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Homework

Homework gives you a great opportunity to get involved in your child’s learning. As they get older the way you get involved will change, but showing you are interested, whatever their age is important for their motivation.

Remember children learn from their family – what you do influences your child’s attitude towards learning. One of the most important things you can do is build their confidence by being optimistic about learning and teaching them to have a positive attitude.

You can expect your child to get homework in line with these government guidelines:

Age	Amount of homework
Years 7 and 8	45 to 90 minutes per day
Year 9	1 to 2 hours per day
Years 10 and 11	1.5 to 2.5 hours per day

Good homework habits

Where: Find the right place at home to do the homework. Each of us learns or works best in different ways – this may be alone in the bedroom, or in the kitchen whilst making dinner. Wherever works best for you, it will ideally be a calm bright area all set up with the tools you know you and your child may need. Keep distractions to a minimum so turn the TV off and keep the music low to help you and them concentrate on the task at hand.

How: Make sure you are aware how the school is teaching your children. Teaching methods change, so don’t assume you can show them how you used to do things. Ask the school for guidance if you need it.

Routine: Some children work best after school (following a snack and short play!); others may prefer to wait until after dinner. Whenever suits your child, stick to a regular time to cut the nagging or the protests to a minimum.

Fuel: Make sure they have had a healthy snack or dinner before working so they are less likely to be distracted!

Talk: Find the time to discuss your child’s homework with them; this will show them you think it’s important, and may help them feel confident about what they are doing. If they ask you questions, it’s a good idea to help by explaining how to look up information for themselves rather than just providing the answer! If you can see they are always struggling, this may be a sign that they need a little extra help in a particular area or subject.

Find out more and read the rest of this article on the Parentkind web pages.

We've partnered with Parentkind UK to give you access to their Parents' Hub, where you'll find more advice and support about all aspects of school life. Visit the Parents Hub at Parentkind.

Beyond homework

Reading with your child and encouraging a love of books is important at all ages.
Making learning part of your everyday life, rather than something that just happens at school, is really important. It helps children learn the value of working hard and having dreams. If you need ideas for how to do this, Parentkind have some great suggestions.