do parents support homework

Homework Help for Reluctant Children

• Posted October 15, 2018
• By Heather Miller

It’s hard to fault the child who resists doing homework. After all, she has already put in a long day at school, probably been involved in afterschool activities, and, as the late afternoon spills into evening, now faces a pile of assignments. Parents feel it, too — it’s no one’s favorite time of day.

But despite its bad rap, homework plays an important role in ensuring that students can execute tasks independently. When it’s thoughtfully assigned, homework provides deeper engagement with material introduced in class. And even when it’s “just” worksheets, homework can build the automatic habits and the basic skills required to tackle more interesting endeavors. Finally, homework is a nightly test of grit. Adult life brings its share of tasks that are both compulsory and unenjoyable. Developing the discipline to fulfill our responsibilities, regardless of whether they thrill us, begins in middle childhood.

So how to help the avoidant child embrace the challenge, rather than resist it?

The first step, especially with kids 13 and under, is to have them do their homework at a communal space, like a dining room or kitchen table. If other children are in the home, they can all do their homework at the same table, and the parent can sit nearby to support the work effort. This alleviates some of the loneliness a reluctant child might associate with assignments. The alternative — doing homework at a bedroom desk — can result in the child guiltily avoiding the work for as long as possible. Like all forms of procrastination, this has the effect of making the entire process take much longer than it needs to.  

When parents turn the homework ritual into a series of conversations about what needs to be done, how, and for how long, children feel less “alone” with their nightly work, they relish the company and support of their parent, and they work better and more efficiently.

Many parents are under the impression that they shouldn’t have anything to do with their children's homework. This comes from schools emphasizing that homework is a child's responsibility, not the parents'. While it is absolutely true that parents should not do their children's homework, there is a role for parents — one that's perhaps best described as “homework project manager.” Parents can be monitoring, organizing, motivating, and praising the homework effort as it gets done. And yes, that means sitting with your child to help them stay focused and on task. Your presence sends the message that homework is important business, not to be taken lightly.

Once you’re sitting down with your child, ask him to unload his school bag and talk you through his various assignments. Maybe he has a school planner with all his homework listed, or a printout from school, or perhaps his work is listed on the classroom website. Many children attend an afterschool program where, in theory, they are doing homework. They’ll often claim that they’ve done all their homework, even though they’ve only done some. Together, make a quick and easy “Done/To Do” list. Writing down what she has finished will give her a sense of satisfaction. Identifying what she still needs to do will help her to focus on the remaining assignments. Over time, this practice will help your child build an understanding that large tasks are completed incrementally.

Next, ask your child to put the assignments in the order he’d like to do them. Encourage him to explain his thinking. Doing this helps a child feel in control of the evening’s tasks and prompts him to reflect on his work style. Discuss the first task of the night together. Ask your child to think about the supplies he is likely to need, and ensure they’re at the ready. This “pre-work” work helps a child think through a task, understand it, and prepare to execute it with gusto.

Last but not least, introduce a timer to the evening’s proceedings. Challenge your child to estimate how long the first assignment will take. Then ask, “Do you want me to set the timer for the full amount of time you think you’ll need, or a smaller amount?” Then, set the timer with the understanding that the child must work without interruption until the timer goes off. Even questions are verboten while the timer runs. The goal here is to enable the child to solve problems independently, through concentration. This not only builds concentration powers, it builds creativity, critical thinking, resilience, and resourcefulness. In my experience, the theatricality of being timed helps relax children who would otherwise feel daunted by a mountain of homework.

As each piece of work gets done, parents can add meaningful positive reinforcement. Exclaiming, “Another assignment done! And done well!” helps your child feel like what they are doing matters.

By turning the homework ritual into a series of conversations about what needs to be done, how, and for how long, children feel less “alone” with their nightly work, they relish the company and support of their parent, and they complete the work much more efficiently and at a higher standard than they might otherwise.

