Recent studies have shown that British parents spend less time helping their children with homework more than other countries.
The 3.6 hours per week average in Britain compares to almost 8 hours in Russia, 12 in India and 10 in Vietnam. The only countries ranked lower than the UK were Finland and Japan with 3.1 and 2.6 hours.
But is helping children with homework really the key to success?
You can help your children learn more, study more effectively and engage with course materials in various ways and methods that can help your children succeed at school.
1) Quality time rather quantity
To some extent the hours you spend helping children is not a reflection of how much you have actually helped them. Finnish parents help their children with school work for only 3.1 hours a week and yet have very high academic results.
Rather than focusing purely on the hours you put in with your child focus on how you can get the most out of them by making learning engaging and interesting for them.
2. Assist rather than answer for them
Remember that teachers will only assign students work that they know children can do on their own.
Many parents will try to find answers to the questions for their children and aim to complete the tasks by giving them the answers, this is not productive and will stop children from improving their own problem solving and research skills.
By providing the answers for your child can also send a message to them that you do no think they are up to the challenge which can ultimately lower their confidence levels and decrease motivation levels.
Instead of giving your child the answer, ask them questions to help lead them to the answer
It is important that you guide your child in the right direction without giving away the answer. By doing this children will learn more, learn to figure things out for themselves and ultimately gain a greater sense of accomplishment.
3. Beneficial learning over results
The main reason children go to school isn't to get good grades or win top of the class but to learn.
Make sure you remind your child the value and privilege of learning and always encourage them to pursue their passions and dreams.
If there are subjects they are not interested in, try to make them relevant, engaging and make sure your child understands the value and worth of learning.
4. Balance is key
Like everything in life, balance is key and that includes a child's downtime.
It is important that children have time to unwind, play and relax and that their free time isn't just dominated by homework and study.
Play is a very important part of learning and for older children having a balanced lifestyle including physical activity, socialising and personal leisure time is key to positive mental health.
Although down time is important making study a key part of the child's routine is a great way to develop healthy homework habits.
5. Long-term engagement over last-minute cramming
The key to learning is not always note taking and mind maps but making sure your child is engaging with materials.
Help your child to be interested in the topics they're learning and think of ways to make them relevant and exciting. By making learning interesting children will be much more likely to engage and retain the information they learn.