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Learning homework assignments faster: 5 rules to follow

It is difficult spending the day in school and then coming home and having to start work all over again. Homework can be divided into two categories

  1. Work that reviews what you have already covered and rein enforces what you already know. This may seem a bit pointless at times but its helpful for the tutor to see it the student can cope on their own to do the work outside of class.
  2. Work that involves some research skills and use of skills already covered in the classroom . This type of homework can be through some creative project work or through some preparation work, ready for the next class.

Homework is a good way of enabling the younger student to take responsibility for their own learning.

5 Helpful Rules

  1. Timing. Choose the same time every evening for homework. Allow some chill out time, to refresh after the day in school. Typically a child will have about 10 minutes for each year, grade or standard. A grade 3 child should have around 30 minutes home work per night. Check when the homework needs to be handed in, but don’t get complacent and leave doing work that does not need to be handed in for a week until the night before its to be handed in . They say they have no homework - them find a skill that they can revise and reinforce.
  2. Space. Homework needs to be done not with books balanced in the knee watching TV. It needs to be done in a quiet area but close to others so they the young student can ask for help and they can also be encouraged to stay on task.
  3. Motivation incentives. Allow the young student to know what they can do once they have completed their homework. Allow them to have choices but at the same time they need to know what privileges are not available should they not so their work. Make learning fun and motivational - use charts to which they can add stickers if they are very young. This tactic also works if you are writing a thesis - you need motivation.
  4. Consequences and working towards something bigger. Use this time to talk about the bigger picture. Homework activities that may seem insignificant can lead to bigger and better things.
  5. Interests. Sometimes some of elements in the homework tasks can motivate further learning. The young student will want to learn more about a particular subject or idea. This is when they realize that all the homework that they thought was a boring chore may have some credence after all.