Helping the Homework Resisters

• Have children do their work at a communal table. Stay nearby, to alleviate the loneliness that some kids feel — and to prevent procrastination.
• Ask your child to unload her backpack and talk through assignments.
• Help your child make a "Done/To Do" list.
• Ask your child to put the assignments in the order he’d like to do them. Encourage him to explain his thinking — fostering a sense of control.
• Use a timer. Challenge your child to estimate how long an assignment will take, and ask if she wants to set the timer for that full amount of time, or less. 
• Your role: To monitor, organize, motivate, and praise the homework effort as each piece is done. 

Additional Resource

• More about Heather Miller's work to help parents create healthy routines on weeknights

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How important is homework, and how much should parents help?

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A version of this post was  originally published  by Parenting Translator. Sign up for  the newsletter  and follow Parenting Translator  on Instagram .

In recent years, homework has become a very hot topic . Many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework and questioned how effective it is in enhancing students’ learning. There are also concerns that students may be getting too much homework, which ultimately interferes with quality family time and opportunities for physical activity and play . Research suggests that these concerns may be valid. For example, one study reported that elementary school students, on average, are assigned three times  the recommended amount of homework.

So what does the research say? What are the potential risks and benefits of homework, and how much is too much?

Academic benefits

First, research finds that homework is associated with higher scores on academic standardized tests for middle and high school students, but not elementary school students . A recent experimental study in Romania found some benefit for a small amount of writing homework in elementary students but not math homework. Yet, interestingly, this positive impact only occurred when students were given a moderate amount of homework (about 20 minutes on average).

Non-academic benefits

The goal of homework is not simply to improve academic skills. Research finds that homework may have some non-academic benefits, such as building responsibility , time management skills, and task persistence . Homework may also increase parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling. Yet, too much homework may also have some negative impacts on non-academic skills by reducing opportunities for free play , which is essential for the development of language, cognitive, self-regulation and social-emotional skills. Homework may also interfere with physical activity and too much homework is associated with an increased risk for being overweight . As with the research on academic benefits, this research also suggests that homework may be beneficial when it is minimal.

What is the “right” amount of homework?

Research suggests that homework should not exceed 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night for high school students and no more than one hour per night for middle school students. Homework for elementary school students should be minimal and assigned with the aim of building self-regulation and independent work skills. Any more than this and homework may no longer have a positive impact. 

The National Education Association recommends 10 minutes of homework per grade and there is also some experimental evidence that backs this up.

Overall translation

Research finds that homework provides some academic benefit for middle and high school students but is less beneficial for elementary school students. Research suggests that homework should be none or minimal for elementary students, less than one hour per night for middle school students, and less than 1.5 to 2.5 hours for high school students. 

What can parents do?

Research finds that parental help with homework is beneficial but that it matters more how the parent is helping rather than  how often  the parent is helping.

So how should parents help with homework, according to the research? 

• Focus on providing general monitoring, guidance and encouragement, but allow children to generate answers on their own and complete their homework as independently as possible . Specifically, be present while they are completing homework to help them to understand the directions, be available to answer simple questions, or praise and acknowledge their effort and hard work. Research shows that allowing children more autonomy in completing homework may benefit their academic skills.
• Only provide help when your child asks for it and step away whenever possible. Research finds that too much parental involvement or intrusive and controlling involvement with homework is associated with worse academic performance . 
• Help your children to create structure and develop some routines that help your child to independently complete their homework . Have a regular time and place for homework that is free from distractions and has all of the materials they need within arm’s reach. Help your child to create a checklist for homework tasks. Create rules for homework with your child. Help children to develop strategies for increasing their own self-motivation. For example, developing their own reward system or creating a homework schedule with breaks for fun activities. Research finds that providing this type of structure and responsiveness is related to improved academic skills.
• Set specific rules around homework. Research finds an association between parents setting rules around homework and academic performance. 
• Help your child to view homework as an opportunity to learn and improve skills. Parents who view homework as a learning opportunity (that is, a “mastery orientation”) rather than something that they must get “right” or complete successfully to obtain a higher grade (that is, a “performance orientation”) are more likely to have children with the same attitudes. 
• Encourage your child to persist in challenging assignments and emphasize difficult assignments as opportunities to grow . Research finds that this attitude is associated with student success. Research also indicates that more challenging homework is associated with enhanced academic performance.
• Stay calm and positive during homework. Research shows that mothers showing positive emotions while helping with homework may improve children’s motivation in homework.
• Praise your child’s hard work and effort during homework.   This type of praise is likely to increase motivation. In addition, research finds that putting more effort into homework may be associated with enhanced development of conscientiousness in children.
• Communicate with your child and the teacher about any problems your child has with homework and the teacher’s learning goals. Research finds that open communication about homework is associated with increased academic performance.

Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, a mother of three and the founder of  Parenting Translator , a nonprofit newsletter that turns scientific research into information that is accurate, relevant and useful for parents.

Does Parent Involvement Really Help Students? Here’s What the Research Says

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Parental involvement has been a top priority for school leaders for decades, and research shows that it can make a major difference in student outcomes.

But a parents’ rights movement that has captured headlines over the past few years and become a major political force has painted a particular picture of what parents’ involvement in their children’s education looks like.

Policies that have passed in a number of individual school districts, states, and the U.S. House have spelled out parents’ rights to inspect curriculum materials and withdraw their children from lessons they deem objectionable; restricted teaching about race, gender identity, and sexuality; and resulted in the removal of books from school libraries, including many with LGBTQ+ characters and protagonists of color.

The parents’ rights movement has been divisive and attracted the ire of some teachers who feel censored. But it has also opened up the conversation around parent involvement in school, said Vito Borrello, executive director of the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement.

And that’s a good thing, he said.

“The parents’ rights bills in and of themselves, I wouldn’t suggest are entirely focused on best practice family engagement,” said Borrello, whose group works to advance effective family, school, and community engagement policies and practices. “However, what the parents’ rights bills have done is elevated the important role that parents have in their child’s education.”

For decades, research from around the world has shown that parents’ involvement in and engagement with their child’s education—including through parent-teacher conferences, parent-teacher organizations, school events, and at-home discussions about school—can lead to higher student achievement and better social-emotional outcomes.

Here are five takeaways from the research.

1. Studies show more parental involvement leads to improved academic outcomes

When parents are involved in their children’s schooling, students show higher academic achievement, school engagement, and motivation, according to a 2019 American Psychological Association review of 448 independent studies on parent involvement.

A 2005 study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships , for example, showed that school practices encouraging families to support their child’s math learning at home led to higher percentages of students scoring at or above proficiency on standardized math tests.

And research shows that parent involvement with reading activities has a positive impact on reading achievement, language comprehension, and expressive language skills, as well as students’ interest in reading, attitudes toward reading, and level of attention in the classroom, according to a research summary by the National Literacy Trust.

“When parents become involved at school by, for example, attending events such as open houses or volunteering in the classroom, they build social networks that can provide useful information, connections to school personnel (e.g., teachers), or strategies for enhancing children’s achievement,” the APA research review said. “In turn, parents with heightened social capital are better equipped to support their children in succeeding in school as they are able to call on resources (e.g., asking a teacher to spend extra time helping their children) and utilize information they have gathered (e.g., knowing when and how their children should complete their homework).”

2. Parent involvement changes social-emotional outcomes, too

The APA study showed that not only does parental involvement lead to improved academic outcomes, but it also has a positive impact on students’ social and emotional skills and decreases instances of delinquency.

That finding also applies internationally.

A 2014 International Education Studies report on parental involvement among 9th and 10th graders in Jordan showed that parental involvement had a positive impact on students’ emotional engagement in school. That means students with more involved parents are more likely to have fun, enjoy school, have high self-esteem, and perceive school as a satisfying experience.

And when parents visit their children’s school, that contributes to a sense of safety among the students, ultimately improving school engagement, the study said. Although conducted in Jordan, the study provides insight into how parental involvement affects students’ social-emotional development in other countries, including the United States.

Parent involvement also gives teachers the tools to better support their students, Borrello said.

“When teachers understand what their students are going through personally and at home and any challenges they may have, then that improves their teaching,” he said. “They’re able to support their student in ways they wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”

3. Not all parental involvement is created equal

Different levels and types of parent involvement led to varying outcomes for students, according to the American Psychological Association study.

