How can Parents Support with Homework?
Parental support is mandatory when homework is expected to be done at home, parents’/guardians’ involvement in children’s homework is desired. Parents also bear the responsibility to help and monitor their children. So, involvement in children’s homework in particular and in education, in general, comes under the dire biological responsibility of parents. The proper involvement of parents in children’s homework has positive effects on learning achievement and it is necessary to make children feel homework is important.
Parents’ Support As Managers
Management of study environment at home is a challenging job for parents. They have to sacrifice their personal interests in order to maintain a child-friendly study environment. Environment management involves a wide range of activities such as physical environment and psychological environment. Physical environment management includes separate rooms, materials, facilities, etc. and psychological environment includes intrinsic motivation, removing distractions, psychological assistance, etc.
Parents’ Support As Motivators:
Children are not self-motivated towards study. They need the support of others. Parents have to motivate their children and shape positive attitudes in them. Parental support can make their children positive towards homework activities by applying motivation strategies. Parents themselves should have a positive attitude towards children’s homework. The positive attitude of parents about homework transfers a positive attitude to the children.
Parental Support As Role Models
This is especially important for young students. When your child does homework, don’t neglect him/her, show some involvement. If your child is reading, parents should also read. This is modeling. It is one of the important roles of parents to fulfill their responsibility towards children’s homework.
Support As Monitors
Children need some guidelines or instructions. Their activities should be monitored. So that children can be guided properly. Monitoring also helps to diagnose problems and sort out the solutions. It also helps to lead children on the right way. Giving proper guidelines and monitoring children’s activities is the responsibility of parents. To monitor children’s homework, parents can help their children, provide guidance, and show participation and even warn them.
Support As Mentors
Try to help your child in need, not always. A mentor is someone who is more knowledgeable. Parents must play the role of mentor by counseling, touring, and guiding. Children face lots of obstacles while doing their homework. It is the parent’s responsibility to set aside and help to figure out the solutions. For senior children, parents need to teach to be independent.
Parental Support As Communicators
Parents should be the best communicator. Parents should establish effective communication with their children, teachers and parents, and school and parents. Communication contributes transmission and exchange of information. Parents, students, and teachers should exchange and share information for the effective learning of children. Communication helps to monitor the activities of children and leaves less chance of misleading.
Summary
Parental support can play roles as material and time manager, motivator, model, communicator, mentor, monitor, critique, etc. to help their child do homework. They employ the various strategies according to the situation to help children with homework like; managing the physical environment, fulfilling requirements, making the working schedule, managing proper time, encouraging, giving incentives, helping in difficulty, checking and observing, performing model behavior, communicating with teachers, scolding, shouting, punishing, commenting, giving examples and incentives, looking for someone to help, etc.
