Homework Without the Battles

If homework time in your house ends in tears, slammed doors or a parent quietly doing the worksheet at 9pm, you are far from alone. Homework sits where school and family life meet, and both sides bring their tiredness to it.

The good news is that a few changes in routine and in your own role usually lower the temperature.

What homework is for

It helps to know what the evidence says, because it can take some pressure off. The Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit, which summarises international research for schools, finds that homework has a larger average impact in secondary school than in primary school. Harris Cooper and colleagues reached a similar conclusion in a 2006 review in the Review of Educational Research: the link between homework and achievement was stronger for older pupils.

For younger children, then, the value of homework is mostly in building habits, practising things like reading and times tables, and letting parents see what their child is learning. It is rarely worth a nightly fight.

A routine that runs itself

Arguments often start with the question “When are you going to do your homework?” A routine removes the question.

Agree a regular time, ideally with your child. Many children need a break and a snack after school before they can focus. Others prefer to get it done straight away. Either works, as long as it is predictable.

Keep sessions short. A short, focused burst is better than an hour of drifting. For children who find it hard to get started, our piece on ADHD and homework has ideas on shorter tasks and clearer starts that help many children, not only those with ADHD.

Have a plan for the days that do not fit, such as clubs, visits or illness. Knowing that Tuesday’s homework moves to Wednesday is less stressful than trying to squeeze it in.

A space that works

It does not need to be a desk. The kitchen table is fine. What helps is somewhere reasonably quiet, with the things your child needs within reach: pencils, a ruler, paper, a charged device if the work is online. Phones and televisions are best kept out of sight.

Some children work better with an adult nearby, doing their own task. Others need to be alone. Watch what works rather than assuming.

When to step back

This is often the hardest part. The aim of homework is for the child to do it, which means it will not always be perfect.

Try to be available rather than in charge. Help your child get started by reading the task together and asking what they think they need to do. Then step away and come back later. If they are stuck, ask a question rather than giving the answer: “What did you do in class?” or “What’s the first step?”

If your child is working at something for a long time with no progress, stop. Write a short note to the teacher saying they tried and found it difficult. That note tells the teacher far more than a page of work finished by a parent.

Notice and praise effort and strategies, such as sticking with something hard or checking their answers. Our article on praise that builds effort explains why.

Planning, starting and organising tasks rely on executive function, which is still developing throughout childhood and adolescence. If your child struggles with these parts more than the work itself, executive function, explained may help you see why.

Talking to teachers

If homework is regularly causing distress, talk to the school. Teachers would generally much rather know.

Be specific. “It’s taking over an hour every night and ending in tears” gives the teacher something to work with. Ask how long the task is meant to take, what the teacher most wants your child to practise, and whether there is flexibility, such as doing fewer questions or a different format.

If your child has special educational needs, the SENCO can help make sure homework is adjusted to fit their needs, just as classwork should be.

When it’s about more than homework

Sometimes homework battles are a sign of something else: anxiety about school, a learning difficulty that has not been picked up, friendship problems, or exhaustion. If your child is regularly very distressed, refusing to go to school, or seems low for weeks at a time, talk to the school and your GP.

Further reading

• Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C. and Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 1-62.
• Education Endowment Foundation. Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Homework. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk.
• Education Endowment Foundation (2018). Working with Parents to Support Children’s Learning. Guidance report.

Cover image: Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.