For example, school-based involvement, such as participation in parent-teacher conferences, open houses, and other school events, had a positive impact on academics in preschool, middle school, and high school, but the size of the impact was much lower in high school than in preschool. That may be because parents have fewer opportunities to be involved in the high school environment than in younger students’ classrooms where parents might volunteer.

At-home discussions and encouragement surrounding school also have a positive impact on students’ academic achievement at all developmental stages, with that type of parent involvement being most effective for high schoolers, according to the study. Reading with children and taking them to the library have a positive impact as well.

But one common form of parental involvement, helping kids with their homework, was shown to have little impact on students’ academic achievement.

In fact, homework help had a small negative impact on student achievement, but positive impacts on student motivation and engagement in school, according to the APA study.

The research shows the value of encouraging parents to be involved in their student’s learning at home, and not just attending school events, Borrello said.

“In the past, schools either had an event that wasn’t connected to learning or only measured the engagement of a family based on how often they came to the school,” he said. “What families are doing to create an environment of learning and supporting learning at home, is probably even more important than how many times they’re coming to school.”

4. Results of parent involvement don’t discriminate based on race or socioeconomics

Research has shown a consensus that family and parent involvement in schools leads to better outcomes regardless of a family’s ethnic background or socioeconomic status.

Parent involvement has led to higher academic outcomes both for children from low and higher socioeconomic status families.

When comparing the impact of parent involvement on students of different races and ethnicities, the APA found that school-based involvement had a positive impact on academics among Black, Asian, white, and Hispanic children, with a stronger impact on Black and white families than families from other demographics. The finding also extended internationally, with similar effects on children outside of the United States.

5. Schools can encourage parent involvement in person and at home

Parent involvement doesn’t have to end with parent-teacher conferences. There are many ways for schools to encourage parents to be more involved both in school and at home, Borrello said.

The best way to start, he said, is by creating a school culture that is welcoming to families.

“That starts with the principal, and that starts with school leadership that is welcoming to families, from how they’re engaging parents in the classroom to what policies they have in schools to welcome families,” Borrello said.

Parent gathering spaces or rooms in school buildings, scheduled parent engagement meetings and office hours, and at-school events held outside of the school day are all good places to start, Borrello said. From there, schools can work to include parents in more decision-making, give parents resources to support learning at home, and equip teachers with the tools to engage and connect with parents.

“If the school is not welcoming and families don’t feel welcome at the school, then you’re not going to get them to come to school no matter what you do,” Borrello said. “Then it’s really thinking about who you’re creating those relationships with families so that they can be heard.”

Coverage of strategies for advancing the opportunities for students most in need, including those from low-income families and communities, is supported by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, at www.waltonk12.org . Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage. A version of this article appeared in the August 16, 2023 edition of Education Week as Does Parent Involvement Really Help Students? 5 Key Takeaways Based on The Research

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How Parents Can Offer Homework Help

Homework can be daunting in any household, but there are many places to turn for help.

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Parents should create a routine in which they ask their children daily about the homework assignments they have, when they plan to do their homework, and what help they might need.

Getting kids to do their homework can be a battle of wills, and many parents can attest to the frustrations that come with helping children complete assignments. But education experts say there is plenty of homework help available for both parents and students.

While some educators and researchers have questioned the value of homework and its ability to improve academic outcomes, it is still a part of life in most schools, and experts say it helps teach children executive function skills, such as planning and completing assigned tasks.

“Homework should be about practicing content,” says Audrey Dolginoff, a special education teacher based in Washington, D.C., who has taught middle school students at both public and private schools.

“But it’s also about structuring your time to plan for the next day, making sure you have all your materials and ensuring you are looking ahead in the calendar as you get older in school,” she says. “All of these skills tie into being a functioning member of society later on.”

Whatever the subject, education experts say there is much parents can do to help their children with homework, whether it’s directly or by providing resources.

The Right Environment for Homework

Making homework a smoother experience starts by providing a dedicated space for children to focus on their studies. Create a clean space that is relatively free of distractions – including TVs, phones and other devices – and provides ready access to the materials and technology needed to complete homework.

