Homework planning is an essential part of a parent’s life. But at the same time, it can be a tedious and cumbersome task in itself.
Do you know that parents in the US spend around 6.2 hours a week just helping the child with their homework?
Which means that they are investing lots of time and energy just to plan the extra academic learning of their loved one. These simple tips will help you to simplify the task of assisting your child with homework easier.
So without further ado, let’s get started with these tips right away!
1. Use Scheduling and Flexibility Mindfully
As you already know that online education allows flexibility of learning. And this benefit can be utilized mindfully to plan and utilize all the time of the day. Try to make a note of the most productive hours of the child. And make use of these in completing homework assignments. It is also a good idea to procrastinate recreational activities after the homework. Because this will help the child to prioritize work and later get into the habit of paying attention to academics before planning anything else. Another benefit of planning this way is that you will be able to use leisure as reinforcement. This means that the child will accept this desirable behavior without much effort.
It’s just like prioritizing work before play. And this trick certainly helps in keeping pendency at bay. Remember to keep some scope for the child’s individual needs in your planning. Because there will be days when your pre-defined schedules will not be met as per your designs. Do not coax the child to follow what sounds good to you. Instead, make him/her understand the relevance of completing work on time to avoid the last-minute stressful situations.
2. Never Compromise on Healthy Lifestyle Habits
There is a direct connection between lifestyle and one’s mindset. Try to keep the child physically active and ensure proper sleep, nutritious food, and other essential activities. Make the child understand the importance of healthy living. And ensure that he/she is active during the hours assigned to studies.
It is important to instill these habits in kids from the early years. Because with online learning, they can develop tendencies of sedentary lifestyle quite easily. Keep a track of the physical activities and calorie intake that can create fatigue or lethargy during online assignments. Because later on, it can result in the loss of productive time. Ensure that the child does not get into the habit of procrastinating coursework/online homework. Because this will upset the entire schedule making it difficult to cope up at the end. Keep a check on their online study habits. And explain the importance of completing work on time to the kid proactively.
3. Teach Time Management
The timely completion of online assignments is never possible without good time management skills. Teach your kids the value of creating planners, following pre-defined schedules. And take the help of online homework planning applications, if need be. Let the child share his/her inputs during the planning process. Because this will create a sense of ownership in him/her.
Remember to spare time for everything that the child likes. Because only then he/she will enjoy working and leisure time equally. Try to get the child into the habit of working with focus. And tell him/her that this helps in creating more scope for leisure time. Explain how synchronized work can reduce the wastage of time that is caused due to distracted and unplanned learning. and let the child focus just on studies at the time decided for homework assignments. Get him/her to practice single-tasking. And it will eventually help him/her to be more productive.
4. Focus on the Study Area
A quiet study space can add to the child’s productivity immensely. Hence, it is important to create a calm study space. Let this place be totally gadget-free, neat, and welcoming. You can pin up a couple of motivational quotes to boost the child’s confidence level and set the right mood to study. Make sure that this corner is perfectly visible to you from your common activity areas. And Try to be a good supervisor while your child completes online homework.
Also check that the child has all the necessary equipment (headphones, working internet connection, device or computer, etc.) that are needed to stay focused and complete online homework. And ensure that you keep this place free from any noise while you stay with the child. Your intervention and monitoring will create a strong impact on the kid. And it will get him/her in the right mood to study without any disturbing thoughts. It is also advisable to keep those hunger pangs away. Because your child will be able to focus only when he/she is well-fed and physically stable.
5. Plan Ahead for Unproductive Time
Another important thing that needs to be planned from your side is to make up for any lost time. In case of online homework or assignments, there is a possibility that you might lag behind at times. Try to plan some buffer time for these unforeseen circumstances. Because these will keep you going and will save any massive loss of productive time any time later.
You can simply take a quick recap and spare a couple of hours on the weekend. As this will help you to make up for any lost time (due to the child’s illness, unexpected guests at home, or any other reason) timely. This backup planning will save you from regrets and even the stressful pile of work. And your end result of smooth and consistent work will remain unaffected.
Final Words:
Online homework can be easier than regular homework as it gives a lot of pacing options to the students. Parents can use their organizational skills and help the kids to complete their work on time.
