“There is no possible way a student can learn everything mentioned in a class without reinforcement” - Lev Levine
There is a reason why teachers insist on giving homework. Yet both parents and children tend to see homework as having more disadvantages than advantages. For one oftentimes homework ends up being just as much work for the parents as it is for the children. While we can argue that parents often help children with their homework during primary school, the workload of high school children is far too much for parents to assist their children with. Homework, however, still remains a compulsory part of schooling in SA to date.
So how can you become more efficient in doing homework?
Let's My Homework: The Art of Getting it Done
Do you enjoy sitting and attempting homework after a long tiring day of school?
When your school day comes to a close the thought of having to calculate more maths sums, write an English essay or find an ancient artefact for a social science project can seem overwhelming. Let’s face it just the thought of having work that you bring home can seem like you are being thrown into the deep end when you don’t even want to swim.
Home is not seen as a place of learning like school is. This is what makes tackling homework tasks much tougher. So a way to set the tone and create a space conducive to learning is to set up a small working space in the corner of your room so you can settle in and get your homework done within the time that you have stipulated for yourself. The reason why we suggest stipulating a time specifically for homework is so that you can get homework done and still have free time after. Spending all night doing homework may cause you to feel lethargic at school the next day. You need to free up some time during your evening to relax.
With so many extracurricular activities available within an arm’s reach, you most probably need to schedule your homework around your ballet, karate, and music lesson times. You also need to free up some time for supper with the family. When creating a home environment conducive to learning, you want to do homework in the least stressful conditions possible. Therefore schedule homework times for the week. Allocate some time daily for the completion of projects and to do some test preparation so that you are not rushing to complete a project the night before it is due or cramming in work the hours before an exam.
Planning your homework could save you time and allow you to see homework in a less negative light.
Here are some benefits of getting your homework done.
Homework Time
Shhhhh!
Homework time is in progress.
You cannot deny that homework does take time and if you do geography at 4 pm, history at 7 pm, and mathematics at 9 pm, you would feel far more tired and annoyed. This is why we advocate planning your homework so that you can get all homework tasks done quickly and efficiently. Planning means knowing what needs to be done before you do it. When you sit down to tackle your homework you know exactly what you need to do and how to finish within the designated time. Timing is everything, especially in terms of making a busy week seem less overwhelming.
In primary school, we suggest you use your homework diary which you take to school daily to note the homework that you have when drawing up your homework time plan. In secondary school, the homework diary becomes a thing of the past. It is recommended that you have a wall calendar with your daily, weekly, and monthly homework listed. You may want to use an A4 sheet of paper and draw squares so that each square can represent a day of the month.
Knowing how much time you have for homework daily and having a clear picture of the homework tasks due will allow you to prioritise your learning. When you prioritise your homework tasks, you spend far less time rushing through them the night before they are due. Look at your homework roster the minute you come home from school or from your extracurricular activities. Once homework is done and dusted for the evening you can spend extra seconds on everything else.
Using your time wisely is key! Many learners use free periods at school to help either homework plan or complete homework for the day. If mathematics is completed before school ends, then surely only history and life skills remain. Time is of the essence, with homework too!
Work More Effectively with a Homework Tutor
Yes, a comfortable and neat desk that you can sit at to do homework does provide some motivation to get the tasks done but what if you lack the focus or internal motivation to get it done? Have you set time aside for homework but can never stick to the time allocations due to procrastinating more than doing? Rope in a tutor to help you.
So how can the right tutor help you get your homework done more quickly?
A homework tutor by your side will ensure that you are fully concentrated on the task at hand- completing your homework with understanding. Without being under the watchful eyes of a tutor, you may also consider doing homework on your bed. This spells a recipe for homework disaster. You may not be able to create an environment conducive to doing homework on your own so your tutor will step in and take the organisational tasks into his or her own hands. Aside from organisational skills, a tutor may assist you by making the completion of homework feel like a lot more fun.
You might not have thought about hiring a homework tutor to assist you with homework but perhaps it’s something you should think about.
Do you struggle to sit down and do homework without being distracted? Are you ending up taking far too long on homework and is homework weighing you down?
Well, an alarm clock can be something that gets you to do homework within a designated time or you could gain a tutor whose tutorial time is limited so you know that homework time is restricted to your tutor's tutorial time.
If there is no homework on a particular day, your tutor can provide enrichment work that will assist you during exam time. Aside from enrichment, imagine going to school every day with your homework completed and it being almost flawless. When you do homework individually, a lot of factors could cause you to make silly errors. When you rush through your homework, for instance, the errors are unavoidable. With the assistance of a tutor, you can ensure all your errors are corrected.
From the encouragement that a tutor will provide to tackle the homework challenges, you are bound to have a good homework experience if you do it with a helping hand. Parents who cannot possibly assist their own children with homework due to coming home late from work or other commitments often seek the guidance of professional tutors who guide the homework process.
Using Apps to Make Homework Fun
While not all South African schools can harness the use of applications at school that allow parents and kids to stay abreast of learner's progress, tutors can utilise fun applications such as Classdojo so that your parents also stay in the loop with regards to homework and understanding of work. In this way, you can use your smartphone for the right purpose. You will be using it to track your progress as well. With this application, you can enter your homework tutor's class with the assistance of a QR code or with Google. Your tutor can get you to further understand homework content by sharing videos with you.
Is Homework Necessary?
"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." - Pele
You should know a concept that was taught in class so well that homework will serve to be the mere practice of a concept well learnt. Homework simply serves as the necessary reinforcement of the concepts learnt and the work covered in class. However, you won't see the necessity of homework immediately. Homework and the need for teachers to give homework only becomes apparent when you get your test marks back. A learner who has consistently done homework will produce far better results than one who has never completed homework.
Reward Yourself for Doing Your Homework
Since you know that homework is important, you need to ensure that you keep doing your homework. The best way to get your homework done is to know that there’s something fun waiting for you to do once you’ve finished. Simply knowing that you can play Play Station games or watch a movie with your family once you have completed your homework will encourage you to work more quickly and effectively. Just make sure to reap the rewards of doing homework after all your homework has been completed.
Use Music as a Boost
This tip might not be effective for everyone, but studies have shown that listening to music can improve concentration. A song with catchy lyrics that forces you to sing along won't help you concentrate, but instrumental music can help you be more productive while doing homework. If you need music to help you get your homework done, play soothing sounds in the background.
Remember, the more on top of things you stay, the less you need to resort to shortcuts and easy fixes to help get your homework done.
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
