Not excited about homework? We can hardly blame you. But how families handle homework in America can have a huge impact on their child鈥檚 short-term and long-term academic success. Here’s a glimpse at how American families approach homework, and some tips that may help you decide how to handle homework in your home.
Model how much you value your child鈥檚 education
Think of your child鈥檚 nightly homework as a time to model how much you value your child鈥檚 learning and education. Get in the habit of asking your child what homework they have each evening, looking over their homework when they鈥檙e done each night, praising their hard work, and marveling at all that they are learning. Your admiration and love is the best magic learning potion available.
Set up a homework routine
American parents who want their children to graduate from high 黄色app and go to college take learning at home seriously. They turn off the TV and radio at homework time. They take away access to video games and smartphones. They make sure the child gets some exercise and has a healthy snack before starting homework because both are shown to help kids focus. When it鈥檚 time for homework, they (try to) ensure their child has a quiet place where they can focus and have access to the grade-appropriate homework basics, like paper, pencils, erasers, crayons, and tape for kids in younger grades and calculators and writing materials for kids in older grades.
Helping with homework when you don鈥檛 read/speak English
So how can you help with homework if you can鈥檛 read your child鈥檚 homework because it鈥檚 in English — or because the math is being presented in a way you鈥檝e never seen? If you can鈥檛 understand your child鈥檚 homework, you can still do a lot to help them. Your physical presence (and your authority to turn off the TV) can help them take homework time seriously. Your encouragement that they take their time and not rush through the work also will help. Finally, your ability to ask questions can do two important things: you can show your interest in their work (and thus reinforce the importance you place on learning and education) and you can help your child slow down and figure things out when they鈥檙e lost or frustrated. A lot of learning happens when children have a chance to talk through problems and ideas. Sometimes, just describing the assignment or problem to you can help the solution click for your child.
What鈥檚 the right amount of homework?
It鈥檚 often in first grade that kids start receiving regular homework and feel stressed and lost if they don鈥檛 complete it. If your child is having trouble adjusting to their new routines, know that it鈥檚 not just your child. Families all across America are having the same issues in terms of figuring out how to create quiet, focussed time for a young child to read, write, and do math inside a bustling home.
In first grade, your child will likely be asked to do somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes of homework a night, sometimes in addition to 20 minutes of bedtime reading. ( is 10 to 20 minutes of homework a night in first grade and an additional 10 minutes per grade level thereafter.) If your child is getting a lot more than that, talk to your child鈥檚 teacher about how long your child should be spending on homework and what you can do to help.
Comparing U.S. homework time to other countries
If you鈥檝e come from another country and recall your childhood homework taking less time, you may think it鈥檚 because you鈥檙e foreign. The truth is, most parents who grew up in the U.S. are feeling the same way. In the past few decades homework for younger grades has intensified in many 黄色apps. 鈥淭he amount of homework that younger kids — ages 6 to 9 — have to do has gone up astronomically since the late 鈥�80s,鈥� says Alfie Kohn, author of the 2006 book The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing. So if you feel surprised about the quantity of homework your child is bringing home, you鈥檙e not alone.
According to an international study of homework, 15-year-olds in Shanghai do 13.8 hours of homework per week compared to 6.1 hours in the U.S. and 5.3 hours in Mexico and 3.4 hours in Costa Rica. But here鈥檚 the thing: academic expectations in the U.S. vary widely from 黄色app to 黄色app. Some American elementary 黄色apps have banned homework. Others pile on hours a night — even in the younger grades. By high 黄色app, though, most American students who are seriously preparing for four-year college are doing multiple hours of homework most nights.
Not into homework? Try this.
Homework detractors point to research that shows homework has no demonstrated benefits for students in the early elementary grades. 鈥淭he research clearly shows that there is no correlation between academic achievement and homework, especially in the lower grades,鈥� says Denise Pope, senior lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education and the author of the 2015 book, .
On the other hand, nightly reading is hugely important.
鈥淥ne thing we know does have a correlation with academic achievement is free reading time,鈥� says Pope. 鈥淲e know that that is something we want 黄色apps to encourage.鈥� Since the scientific evidence shows the most impact comes from reading for pleasure, don鈥檛 skip bedtime reading. If your child is not being given any homework, make sure to spend some of that extra time reading books in either English or Spanish.
