Top Ten Tips Parents Can Do to Help with Homework

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How parents handle helping their children with homework, can reinforce that homework is a Parent-tips-homeworkpositive value and that education is important. It can build a stronger bond between the school and the home.

Parents see firsthand what is expected of their child at specific grade levels in any academic subject and learn how their child is progressing with certain skills, specifically reading, writing, math, study skills, and overall concepts in additional content areas. Then students more readily understand their responsibility to complete homework and its role in enhancing learning.

However parent involvement may also have a negative impact. A parent needs to be patient and accepting of the child who may struggle with a concept or a skill, whose work is not as organised as one might expect, and who takes a l-o-n-g time to complete work. Parents, through no fault of their own, may tend to confuse children if they explain things in a different way than their children’s teachers do and if they use confusing vocabulary and techniques. It is important that the parent does not interfere with the tasks that the child is expected to complete on their own. It is one thing to help a child understand a question, but it is completely different if the parent does the student’s work. Homework is designed to build independent, life-long learning skills for the child so it is best to let this evolve naturally.

If you see that your child is struggling with homework, it would be helpful to talk with the teacher and outline possible strategies that you can do to help your own child. Perhaps your child needs review or further explanation, maybe he/she needs help with organisation or help in just getting started on a project.

These are proven tips to help your child be successful with homework and in school:

  1. Ensure your child records the assignments due and details about the work expected. This can be done simply via a notebook or even online with a technique outlined at www.showmyhomework.co.uk. For the student who sees the benefit of technology this is a convenient, efficient way to keep track of homework. 
  2. Help your child find a quiet (away from distractions), well-lit place to do their work.
  3. Make sure there are adequate materials available to complete the work (pencils/pens, ruler, markers, poster board, etc.)
  4. Help your child organise the time it takes to do the work. Often a set time is helpful. Encouraging your child to do work earlier in the evening and to start on long-term projects well in advance of when they are do are helpful suggestions. You may want to point out ways to tackle certain assignments or discuss why it might be important to complete the easier and shorter work first. Also, encourage short breaks after completing an amount of work to sustain concentration and interest.
  5. Have a positive attitude towards the homework.
  6. Be as patient as you can be. Remember those teachers who taught you in a way that you enjoyed learning? Try to model this behaviour.
  7. Connect student learning to real-life application. You can read and do your paperwork as they complete their work.
  8. Support the teacher. If you are required to play a role in the homework (i.e. sign something, ask questions, edit a document, help study a specific skill, etc.) please do it.
  9. Stay informed. Attend parents evening and school events to show appreciation, support of education and to learn more about classroom expectations.
  10. Reward effort and progress in homework. Reinforce the positives with some activity your child enjoys: going to the movies, a bike ride or trip to the gym, having a friend sleep over on the weekend, ordering a pizza, etc.

You might want to bookmark this article. Next week, we’ll talk about how parents can help promote an interest in reading for your child.

 

The Pros and Cons of Homework (Different Perspectives)

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homework-pros-cons

The Pros and Cons of Homework from Different Perspectives: Teachers, Parents and Students.

Teachers, for the most part, view homework as a necessary staple to instruction. It helps the students absorb the material so more class time can be spent in discussion, asking questions, experiments and learning. It can provide practice for rote learning skills and concepts like math facts and spelling or vocabulary words. Homework can be individualized to help with remediation, maintenance or extension of skills. Student can get caught up or take that family trip and stay caught up with the class. Homework encourages students to engage in learning, to read and write and think, and to achieve beyond the classroom. It is a tool to teach responsibility and time management, discipline and study skills necessary for post-secondary education and job careers. Homework increases performance on standardized tests, and therefore, helps students to accomplish their educational goals that eventually lead to life goals. However, time needs to be devoted to prepare and explain the homework, and then there is additional time needed to correct the homework and to explain the corrections to the students so the ultimate can be gained from doing the homework in the first place. Also, there is a lot of time spent on those students who just do not turn the homework in. How do you get them to do it? How to you weight the grade for homework?

Parents see homework as a positive activity opposed to watching excessive TV or computer gaming and any other activities not recognized for their health or positive contribution to daily life. They feel homework teaches essential life skills concerned with studying, discipline and time management. Parents feel their kids deserve a better life than themselves and one avenue on the road to success is to read and study. They want their children to succeed. However, parents feel that sometimes the homework is too much or not as relevant as it should be. They feel that homework can take away from other time the student needs to devote to either more meaningful study or other relevant activities like sports, music, art, volunteer work, church, clubs and family. They witness the stress that homework puts on students, as well as the entire family. Especially when students are younger, parents question if this is interfering too much with their free time, creativity and time for just being a child.

