How to Help Your Child with their Homework

Parents are always looking for ways to support their children and ensure they succeed, in both a personal and an academic sense. You’ll be pleased to know that helping them with their homework doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to spend hours hunched over a desk with your heads in their books. There are lots of other ways you can make homework easier for your child. Here are some tips from a private school in Somerset.

Start by building a relationship with your child’s teachers so that you can understand what they’re looking for from homework assignments and ask for advice and how you can help. They will also be able to share some information on the school curriculum and what topics are going to be coming up over the next few weeks so that you can prepare your child with learning activities at home that complement their classroom learning. 

Make sure your child has a dedicated space in your home for schoolwork. This gesture will show them how important you think their homework is and also give them somewhere to get their work done without disruption. This means there should be no games consoles or other distractions in the vicinity, as they will prevent your child from being able to concentrate. 

On nights when your child has lots of homework or one hefty assignment, help them manage their time by encouraging them to prioritise the work. You could also show them how to split up the tasks into more manageable chunks and perhaps share some examples of when you’ve had to do this at work. You should also make sure that your child takes regular breaks from their studies so that they don’t burn out. 

Consider your general attitude towards learning. Do you talk about your own experiences at school with your child? If so, keep it positive and avoid saying things like “I hated school when I was your age”. You should also praise your child when you see them working hard and avoid being too critical if they get a bad grade, as this will only dishearten them. Knowing they have your support no matter what will go a long way to helping your child succeed with their schoolwork.