That might include a computer, a comfortable chair, a calculator, a stapler, paper, pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, markers and anything else that facilitates schoolwork.

“Giving them a special, well-equipped study space is a good foundation for quality accomplishments,” says Cindy McKinley Alder, a veteran elementary school teacher in Michigan and co-author of the book “10 Quick Homework Tips.”

Education experts recommend that children with homework in multiple subjects use a calendar or planner. This tool can be a physical book or binder or a digital app such as MyHomework , My Study Life or Trello .

Parents can help children plan their homework assignments, Dolginoff says, which is a great way of “showing interest before there’s a problem.” She says parents should create a routine in which they ask their children daily about the homework assignments they have, when they plan to do their homework, and what help they might need.

Getting Homework Help at School

Educators say teachers are the first people struggling students and their parents should go to for help. Teachers often have office hours or dedicated time during the school day for students to drop by to ask questions.

“Sometimes just asking a teacher how they can improve can be so helpful because the instructor can point out weaknesses they’ve noticed,” says Laurie Kopp Weingarten, a certified educational planner and independent educational consultant in New Jersey. Teachers may be able to point students to study materials they should be using, such as class notes or other resources, Weingarten says.

Some schools may also have homework clubs or students who provide free tutoring in certain subjects.

How to Hire a Tutor

When parents feel they are out of their depth on a subject or just realize their child may need some more specialized instruction, outside tutoring services may be the answer.

Before hiring a tutor, a parent should check in with teachers to find out “how the parent can best support the child at school or what interventions can be put in place in the classroom to help the child access the content,” Dolginoff says.

Brian Galvin, chief academic officer at Varsity Tutors , says parents should hire a tutor if their child has “hit a roadblock or slowed their advancement.”

“Learning can look a lot like a Jenga tower, where a student can feel completely overwhelmed and unmoored in a higher-grade topic like algebra, and the entire cause is a missing building block or two a few levels down in something like understanding factors and divisibility,” he says.

Galvin says a tutor can help a student relearn those missing blocks, in addition to working on the current curriculum.

There are several national tutoring chains that offer in-person and virtual tutoring, including Sylvan , Mathnasium and Kumon . But parents may also benefit from exploring locally based tutoring services or finding local teachers who work as tutors.

Online Resources for Homework Help

There are a plethora of online resources purporting to help kids with their homework and practice skills they are learning in school, and many are free or offer low subscription rates. But determining which apps will be most helpful can be daunting.

Common Sense , a nonprofit that independently reviews online media and content for children, has information on educational apps that can help parents determine what kinds of online homework might be the most beneficial. Teachers are often a good source to ask about what online sites or apps might be most helpful for the curriculum they are teaching.

For parents who want to do some research, here are several sites and apps recommended by educators:

• Math is Fun has tutorials and practice questions for math, including basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry and even physics.
• Summerbell helps children with reading difficulties access books and reading in new ways.
• Khan Academy is a nonprofit site that offers practice exercises, instructional videos and a dashboard for students studying multiple subjects.
• Learning Ally provides audiobooks for students who have learning differences or difficulty reading.
• IXL is a personalized learning site used by both parents and schools, with a K-12 curriculum and real-time analytics.

Parents should be careful that online services they hire are not offering to write student papers or provide answers to the questions in textbooks.

“Unfortunately, many of those who claim to provide tutoring services actually sell cheating,” says Derek Newton, author of a newsletter on academic integrity and cheating called The Cheat Sheet. “To avoid cheating traps and get actual tutoring help, start by asking the school or teachers for a recommendation.”

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Hey, Parents of K–5 Kids: Hands Off the Homework!

If they don’t ask for help, you don’t need to offer..

The beginning of a new school year can be stressful for kids and parents alike. But one thing parents of elementary-school kids shouldn’t have to stress over is supervising homework daily, because we now have evidence that such supervision actually may not have a positive impact on children’s academic achievement.