Students are proud of themselves when they do well in any subject, on a test, or in school for any reason. Sometimes, added study (homework) at night helps students to achieve this. Therefore, homework to review and reinforce specific skills and concepts is important if the homework is selectively given and it is designed to be high quality and relevant. Homework might be more enjoyable if it involves a curriculum area that the student likes or in a manner they enjoy doing (i.e. computer-assisted, group project, study in their favorite subject area or in the manner they like e.g. written work if they like to write; reading is that is their strength area; etc.). However, the negative view of homework seen through the eyes of students is that it can be boring, there is just too much of it, it interferes with more enjoyable activities, it may be difficult and frustrating or unpleasant, and it might be seen as useless.

3 Reasons Why Homework Helps Students in the Real World

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Regardless of your general viewpoint concerning homework, there are several inarguable reasons why homework does indeed help students in the real world:

Helps to establish a routine, builds study skills, organisation and discipline
When students follow a habit of completing their schoolwork in school each day and then complete additional work assigned for homework, this ongoing process helps to build good study habits. Students see that simple things like recording what is due and when, and breaking down parts of assignments to more easily understand and finish them on time allows the students to transfer these organisational and self-discipline skills to other aspects of their lives. They see firsthand that short-term and long-term goals can be reached through routine, study skills, organization and discipline. This achievement then reinforces the ability to achieve success in other areas whether in other academics, music, art, athletics, etc. or for personal aspirations (i.e., running a marathon, writing a book, getting elected to an office in a school/community club, eating more healthy, etc.)

Real-World

Shows respect for authority and for a higher value
When students are assigned homework through any combination of activities and they complete this work to a level of acceptance, they learn that an authoritative figure like a teacher is worthy of respect. Students generally accept that teachers know their subject matter, but more importantly students now feel the benefits of learning. They see that learning is a positive outcome achieved through study. Learning then is more apt to become a lifelong value for anyone of all ages and backgrounds. It crosses all diversity lines. In fact, learning becomes an engrained value in society. To know about current events, the classics as well as newly-released best sellers, history and geography of the world, mathematical concepts and how to write, or how to use the state-of-the-art computer technology is to be educated and to value education. This in turn is passed on to others and for future generations. It helps build a civilized society and culture.

Expands learning beyond the school hours and the walls of a classroom to offer engagement through a variety of learning modes
Students experience learning through their own life and within any number of the hours of a day and anywhere, not just being confined during the school day or within the school building. Students connect learning to other areas of their life. For example, in Art they learn about a certain painter and then realize this painting is in their own house; they study different aspects of writing whether conventions, persuasive or informative and then they apply this to actual job applications or college admittance essays, a letter to the Head, Student Council or even a local paper about an important student issue; in physical education, they see the valuable role that daily exercise and good nutrition plays in their own life; in tech education, students are exposed to some of the advancements in technology that they can integrate in their life as a student, their personal life or in the future. Through homework, students see that learning does not end and it promotes opportunities that are truly infinite and life-changing.

How can you argue with that? What’s your take?

Ten Reasons Students Don’t Do Their Homework

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Undoubtedly any parent and their parents before them (and their parents before them, etc.) have passed on a few stories of what it was like going to school back then. Although some stories might be a little exaggerated, the truth is that these worlds might indeed be quite different from what it is like growing up and going to school today. But, one thing really hasn’t changed much. And that is … why students don’t do their homework. You’ve probably heard these ten reasons before and, who knows, you might be reminded that you’ve used a few reasons yourself, you know, either back then or now, whatever the case may be.

Dog-ate-my-homework

1. It’s boring. Let’s face it, you have just been in school all day listening to the teachers and doing work, so why would you want to come home and do some more?

2. The instructions are too hard to understand. Okay. Be honest. Maybe you weren’t totally listening. Maybe you don’t know what to do or how to do it. Or maybe the homework was not explained clearly enough for you to understand. Whatever the case, it’s just too difficult.

3. It’s too easy. It just does not make sense to do more of what a person already knows how to do, so why do it? If you can write an essay well, what is the purpose of rewriting it or writing another one, for that matter? If you can solve some math problems, do you really need to do another page or two? If you already know what is going to happen in a science or marketing experiment, do you have to outline each step and complete them all?

4. It’s not a priority. With sports, music and art classes and a whole range of additional extracurricular activities, maybe some volunteer work and a job, and don’t forget hanging out with friends plus if you throw in a couple of other class assignments, you get the picture … why would this homework be a high priority to finish?

5. I forgot. Does this sound familiar? I forgot to copy the assignment down. I don’t remember parts of the assignment. I forgot to bring the work home. I forgot the materials I need to do it. I don’t remember when it is due.

6. It’s pointless and irrelevant. I’m sick of it. Perhaps the work does not seem to relate to anything really meaningful so you don’t want to spend any time on it. Maybe it looks like busywork and it does not seem worthwhile.

7. There’s no place to do it. The house is noisy, there’s other family members interfering with a quiet place to work, the rooms are too cluttered so there is no good space to work.

8. I don’t have the necessary equipment. The computer crashed or the electricity went out… the slide ruler is misplaced or there are no working batteries for the calculator.

9. There’s just too much of it. Maybe it seems overwhelming. Maybe it is hard to organize what needs to be done. Maybe you just don’t know how or where to start.

