"My kid always rushes through her homework!” I hear this complaint from many parents. As adults, it’s difficult for us to understand why our children can’t slow down, take time to focus and check their work. Rushing is not a serious issue if your child occasionally races through homework because she has ‘better things to do.’ Rushing only becomes a problem when your child can’t slow down, seems unmotivated to do well and often turns in work that is inaccurate and contains careless errors. For this type of student, rushing is frequently a daily habit.
I’m a big proponent of establishing a Dedicated Homework Time, otherwise known as DHT. It’s a scheduled block of time each weekday dedicated to homework, whether the student says they have it or not. DHT helps break the rushing habit. Regardless of how quickly your child finishes their homework, the entire DHT should be dedicated to academically-related tasks. If your child finishes before DHT is up, they can study for a test, work on a long-term project, organize their notebook or read.
The general rule of thumb is the total time spent doing homework should be equivalent to 10 minutes per grade level. For example, a third grader’s DHT should be 30 minutes; fourth graders should complete 40 minutes; and so on. Once seventh and eighth grade rolls around, I recommend an hour. Students in grades 9 to 12 benefit from 90 minutes of DHT. I’ve found for many parents struggling with the homework issue, implementing DHT is the best place to start. The question then becomes, “How do I do it?”
To establish a Designated Homework Time, sit down with your child and discuss why you’re implementing this new concept. It’s best to have this discussion either at the beginning of a month, a new school week or a new grading period. At this time, you may say, “I know homework has become stressful for both of us. Let’s try this for the next month” or, “Let’s start this quarter/semester off on a positive note.”
A common question regarding DHT is: “What do you do if there’s no homework assigned?” It’s been my experience there is almost always something to do. Ask your child to do a binder check. Your child will probably find assignments they forgot about or is putting off.
If there is really no homework, consider the following options:
Younger children can:
Older students can:
I recently worked with a bright, warm and engaging sixth grade girl named Gianna. Gianna’s parents reported their daughter would do the least amount of work necessary to get by and often proclaimed she was finished in less than 15 minutes. Before they turned around, she was out the door, hanging out with the kids in the neighborhood. When there was no one in sight, Gianna was quick to jump on the computer and begin instant messaging with her friends. I recommended a full 60 minutes be carved out of Gianna’s schedule for DHT. Her parents agreed and were more than happy to add this to their schedule since homework time had become such a battle.
DHT worked wonders for Gianna’s situation. She and her parents no longer argued about the minimal amount of time she spent on homework. In fact, Gianna’s grades improved because she was turning in better quality homework. However, her parents encountered one common problem. On some days, Gianna did not have much homework. When this occurred, they felt like they were constantly repeating the same ideas over and over. So, with Gianna, they created and posted a DHT menu on the family bulletin board. It contained a list of activities available to Gianna when she had no homework left to do.
Establishing Designated Homework Time and a DHT menu helped Gianna to complete her work independently. When her 60 minutes of DHT was up, one of her parents asked to see her completed work. They did not check every answer but they made sure the work was generally correct and more importantly, completed.
Establishing DHT is an easy and highly effective solution to homework woes. You may find your child is resistant to their newfound schedule at first, but stick with it. It truly does take 21 days to change a habit. In just three weeks, your child will adjust and the precious after-school hours will be a whole lot less stressful.
Ann Dolin, M.Ed., is the founder and president of Educational Connections, Inc., a tutoring, test prep and consulting company. In her award-winning book, Homework Made Simple: Tips, Tools and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework, Dolin offers proven solutions to help the six key types of students who struggle with homework. Numerous examples and easy-to-implement, fun tips will help make homework less of a chore for the whole family. As seen on anndolin.ectutoring.com. Learn more at http://anndolin.ectutoring.com/ or ectutoring.com.
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