Should Kids Get Summer Homework?
Summers are a time when busy school and college students get to relax and unwind. The first few days of vacations are spent getting up late and making plans for road trips and summer camps. But after a few weeks in, the warm summer season starts to lose its charm as kids remember the piles of homework they've been assigned.
Seeking homework help, whether it's from their friends, parents, or professional services, becomes widespread. A simple logic behind giving homework is that children tend to forget important concepts taught during the academic session when they are away from school for a prolonged time.
On a close examination, it becomes clear that homework is a medium through which kids get to revise everything they are taught independently or with a little bit of help. Summer vacations, characterized by a lot of unstructured time, can be easily spent by children in leisure activities. Homework can indeed avoid the brain drain that can happen when children are doing everything but studying.
That being said, if you want to prevent kids from slogging through piles of reports and assignments, feeling burned out and stressed at a time they should be playing under the sun, you need to become creative with it. Provide them with tasks that they enjoy while stimulating their thinking and problem-solving abilities. When children reach out for homework assignment help, they should not be doing so under extreme pressure. Instead, they should be enthusiastic about getting to know something that will boost their learning.
What do the studies say about homework?
Studies have already shown that there is little correlation between homework and test scores or long-term achievement in elementary and middle school. In such a case, there is no reason to load young minds with excessive work. What children need is a mix of work and vacation time. It should be such that it enhances the kid's social, emotional, and communication skills.
In simple words, homework should not feel like homework to them.
For example, to make a child learn the theoretical concepts of math and science, they should be instructed to visit a planetarium or a science museum and write about everything that they observed there. Such kind of homework is a great way to let children connect with the discipline much closely. For subjects like English and social sciences, instead of giving them thick novels to read, ask them to watch a historical movie and write down its summary. A majority of kids are visual learners and prefer watching movies on computers and smartphones. Why not leverage it to your advantage for developing their learning and knowledge?
The ultimate aim of any educational institution is to enable children to start the new academic session with a refreshed mind and spirit. They should be ready to absorb and assimilate the new information. It can never happen by burdening them with monotonous tasks. Give them activities that engage them both physically and mentally. They will grow up with a great memory of summer vacations etched in their minds.