Parents: Your children have been in school for several weeks now. You’ve seen what they are studying and how they are handling the amount of homework assigned by teachers. If you are lucky, homework was handled smoothly last year with a minimum of parent-child conflict, and the same will go for this year.
If it looks like getting homework done could be a nightly issue, now is the time to establish a system that works for your family. You, and your child, should first establish the “where” homework will be done. It really doesn’t have to be sitting at a desk in a quiet room. It is fine for children to lie on a bed or floor, and even listen to music. Marge’s son completed his homework while watching TV; however, her daughter chose the kitchen while dinner was being prepared. All of Peggy’s children sat together and did their homework at the kitchen table. Whatever works for them.
Of course, some children will not be able to complete their homework efficiently unless they are being observed by their parents. If this is the case, parents and children can choose a homework place together.
The Procrastination Problem
Because doing homework after a long day in school is not an enjoyable task, unhappy homeworkers tend to put off starting it as long as possible. We have found that a homework contract between the parent and child — such as the one on our Dear Teacher website — can be an effective agreement to determine a starting time.
Parents can make starting homework much easier if they sit with procrastinating children, and together, pick just one easy task for them to begin. When that is completed, a short break can ensue before a new task is chosen.
The Time Problem
According to most homework experts, the proper amount of time children should devote to homework is 10 minutes per grade level in school — 10 minutes for first graders, 50 minutes for fifth graders, and so on. Unfortunately, some teachers may go way overboard (time-wise) on too many nights. When this happens, homework time may possibly be reduced by parents talking to individual teachers, or by having the parent-teacher organization request the school set a homework policy.
In addition, when children reach an unreasonable saturation point with the amount of homework, parents can write a note to teachers stating their children completed as much as they could. This is not very helpful at the middle or high school levels when homework can be part of students’ grades. And obviously, the problem with children spending too much time on homework can be related to their not understanding the material. A talk with teachers is essential to handling this situation.
One unfortunate trend we have observed is the unreasonable homework load that students may have at some private high schools. It is not unusual for them to be up until midnight — night after night — especially if they have extracurricular activities after school. Some schools assign so much work as preparation for admission to highly selective colleges.
Ask for Accommodations
If children are having problems completing their homework because of a learning disability, accommodations for reduced homework time should be part of their Individual Education Plan (IEP).
How Much Should Parents Help
Parents will need to assist young children with tackling homework. When older children ask for help, they should teach them how to find the help they need by looking over notes and study guides. And now in this information age with most resources online, help can often be found by simply using a search engine.
It is realistic to expect children to handle their homework independently by seventh grade. And it is wise to be empathetic when your children complain about their homework so they know that you hear their concerns.
Disorganization
In the past, children had problems getting their homework done because they did not bring home a list of their assignments or the required books. This problem largely evaporates as soon as they are completing most of their work on computers or tablets as they can usually find both assignments and materials online.
For younger children who must take textbooks or materials home, having a reminder taped to their desk at school can be sufficient for many of them.
Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher.com, and visit dearteacher.com to learn more about helping their children succeed in school.
© Compass Syndicate Corporation, 2025