Help Children Form Good Study Habits

When it comes to helping with homework, education and psychology research suggests that it all depends on how parents become involved.

What is essential is that parents focus on supporting students’ motivation. Parent help can backfire when it involves providing instruction on homework content. In contrast, parents will support their kids’ school success when they communicate clear expectations and help students develop a homework routine. Students who have a clearly defined routine around homework — a set time, a set place and a set way to complete homework — are more likely to believe they can overcome challenges while doing homework, take more responsibility for learning, and ultimately do better in school. Homework is an especially good opportunity for parents to help young kids develop self-regulatory skills, by modeling study strategies and helping students set goals and make plans for completing homework.

Parents should also give kids autonomy. When kids struggle with homework, parents sometimes have an instinct to take control by using commands, incentives, threats, surveillance, or just doing the work themselves. These tactics may work in the short term, but won’t benefit kids in the long run. A better strategy is to explain why even the most boring homework could help students accomplish personal goals (aside from just getting a good grade). Providing choices related to homework and emphasizing that students should work in their own way is also important. When kids feel like homework has value and doing it is their own choice, it will seem more interesting and lead to greater achievement. Finally, whatever parents say or do related to homework, it is critical to communicate that mistakes are a welcomed part of the learning process and effort is at the heart of kids’ success.

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