3 Research-Backed Strategies to Help With Homework Stress
If educators asked my opinion, I would give a strong recommendation against homework. While evidence shows that repetition of concepts can strengthen learning, school hours should fulfill both initial learning and then continued practice on topics — minimizing the workloads when a child goes home. As it turns out, no one has asked my opinion so we are stuck with homework, and the typical parent-child conflicts that accompany it.
Parental techniques vary, with some parents providing a more supportive approach to homework assistance while others provide a more intrusive, or controlling approach. How you approach homework makes a difference, and students who consistently complete more homework demonstrate higher levels of achievement. In fact, a meta-analysis of parental homework involvement in mathematics found that supportive involvement was positively linked to achievement while micromanaging, controlling involvement was negatively linked. Unfortunately, excessive controlling involvement may decrease your child’s intrinsic motivation to take the initiative over their homework. Attaining higher academic achievement is directly supported by the effective time management skills that your child can learn when completing homework.
As the homework load increases in your home, consider these evidence-based strategies to help guide children and teens with homework planning and execution.
Organizational strategies work.
A randomized-controlled trial on middle schoolers with ADHD demonstrated significant improvements when schools implemented organizational strategies. Whether or not your child has ADHD, I recommend parents ensure students have essential organizational resources like homework planners in which they write out their assignments during class. In addition to this daily to-do list, children can benefit from thinking about and planning out medium and long term projects with timelines or monthly calendars in their planners and binders. What do I need to complete today? This week? This month. Role model this by mentioning your own planning strategies.
Along with daily planners, students should have homework binders with a to-do side and a turn in side. Because the evidence is clear and the interventions simple, many elementary schools provide students with these strategies. As parents, you can ensure your child has access to the necessary supplies and fill gaps, especially for older students, when the school’s emphasis on organizational support declines and the workload increases.
Support Time Management.
Time management predicts homework completion, and homework completion is associated with academic achievement. Teaching students the skill of time management should start early. When your child starts homework, incorporate checklists, and within those checklists, I recommend inserting time goals to build intrinsic motivation. For example, if a child is going to complete their math homework first and they think it will take 30 minutes, have them commit to that in writing. If they don’t meet that goal, ask if they need more time or what they think could improve their efficiency. Most kids will know the answer. Then you can further discuss strategies to improve efficiency. Your child will slowly start to understand how they best learn. Children will be more inclined to engage in this type of conversation if parents maintain a neutral or positive tone. Once a child senses criticism or frustration, the conversation will be less productive. If you think your child is ready for your input, say things like: When I need to concentrate, I turn off all notifications. Or Sometimes, I find it helps if I have my snack first so I don’t have to break my concentration in the middle of the assignment.
Make sure the to-do list or planner includes brain breaks.
Provide space for autonomy.
There are two main types of parental involvement when it comes to homework: supportive and intrusive. As you can imagine, when a child feels controlled, they are more likely to resist and less likely to enjoy the learning process. This intuitive response is backed by studies demonstrating that parental homework assistance and control backfires, with lower overall achievement. So how do you support your child without controlling them? Let your child make the decisions that lead to the end goal of homework completion. Let them decide the order of assignments completion. Ask questions like Would you like to have a snack first or do one or two assignments first? What are you going to work on first? Do you want to have a little rest or play time before you start homework? You can even zoom out and let your child choose their planner, binder, or manner of organization: white board or chalkboard?
The Breakdown
Homework can be hard on parents and kids alike, cutting into the few precious hours, sometimes even minutes, that parents have with their kids during school nights. Approaching homework in a supportive fashion, with an emphasis on organization and time management while allowing your child to maintain autonomy, can result in improved achievement and parent-child relationships.
You may also enjoy learning about Goal Setting and Happiness.
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References:
Langberg, Joshua M et al. “Evaluation of the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) Intervention for Middle School Students with ADHD as Implemented by School Mental Health Providers.” School psychology review vol. 41,3 (2012): 342-364.
Langberg, Joshua M et al. “Overcoming the research-to-practice gap: A randomized trial with two brief homework and organization interventions for students with ADHD as implemented by school mental health providers.” Journal of consulting and clinical psychology vol. 86,1 (2018): 39-55. doi:10.1037/ccp0000265
Valle, Antonio et al. “Academic Goals, Student Homework Engagement, and Academic Achievement in Elementary School.” Frontiers in psychology vol. 7 463. 31 Mar. 2016, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00463
Xu, Jianzhong et al. “Parental Homework Involvement and Students’ Achievement: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis.” Psicothema vol. 36,1 (2024): 1-14. doi:10.7334/psicothema2023.92
Barger, Michael M et al. “The relation between parents’ involvement in children’s schooling and children’s adjustment: A meta-analysis.” Psychological bulletin vol. 145,9 (2019): 855-890. doi:10.1037/bul0000201
Jiang, Qiaodan et al. “Parental homework involvement and students’ mathematics achievement: a meta-analysis.” Frontiers in psychology vol. 14 1218534. 13 Jul. 2023, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1218534