Overall, high-school students relate that they spend less than one hour per day on homework, on average, and only 42 percent say they do it five days per week. In one recent survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress , a minimal 13 percent of 17-year-olds said they had devoted more than two hours to homework the previous evening . Proponents of homework say that it improves student achievement and allows for independent learning of classroom and life skills. They also say that homework gives parents the opportunity to monitor their child’s learning and see how they are progressing academically.
TIPS is a teacher-designed interactive program in which children and a parent or family member each have a specific role in the homework scenario. For example, children might show the parent how to do a mathematics task on fractions, explaining their reasoning along the way and reviewing their thinking aloud if they are unsure. They also believe that doing homework fosters responsibility and organizational skills, and that doing well on homework tasks contributes to learning, even if children experience frustration from time to time. For middle-school students, Cooper and colleagues report that 90 minutes per day of homework is optimal for enhancing academic achievement, and for high schoolers, the ideal range is 90 minutes to two and a half hours per day. Beyond this threshold, more homework does not contribute to learning. For students enrolled in demanding Advanced Placement or honors courses, however, homework is likely to require significantly more time, leading to concerns over students’ health and well-being.
Learning is definitely important but what students do with the facts that they learned is essential as well. Applying knowledge allows the students to take a simple fact and relate it to a grander scheme of things. Relating what they know will enhance their creativity and let them see behind the lines of how everything connects. Over the last decade, educators have been examining the wisdom of giving students hours worth of homework every night. A rule developed suggesting ten minutes of homework for every grade the student was in. So a second grader would have twenty minutes of homework, while middle school students would have over an hour of work to do when they got home.
When students spend more time than this on homework, the positive relationship with student achievement diminishes . Assignments that are developmentally appropriate and meaningful and that promote self-efficacy and self-regulation. Meaningful homework is authentic, allowing students to engage in solving problems with real-world relevance.
After several weeks of this, and knowing soccer was his best motivator, I started sitting with him to do his homework in the evenings. I discovered that it was taking ME approximately four-to-six hours a night to help him complete his assignments. We changed his school immediately, and I’ve been apologizing for those missed soccer games ever since! When parents struggle with finding enough time for homework, they should consider cutting back on their child’s screen time, rather than beneficial activities such as hobbies, clubs or sports.
Hattie’s work has suggested that homework only becomes effective at the primary and secondary levels when students are assigned learning tasks that ask them to revise taught information. From time management and organisation to self-motivation and independent learning, homework teaches students a range of positive skills that they will carry with them throughout their academic and working lives. Home learning motivates students to take responsibility for their workload, while also encouraging the development of positive research practices. Even with the whole day spent at school, allocated class time is not always sufficient when it comes to engaging students with their school work.
There are a number of benefits to homework, including improved study habits, self-discipline, and independent problem-solving skills. Students learn other life skills, too, such as time management and how to set priorities. Completing these assignments, and mastery of these additional skills, improves the self-esteem of students.
Second, homework is a wonderful opportunity for parents to see what we are working on in class. A parent may recognize a problem with which the child is struggling, and provide extra help as needed. If children aren’t given homework in the younger grades, it can be quite a shock when they enter the upper grades.
And, it will be no surprise to parents that sometimes children don’t enjoy homework, but this gives them an opportunity to learn the important life skill that we all have to do some things we don’t enjoy. Additionally, do my homework it’s an opportunity for children and parents to take responsibility for their parts in the educational process. A child’s successful education is dependent upon the efforts of the teachers, students and parents.