The most common homework concerns are related to time, space and organization. I am linking three blog posts with the aim to answer each.
There isn’t a best time to do homework, just several options. The idea is to find what fits your family best for now. There are some children who just want it done. These kids might start homework during the ride home and finish the rest before doing other things. I wish these were my kids. Others need a break after school. They need to eat snack and move their bodies before tackling homework. For some families after dinner is the time. I think this is also fine as long as there is truly enough time to get it done and it’s not making bedtime later. Some families fit homework time in the morning. This seems the riskiest. Maybe if my child was an early riser, they could put their 20 minutes of reading in the morning. The drive to school might be a good time to review spelling words each day.
Whatever your decision, good to include the children in the conversation. Ask what time they think is best and why. With schedules being as busy as they are, it might not be the same time each day. A child might have different activities at different times each day. Get a calendar, add the activities, discuss the homework times and add them. The aim is to have all their activities and homework times for the week on the calendar by Sunday. This lets your child know that homework is a priority and hopefully lessens the debate about when to get started each day.
Another consideration is the amount of time homework takes each day. The trick is to first consider how much time it typically takes, or should typically take. If your child is focused and working, what’s the average? When my older child was in second grade it took about 20 minutes so we set the minimum at 25. This meant Monday through Thursday there was a 25 minute stretch marked on the calendar for homework or homework type tasks. If she finished early, she was welcome to study her spelling words, play academic computer games or practice recorder to finish the time. I’m easy on this one, over the years I allowed word finds, crosswords, piano practice, sudoku and the occasional MadLibs. Having a minimum amount of time to finish discourages them from rushing through. If the nights they only have a few minutes of homework, they wrap it up and go play, the push may be to rush everynight.
The 25 minutes is also a sort of maximum. If they are off task lots or arguing about homework during the 25 minutes, when the time is up homework is done. Talk to them about how it could have gone better, maybe write a note to teacher about why things aren’t finished for the night. The goal is to encourage them to focus and really work to get things done during the time. By all means, if they are working the whole time and need more, give them more.
It’s also good to consider how much time homework takes in general. I still lean on the 10 minutes per grade. Twenty minutes for a second grader and forty for a fourth grader seems to be plenty. This may vary once they hit middle and high school based on the classes they are taking. If it’s taking significantly more, maybe good to check in with your child, other parents and the teacher. It is helpful to know if your child is on task or not, if it’s just your child taking longer or others and what the teacher’s expectations for time are to begin with. Also helpful to look for patterns, are they taking longer for writing or math assignments, are they taking longer if they start later in the evening?
It may be helpful to teach your child to organize their homework time each night. This means making a checklist of tasks, including study time and pieces of longer projects. It may be helpful to start with the hard tasks first to get through them while they are fresh.
It’s beneficial for this to be a quiet, working time for the whole family. Older siblings might do their homework at the same time, younger siblings might look at books or work on puzzles. Parents might read or work.
Parenting by Dr. Rene 