How Parental Involvement with Homework Impacts Students

Parental involvement with homework impacts students in a positive way. One of the most important reasons for parental involvement is that it helps alleviate stress and anxiety if the students are facing challenges with specific skills or topics. Parents have experience and expertise with a variety of subject matter and life experiences to help increase relevance. Parents help their children understand content and make it more meaningful, while also helping them understand things more clearly.

Also, their involvement increases skill and subject retention. Parents get into more depth about content and allow students to take skills to a greater level. Many children will always remember the times spent together working on homework or classroom projects. Parental involvement with homework and engagement in their child’s education are related to higher academic performance, better social skills and behavior, and increased self-confidence.

Parents helping with homework allows more time to expand upon subjects or skills since learning can be accelerated in the classroom. This is especially true in today’s classrooms. The curricula in many classrooms is enhanced and requires teaching a lot of content in a small amount of time. Homework is when parents and children can spend extra time on skills and subject matter. Parents provide relatable reasons for learning skills, and children retain information in greater depth.

Parental involvement increases creativity and induces critical-thinking skills in children. This creates a positive learning environment at home and transfers into the classroom setting. Parents have perspective on their children, and this allows them to support their weaknesses while expanding upon their strengths. The time together enlightens parents as to exactly what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are.

Virtual learning is now utilized nationwide, and parents are directly involved with their child’s schoolwork and homework. Their involvement is more vital now than ever. Fostering a positive homework environment is critical in virtual learning and assists children with technological and academic material.

Strategies for Including Parents in Homework

An essential strategy for including parents in homework is sharing a responsibility to help children meet educational goals. Parents’ commitment to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and participating in homework supports a larger objective. Teachers and parents are specific about the goals and work directly with the child with classwork and homework. Teachers and parents collaboratively working together on children’s goals have larger and more long-lasting success. This also allows parents to be strategic with homework assistance.

A few other great examples of how to involve parents in homework are conducting experiments, assignments, or project-based learning activities that parents play an active role in. Interviewing parents is a fantastic way to be directly involved in homework and allows the project to be enjoyable. Parents are honored to be interviewed, and these activities create a bond between parents and children. Students will remember these assignments for the rest of their lives.

Project-based learning activities examples are family tree projects, leaf collections, research papers, and a myriad of other hands-on learning assignments. Children love working with their parents on these assignments as they are enjoyable and fun. This type of learning and engagement also fosters other interests. Conducting research is another way parents directly impact their child’s homework. This can be a subject the child is interested in or something they are unfamiliar with. Children and parents look forward to these types of homework activities.

Parents helping students with homework has a multitude of benefits. Parental involvement and engagement have lifelong benefits and creates a pathway for success. Parents provide autonomy and support, while modeling successful homework study habits.

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Why Homework Can Be Beneficial to Students

If done effectively, homework can be beneficial to student learning. One of the main purposes is to give students the opportunity to master skills taught in class. With limited time in school, foundational skills can be practiced at home. In elementary grades, this could be reading books, learning math facts, or practicing handwriting. In middle school and high school, this can be practicing languages, working on math problems, or doing further reading to enhance understanding on a variety of topics. Homework could then provide time to reinforce learning to solidify understanding.

Other ways students can benefit from homework are to help prepare for future classwork or discussions. Reading an article, preparing mathematical proofs, or analyzing data are ways that students can familiarize themselves with material and be better prepared to participate in meaningful ways at school.

Homework can also provide students the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of skills. That way, teachers are able to utilize homework to assess students’ understanding so they can adjust instructional methods in class.

With successful homework practices, students develop responsibility, organizational techniques, and efficient work habits. These attributes, when homework is done properly, bolster self-esteem and allow students to see how they are able to utilize time effectively to support their learning.

Lastly, homework does provide parents and caregivers with the opportunity to see what their children are learning and inform families as to what is currently being taught at school.

Striking the Right Balance of Homework

The key for homework to have a positive effect is to make sure that there is a proper time balance of teacher-directed work. This is always tricky as students learn and work at different speeds. Therefore, the assignments need to be clear enough that students understand what to do, yet flexible enough to be adaptable for each individual learner.

The general rule of thumb is that children should have about 10 minutes of homework each day per their current grade level. So, first graders should have 10 minutes of homework a day, while sixth grades should have an hour of homework and 12^th grade should have two hours a night. High school students sometimes may need to spend more time on their work depending on the classes being taken. This is the recommended amount by the National Education Association and many other educational experts.

Again, the assignments need to be meaningful and appropriate for students’ current learning or foundational skills in order for homework to be effective.

How Much Homework is Too Much?

In order to foster a love of learning, time should be given for students to develop an intellectual curiosity and pursue their own academic interests. Educators want students to love to read, but students are motivated differently. A fourth grader may want to independently read a book they love but become sullen when they have to read something assigned to them or create a project based on their reading. This is the challenge of homework.

Too much homework can sap students’ excitement towards school, cause stress and fear that the work may not be completed, or be so pervasive that children do not have time enjoy extracurricular activities. This would have negative impacts upon their health and schooling.

In addition, students that are organized and have effective time management may become frustrated that despite their best efforts, they feel unsuccessful completing the assignments. Students that struggle academically or with structure may feel defeated even before attempting assignments. This would negatively impact students’ desire to learn, their self-worth, and their ability to grow.

When given the proper amount of work, in addition to the right assignments, students are able to further their learning; the assigned material becomes more exciting, and students feel better about themselves. Teachers are able to manage their work load, gain knowledge of students’ growth, and provide effective feedback to students about their work. Homework can play an impactful role, both positively and negatively, and teachers need to take great care at tailoring their at-home assignments for the class’ needs.

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