Official Edubilla Blog

For most families with school-age children, homework is a challenging and unavoidable aspect of their education. Your student may forget to bring necessary materials home, or she might consistently struggle with a particular subject, much to the frustration of all involved parties. While issues may arise from time-to-time despite your best intentions, establishing great homework habits at the start of the school year can help your child perform to the best of her academic ability.

Here are four tips that can help you and your student build the best homework routine this school year:

Speak with your child’s teacher :

Before you officially establish a homework routine with your family, speak to your student’s teacher. He or she may have specific expectations for this time, including its duration and your role. For example, if your child is in kindergarten, her instructor may ask you to spend a maximum of 10 minutes on homework, regardless of whether the assignment has been completed in its entirety. Her teacher may also ask that parents provide no help outside of simply facilitating homework time, or he or she may invite families to assist struggling students in a variety of ways.

Create a homework corner :

Your child’s homework corner can be a desk, an entire room, or even an actual corner — what is most important is that this space is consistently available and well equipped for the task at hand. Your student can store her school bag in this corner, as well as place newly assigned homework in a visible location in this area. Stock her homework space with items like sharpened pencils, lined paper, and erasers, as well as a comfortable and supportive chair. Older children in particular may feel more accountable for completing their homework when they have a space dedicated to that purpose.

Mold your routine to your student’s learning style :

As you likely realize, each child is different, and these differences extend to homework habits. For instance, your student’s best friend may be able to return from elementary school at 3:15 p.m. and begin her homework at 3:30 p.m., but your child may need to run and jump around outside for an hour before she turns to her math or reading homework. Perhaps she prefers to eat a healthy snack prior to completing that science worksheet, or maybe she is happier eating after she finishes. Molding your routine to your student’s learning style can lead to increased homework success.

Remain consistent :

One of the most important keys to effective homework habits is consistency. Consistency allows both parent and child to know what is expected of them, as well as what they can expect of the other person—i.e. your student may expect you to provide assistance only when she requests it, while you may expect her to unpack her belongings and organize her homework as soon as she returns home from school. While initially establishing a homework routine can be challenging, consistency will allow you to see this routine through to the end of the school year, hopefully to great success !