Homework refers to the tasks assigned by teachers to be completed by students at home. While the intention behind assigning homework is to benefit students, a survey has shown that it can have unintended negative consequences.
A survey conducted by MetLife revealed said that homework gives them additional stress, while parents feel that homework is not meaningful or effective in helping their children learn.
The question now is how to make homework interesting and enjoyable for children.
Here are some ways in which homework can be fun and productive.
1. Set Goals: Setting goals can be beneficial. When a goal is set, the work becomes interesting as we are engaged in achieving our goal. The homework won’t feel like a tedious job, and it will become interesting.
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2. Create a Comfortable Workspace: Doing homework requires a distraction-free environment. To create an optimal study environment for your child, it is important to stock up on a desk that has all the necessary supplies and resources.
And, when creating a comfortable workspace for your child, make sure it is a quiet area with minimal distractions, as well as well-lit, as this will reduce eye strain and make it easier for your child to read and write. Working in a comfortable environment allows children to focus and complete tasks quickly.
3. Break Tasks into Smaller Chunks: When a lot of work needs to be done, the product seems very difficult to be achieved, and thus the work becomes boring. You may break it into four sets of thirty-minute tasks for a two-hour homework.
So, breaking it into smaller chunks and using the time efficiently will help to finish the work constructively.
4. Use Creative Techniques: Discover innovative methods for completing homework in a fun and engaging manner. For example, make a song to remember what is being taught, use mind mapping to complete the work quickly, or draw graphs and family trees to make the concepts fun, interesting, and easy to remember.
Parents and teachers should think outside the box to make the tasks more interesting.
5. Gamify the Task: Wherever it is possible, try to turn homework into a game. For instance, you can say, let’s see how many math problems you can solve in 10 minutes! The quicker you finish the assignment, the earlier you can do whatever you want.
Doing the homework in a game can help children become more efficient while improving study strategies and making homework more enjoyable.
6. Take Breaks: It appears impossible to complete much work in one go. So, schedule short breaks between homework sessions to keep your child’s mind sharp and focused.
It will also keep exhaustion and boredom at bay. This will make the task less tedious and allow the children to complete it without feeling stressed.
7. Rewards: Rewards are one of the best ways to motivate anyone. It can be as simple as allowing your child to watch their favorite TV program, play a sport, eat ice cream or anything they relish, or spend time with their friends after completing homework.
This will give them something to look forward to and motivate them to complete a task. Although self-rewarding is an excellent technique, teachers and parents can also implement a reward system, which will give children a sense of achievement.
8. Challenging Projects: While designing homework, teachers should try to make them challenging, as children will be elated after completing the challenge.
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9. Research-Based Tasks: The most common issue that children face is that their homework does not differ from their classwork. So, if the homework is research-based, students will not only enjoy finding information for their research, but it will also broaden their knowledge base.
10. Offer Help: One reason homework scares children is that they are afraid of making mistakes because homework is supposed to be done independently. As a result, parents should ensure that they assist their children and discuss ways to complete their homework. This help will make the task more interesting and enjoyable.
Remember that staying engaged with your homework comes down to figuring out what works best for you. Experiment with various techniques until you find what keeps you motivated and focused.
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