16 Jun How to Help Kids with Homework (Without Doing It for Them!)

How to Help Kids with Homework (Without Doing It for them!)

It’s hard to find anyone – child or parent – saying homework is their favourite thing. It’s natural, isn’t it? After a long day at school, so many activities and playtime are done, how can a child have the patience to sit down and go through the homework? And for parents returning after a tiring day, this is only a nightmare!

The result? You take up the homework and finish it quickly for your child or give them out all the answers as they absent-mindedly note down. Homework for kindergarten is elementary to finish this way. Everyone is happy – the child, the parents and the teacher. But doesn’t this beat the entire purpose of the homework! Why are children given so much work anyway?

Well, as the experts suggest, there are several reasons why the children are given homework for kindergarten and why they should be doing it themselves. Some of them being:

• For the teacher to evaluate, how much an individual child has grasped whatever is being taught

• For the children to put in efforts and asking questions to parents or teachers for better understanding

• Helping the children learn qualities like independence, self-sufficiency and time management

• Repetition within a time frame helps the child remember the learning for a longer time

With those benefits, you may be wondering, how you can help your child without doing it for them. There are several ways of getting your child to do their homework for kindergarten, some of which are listed below –

1. Identify the best location for doing the homework
2. Not every child has the same attention span and playing habits. Hence, it is essential to identify a place they are comfortable in and have minimum distractions. This location should be their oasis when they are doing their homework and have no distractions like TV, kitchen or the playground where they can see other children playing.
3. Plan a schedule that is acceptable to both you and your child
4. Some children like to get over with their homework as soon as they are back from school and then enjoy their remaining day. Whereas others want to defer it to the last possible minute. Sit and have a discussion with your child about when will they like to finish their homework. It could be a time when one of the parents is around or after their playtime. Involving a child in decision-making helps get them interested and committed.
5. Set policies around the homework time like fixing particular hours for the same. Also, creating incentivisation structures around these policies can make a child more motivated to spend their time doing homework.
6. Once the place and the time are decided, it is essential to come up with some ground rule for both the child and parent. No TV or no phone calls. If the child finds this is going to be their time out with the parents, they may even look forward to homework time. Also, try to limit how many questions the child can ask you, while doing the homework, on a day. This will help them rationalise their demands and ask only relevant questions in a fun manner.

Let the kid be the responsible one

Homework time is your child’s time and make them responsible for it. For example, tell them they will get only the scheduled time for their homework, and they need to finish everything within that time.  If they waste time, they will have to go to school the next day with incomplete homework as their playtime is also important!

Be the support, not the crutch!

When your kid asks you questions, help them in a way that you don’t directly answer the question, instead let them figure it out for themselves. They will learn to use their logic and deduction abilities much better this way.

Handle anger with patience

However, planned it might be, there will be times when frustration and anger will come into play – either by the child or you the parent. In such situations, handle it patiently. Take a walk, wash your face, set a timer and return only after that time. Apologise to your child if you got angry and then start over. Your child will also learn to keep their anger in check, following your example.

These simple practices can alleviate the fear of homework amongst your kids and make them self-reliant and happy.