Four Tips to Take the Stress Out of Homework Time

Some parents find homework time to be the most stressful part of the day, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you’ve heard from any parents that homework is causing a lot of anxiety and arguments, it’s time to do something about it. Here are a few tips to share with your students’ parents to make things easier on the whole family:

1. Time your children. It’s a big red flag when your students take a long time on homework and don’t have the grades to show for that effort. Give parents an idea of what’s a reasonable amount of time to spend on homework and encourage them to keep an eye on how long their children are working.
2. Teach prioritization. Students who struggle to rank their homework in order from most important/due soonest to least important/due later will find themselves taking far longer than needed to do homework. A simple handout explaining how parents can work with their children to review and rank tasks at the start of every homework session will help.
3. Encourage a routine. Children today lead busy lives, but the more parents can guide their children toward a consistent daily routine, the better. Maybe that means homework happens after school or before soccer, but the key is to establish and stick to a schedule. This promotes good time management skills and gives children greater control over their days.
4. Develop an organizational system. Staying organized is essential to de-stress homework time, and involves several components: using a planner (or planner app), keeping to a schedule, and keeping track of all important papers and materials required for homework. Again, a handout for parents could be useful as they try to keep their children on track at home.

With a few adjustments, parents can transform homework time from an angst-inducing battle into just another part of the nightly routine. Pass along your best tips for making homework time run more smoothly at home, and you’ll most likely notice a positive difference.