10. It doesn’t matter if I do it. It only counts for a few points or it’s not graded anyway, so why do it at all?

I would love to know your thoughts and views on this in the comments below…

 

Making Homework Right At School in 2013/2014

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If you’ve been thinking about homework at your school for the next academic year, have you seen what you can do with Show My Homework? Continue to read on to find out the benefits of using Show My Homework.

During the course of this academic year, you may have experienced the following challenges, which are common to many of the schools we work with:

  • Tracking homework in a fast and effective manner 
  • Measuring the consistency/frequency of homework
  • Handling the mixed messages learners get about homework
  • Meeting Ofsted requirements for homework
  • Getting support from parents
  • Managing parental expectations
  • Setting effective and worthwhile homework

Show My Homework can solve all of these problems for you and more by providing a simple and easy-to-use homework calendar, that staff will embrace and learn how to use within minutes. I believe that has been one of the key ingredients to our success to-date. We don’t expect teachers to spend hours learning how to use our product. It is more of a case of a couple of clicks to get going. Teachers can save up-to one hour of marking for every class they teach. Even better is the information in the learners gaps that can be drawn from effective homework. This provides the feedback, teachers needs to hone in on the learners understanding of the homework question set.

Show My Homework is not a VLE or a VLE replacement, rather a complimentary tool designed specifically to solve school homework problems. In fact nearly all of our existing customers use some form of VLE in conjunction with Show My Homework, just as a school uses other tools such as MyMaths and Whizz.

If you would like to see a demonstration of Show My Homework, please call us at our office on 0203 397 7546. During your 20 minute call we will share with you all the tips and strategies needed to make homework ‘Outstanding’ at your school.

 

 

 

The Man In The Arena

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Today, I want to share one of my favourite quotes. It’s from former president Theodore Roosevelt titled ‘The Man in The Arena’. Various people have referred to this before including @teachertoolkit @dalecarnegie and many many more.

Man In The Arena

Man In The Arena

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

I also met an entrepreneur a couple of days ago who is thinking about taking the plunge. This ones for you Richard.

#Win

 

5 Things I Learned From #TMLondon

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Last night at #TMLondon was amazing. Here are five things I took away from the event.

1. I didn’t know @actionjackson had moves like jagger :-)

2. #CPD should be fun and enjoyable. That is one of the key things I see missing from after school CPD. Everyone keeps looking at their watches and in a hurry to go home. It’s feels like a chore, where as yesterday it was fresh, raw and liberating – I felt proud to be a teacher.

3. I’m glad there are organisations supporting middle leaders. They are the engine of the school. A senior small leadership team operationally can only do so much when there are only 3-5 of them. A strong middle leadership team is where the real magic happens to put everything together.

4. Marking matters by @MsFindLater – There was nothing new her but many points that I resonated with and I’m sure others did too. Marking and feedback matters. Without a shadow of doubt if we cannot provide learners with regular, timely, focused feedback about their strengths and weaknesses, how can we expect them to reflect and hone in on the areas they need to work on. Much of this is common sense but the reality of teaching at times makes this difficult to do with everything else going on. This is non negotiable and something we should all try to prioritise. Building a team @showmyhomework, I’m finding I am applying many of these lessons and techniques to develop my people so they perform better and recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. If I do this once every term, that’s not going to benefit themselves or @showmyhomework. Feedback and support should be in regular bursts and specific. Go @MsFindLater #Win.

5. President Kid – If you haven’t seen this yet, watch it now. You can’t help but smile watching this. #inspiring

Inspiring Pep Talk from President Kid :-)

Inspiring Pep Talk from President Kid :-)

Photos from evening will be shared later today. Enjoy the sun. Smile.

See you at the next #TMLondon. Bring a friend. As @ActionJackson says, Yes You Can!

5 Tips for Setting Homework

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Here are my 5 tips for setting homework:

  1. Make it interesting.
  2. Make it worthwhile.
  3. Keep it short.
  4. Give feedback promptly.
  5. Set it in advance. Never in class.

Repeat consistently and create the habits you want your learners to have. I think homework and starter activities go well. It provides an opportunity to use the starter to go through the homework set. For those that did not do it, it gives them a chance to find out what they missed out on. It gives the learners that did do it, an opportunity to share their knowledge. It also provides a forum for students to learn from each other. Keep it short. Move on. More example to come.

#Win

8 Secrets of Success To Share With Your Class

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I love videos. I’m always amazed with the variety of education, craziness, incredible and at times absurd videos I stumble across. As someone who is passionate about technology, education and entrepreneurship  I thought I’d share the following with you. Sometimes you just need to give students something different, it doesn’t have to be related to your subject. Give them something else to think about. I find videos are a great starter activity to engage the class before you dive into your learning objectives. This video works better with KS4/KS5 learners. Enjoy. If you know of any awesome videos, please share in the comments.

Richard St John’s 8 Secrets of Success