Homework is an important part of your child’s education. It has many benefits such as reinforcing what your child learns in school, teaching them time management skills, and working independently. Oftentimes, you want to help but may not know how to go about it. This leaves you feeling stressed. We’re here to reassure you that you don’t necessarily have to be able to teach your child. All you’ve got to do is to support your child and create a conducive environment at home. Here are some homework tips for you to help your child study at home!
1. Set a Schedule and Stick to It!
Children need routine so it’s a great idea to schedule when and where they do their homework. This makes them more organised and they will know what to expect out of their day. Also, children are incredibly visual, so it helps to have the schedule printed out and pasted in their room or around the house.
If creating a schedule seems like a chore, don’t worry. Do check out HP’s printables where you can find a wide array of printable materials, including homework and study schedules. These are fun, colourful and customisable to help your children build daily routines so they can independently manage their daily tasks.
Image source: iStock
2. Say No to Distractions
In order to stick to the schedule, ensure that there are no distractions such as the television, video games or mobile phones when your child is studying. Here’s a homework tip – perhaps you could set the mood for studying with some relaxing music or diffusing essential oils.
3. Always Ready!
Other ways that you can offer homework support is by letting your child know that you are within reach if they need assistance, and ensuring you have all the essentials in place. This includes stationery, paper and importantly, a printer with ink!
These days, children are doing more things online and they are often required to print out their homework. It can be really frustrating to run out of printer ink in the eleventh hour! Subscribe to the HP Instant Ink Subscription Plan to ensure that you never have inkmergencies at home! Starting from just $1.90 a month, the HP Instant Ink subscription plan can help you to save up to 50% on printer ink costs. Whenever your printer is running low on ink, a replacement cartridge will automatically be sent to you. It’s that simple!
4. A Little Hand Holding Goes a Long Way
Sometimes getting started on the task is the hardest part of all. A great way to help your child study at home would be to sit with him or her and help a little. Maybe a question or two, then gradually release the responsibility. Remember, don’t do their homework for them, and don’t do all the work together. It’s important that you give your child the space to work independently as that is an important aspect of homework in the first place!
5. One Step at a Time
If we as adults find a long to-do list daunting, can you imagine what it’s like for children? Look at what they need to do and break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Give them a short break in between and you will find that they are much more productive! This is a great way to help your child study at home!
6. Praise for the Win
You know that feeling when someone tells you you’re doing great as a parent? Or when your boss compliments your latest report? Children are no different! In fact, they thrive on praise far more than we adults do. Praise gives them assurance and positive reinforcement. Go ahead and praise your child for a job well done and build their confidence in doing so. Just remember not to go overboard with it!
Image source: iStock
7. Learn from Mistakes
It’s not the end of the world if your child makes mistakes every now and then. Don’t we all? Yelling or making your child feel lousy is damaging and will make them resent homework. Just remind them not to be impulsive in answering and to check their work thoroughly. Eventually, they will learn from mistakes and as the time honoured saying goes, practice makes perfect.
8. Yay to Incentives
Children love incentives. It’s one of the best ways to help your child study at home. Work out a plan with your child, provide several options and let them have a say in what incentives they want. A little TV or game time, outdoor play, or even other enjoyable activities like colouring or word search that many children find extremely therapeutic. Again, you don’t have to think too hard about where to find such activities. HP Printables has a treasure trove of these!
So you see, Mums and Dads, it’s not difficult to help your child study at home. Children have their moods, and they might just not be up to the task on some days. With a little bit of perseverance and creativity on your part, and with our homework tips, your child’s homework will be done in no time!
Also, remember to always have printer ink readily available for when they need to print assignments, or even for you to print schedules, motivational quotes and other fun activities for your child. The last thing you want is a frenzy to print out an assignment that’s due the next day. To ensure printer ink is always ready, don’t forget to get your HP Instant Ink Subscription plan. HP Instant Ink cartridges hold more ink and use less packaging, the cost is reduced, and the savings are passed on to you! You can save up to 50% by subscribing to the HP Instant Ink subscription plan. Furthermore, unused pages roll over and you can add extra pages to your plan. There is total flexibility with HP Instant Ink subscription plans and you can change your plan or cancel anytime you wish!
For a start, you can sign up for a trial period in which you enjoy 3 months of HP Instant Ink completely free of charge. You can find out all about the plans here.
If the idea of a printer ink subscription plan sounds new to you, perhaps you’d like to know more about other parents’ experiences with HP Instant Ink. Check out their reviews here!
We hope that you find these homework tips useful. Remember, homework is an essential part of your child’s education, and they will benefit from consistently getting it done!