Whether you’re five or 50, one thing is guaranteed. Homework sucks. The blessed relief you feel of never having to do homework ever again disappears when your child starts school.
Sure, you can wing it for a year or two, where homework involves reading storybooks and learning the alphabet. But when the homework starts to get more intense, then you might need to step it up a bit in order to help your kids with their homework.
Here are our top tips for making homework fun.
Get up to speed on the curriculum
First things first, you need to know what your kids are studying and how they’re being taught. Chances are, they’re doing things a little differently now. Simply saying “in my day” isn’t really going to cut it. So don’t be upset that they’re learning to do long division differently or that they have search engines to help them. Learn what you need to so you can help.
Know where your skills lie
Everyone has their own strength and weaknesses when it comes to studying. That’s where tutoring might come in handy. Tutors can be really helpful for students who are struggling in some subjects, or those who are at an advanced level not catered for by their school. So if you’re comfortable with helping them out in maths and science, but not so much with topics like history and English, then get an English Tutor Sydney to fill in the gaps.
Create a routine
Homework can sometimes feel isolating for children. Often, they’re by themselves, working on their homework while others in the house are doing other things. Try and create a better learning space by sitting with them and doing some ‘homework’ of your own. You could be answering emails, changing energy suppliers. Anything you want. The goal is to create a shared experience of working at home.
Keep it interesting
Kids are easily bored and their attention can wander very easily. You know your kids best, so try and make a game out of their homework. You could offer to do something fun when they finish or challenge them to a race against the clock.
Stay positive
Even if you still have nightmares about your own homework history, it’s important that you don’t put your kids off. They’ll pick up on any negativity you have, even if you say it jokingly. So always try to talk positively about homework and don’t refer to it as a punishment or a chore. They’ll find out in their own time how much they don’t like it.
Final thoughts
Helping your children with their homework can be a great bonding experience for you both. It’s an opportunity to spend time together and for you to take an interest in their school work that you won’t otherwise get unless you’re homeschooling.
But as your kids get older, you might find that you need to do a bit more homework of your own to keep up with what they’re learning so that you can actually help them and not the other way around.