A good homework routine – Stage 1: What are the goals?
This is one of the biggest misconceptions I have come across throughout my career as a child life coach. Because the goals are not properly set, it becomes difficult even for parents with good parenting skills to determine where their assistance should start and where they should stop. Here are the goals that should guide every homework routine.
1. The goal is not to get the homework right: the teacher needs to know what they might be struggling with
2. The goal is not to learn: that happened or will happen in school.
3. The goal is not to avoid them feeling bad about themselves for not having them right
4. The goal with this homework approach is to create independent learners that can work by themselves and have confidence in their learning abilities.
In order to achieve this we have to devolve responsibility over the homework to the children. We have to support them and encourage them and be very clear where our responsibility finishes and theirs start. This is a crucial good parenting skills that every adult with the intention of having children should aim to have.
When these goals are met, children will learn to learn by themselves, to review their answers, to ask themselves questions, to look for answers in different sources. They will also develop routines and habits that will stay with them for life.
This approach to homework is about giving our children the resources and support. As a child life coach, this is the homework routine that I promote.