, in 1986, the US government included homework as an educational quality boosting tool. [ 3 ] [ 45 ]

A 2014 study found kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week, sixth to eighth graders 3.2 hours per teacher, and ninth to twelfth graders 3.5 hours per teacher. A 2014-2019 study found that teens spent about an hour a day on homework. [ 4 ] [ 44 ]

Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the very idea of homework as students were schooling remotely and many were doing all school work from home. Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss asked, “Does homework work when kids are learning all day at home?” While students were mostly back in school buildings in fall 2021, the question remains of how effective homework is as an educational tool. [ 47 ]

Is Homework Beneficial?

Pro 1 Homework improves student achievement. Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicated that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” [ 6 ] Students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework on both standardized tests and grades. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take-home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school. [ 10 ] Read More

Pro 2 Homework helps to reinforce classroom learning, while developing good study habits and life skills. Students typically retain only 50% of the information teachers provide in class, and they need to apply that information in order to truly learn it. Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, co-founders of Teachers Who Tutor NYC, explained, “at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts… [And] these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum.” [ 11 ] [ 49 ] Elementary school students who were taught “strategies to organize and complete homework,” such as prioritizing homework activities, collecting study materials, note-taking, and following directions, showed increased grades and more positive comments on report cards. [ 17 ] Research by the City University of New York noted that “students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework,” such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, “are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes.” [ 18 ] Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that “homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.” [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 49 ] Read More

Pro 3 Homework allows parents to be involved with children’s learning. Thanks to take-home assignments, parents are able to track what their children are learning at school as well as their academic strengths and weaknesses. [ 12 ] Data from a nationwide sample of elementary school students show that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance, especially among economically disadvantaged African-American and Hispanic students. [ 20 ] Research from Johns Hopkins University found that an interactive homework process known as TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) improves student achievement: “Students in the TIPS group earned significantly higher report card grades after 18 weeks (1 TIPS assignment per week) than did non-TIPS students.” [ 21 ] Homework can also help clue parents in to the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed. Duke University Professor Harris Cooper noted, “Two parents once told me they refused to believe their child had a learning disability until homework revealed it to them.” [ 12 ] Read More

Con 1 Too much homework can be harmful. A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were “often or always stressed by schoolwork.” High-achieving high school students said too much homework leads to sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and stomach problems. [ 24 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Alfie Kohn, an education and parenting expert, said, “Kids should have a chance to just be kids… it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.” [ 27 ] Emmy Kang, a mental health counselor, explained, “More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies.” [ 48 ] Excessive homework can also lead to cheating: 90% of middle school students and 67% of high school students admit to copying someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students engaged in “unauthorized collaboration” on out-of-class assignments. Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of those surveyed admitted to having completed a child’s assignment for them. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ] Read More

Con 2 Homework exacerbates the digital divide or homework gap. Kiara Taylor, financial expert, defined the digital divide as “the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology and those that don’t. Though the term now encompasses the technical and financial ability to utilize available technology—along with access (or a lack of access) to the Internet—the gap it refers to is constantly shifting with the development of technology.” For students, this is often called the homework gap. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] 30% (about 15 to 16 million) public school students either did not have an adequate internet connection or an appropriate device, or both, for distance learning. Completing homework for these students is more complicated (having to find a safe place with an internet connection, or borrowing a laptop, for example) or impossible. [ 51 ] A Hispanic Heritage Foundation study found that 96.5% of students across the country needed to use the internet for homework, and nearly half reported they were sometimes unable to complete their homework due to lack of access to the internet or a computer, which often resulted in lower grades. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] One study concluded that homework increases social inequality because it “potentially serves as a mechanism to further advantage those students who already experience some privilege in the school system while further disadvantaging those who may already be in a marginalized position.” [ 39 ] Read More

Con 3 Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students. We’ve known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that “homework had no association with achievement gains” when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [ 7 ] Fourth grade students who did no homework got roughly the same score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam as those who did 30 minutes of homework a night. Students who did 45 minutes or more of homework a night actually did worse. [ 41 ] Temple University professor Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek said that homework is not the most effective tool for young learners to apply new information: “They’re learning way more important skills when they’re not doing their homework.” [ 42 ] In fact, homework may not be helpful at the high school level either. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth, stated, “I interviewed high school teachers who completely stopped giving homework and there was no downside, it was all upside.” He explains, “just because the same kids who get more homework do a little better on tests, doesn’t mean the homework made that happen.” [ 52 ] Read More

Discussion Questions

1. Is homework beneficial? Consider the study data, your personal experience, and other types of information. Explain your answer(s).

2. If homework were banned, what other educational strategies would help students learn classroom material? Explain your answer(s).

3. How has homework been helpful to you personally? How has homework been unhelpful to you personally? Make carefully considered lists for both sides.

Take Action

1. Examine an argument in favor of quality homework assignments from Janine Bempechat.

2. Explore Oxford Learning’s infographic on the effects of homework on students.

3. Consider Joseph Lathan’s argument that homework promotes inequality .

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .

More School Debate Topics

Should K-12 Students Dissect Animals in Science Classrooms? – Proponents say dissecting real animals is a better learning experience. Opponents say the practice is bad for the environment.

Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? – Proponents say uniforms may increase student safety. Opponents say uniforms restrict expression.

Should Corporal Punishment Be Used in K-12 Schools? – Proponents say corporal punishment is an appropriate discipline. Opponents say it inflicts long-lasting physical and mental harm on students.

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