While there is an ongoing debate among educators whether homework is generally beneficial in elementary school, in my view, it depends on the nature of the work assigned. Developmentally appropriate homework on relevant material that can be done by the child independently (without need of adult supervision) is, I think, contributing to formation of habits that will serve the child well as they move through their education journey. The “10 minutes per grade” rule seems like a reasonable practice (so that a second grader, for example, might be asked to read for 20 minutes a day).

That question of “adult supervision” is where my new research comes in. We know parental help with homework has been long hailed by educators and policymakers as an effective mechanism to help children succeed, but having studied parenting practices as a sociologist of education and childhood for over two decades, I questioned whether data actually supported this widely held claim. As it turns out, my recent research, conducted at Penn State, suggests that parents could be wasting their time.

My study, using two nationally representative datasets that each tracked about 20,000 kids from kindergarten through fifth grade, showed no benefits of parental help with homework. In other words, we found no statistically significant association between parental help with homework, as measured by level of intensity (from everyday help, to less than once a week) and self-reported during parent interviews at each wave of data collection, and subsequent math and reading achievement. While my research cannot prove the mechanisms by which potential benefits of parental help with homework for this age group are outweighed, my team and I suggested three possible explanations: cognitive loss, adverse effects on home emotional climate, and deferred responsibility.

Under pressure to get homework completed, parents might think they’re helping their kids by offering the correct answers. Research by others, however, suggests that this practice deprives students of the main purpose of homework—to sharpen problem-solving and other skills. This parental intervention may also mask a child’s skills or knowledge gap that would have otherwise been discovered by a teacher.

The daily involvement of parents with a child’s homework has also been associated with a negative effect on the emotional climate of the family. Parents can be more critical than teachers, or they may apply too much pressure, or create an overall stressful situation by being too controlling and intrusive. That kind of parental behavior has been linked in other research to lower academic achievement, whereas supportive involvement has a positive effect.

Parents constantly checking a child’s homework for completion and accuracy may also send a message to the child that the responsibility of finishing homework falls on their parents, and not themselves. Developing a sense of responsibility for completing a task is an important behavior that a child can cultivate through homework.

I’m not suggesting that parents shouldn’t be involved at all in their children’s homework. Parents can enhance their children’s learning experience at home by providing a living space conducive to learning (a quiet atmosphere, free from distractions), and conveying a clear message about the importance of education—this is what other researchers have labeled “ stage setting ”. And it’s important for the child to know that if they really struggle, there is an adult who can help. But the help shouldn’t be provided automatically or imposed.

Parents can also redirect the time they would have spent fighting with kids over homework into more beneficial activities that boost kids’ emotional development, which has been shown to positively impact their future academic success, such as calm and positive conversations about school and their friends, what they enjoy in classes, and their academic goals. When parents develop warm, close relationships with their children, conveying the importance of doing well in school becomes a natural part of conversation, without being perceived as putting pressure on the child or “lecturing.”

Parental support is crucially important for children’s developing sense of self, as well as building their confidence to achieve various goals. Equally effective is encouraging your child to put forward their best effort, as opposed to achieving a certain defined outcome, such as being a straight A student.

Parents are misplacing their energy when they help their kids with homework. My research, which controls for the variety of family and parental characteristics, including income and education level of the parent, family structure and the child’s achievement, challenges widely accepted guidance , including some from the U.S. Department of Education, that promotes homework as “an opportunity for families to be involved in their children’s education.” I think it may, instead, be causing unnecessary stress to kids and parents alike.

As your elementary-aged children bring their homework home with them this fall, resist the temptation to get too involved. Allow them space to struggle and work through problems on their own, even if that means they won’t always come to the correct conclusions. Taking a small hit on an insignificant assignment now may set your child up for even greater success in the future.

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Top 10 Homework Tips

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Kids are more successful in school when parents take an active interest in their homework — it shows kids that what they do is important.

Of course, helping with homework shouldn't mean spending hours hunched over a desk. Parents can be supportive by demonstrating study and organization skills, explaining a tricky problem, or just encouraging kids to take a break. And who knows? Parents might even learn a thing or two!

Here are some tips to guide the way:

• Know the teachers — and what they're looking for. Attend school events, such as parent-teacher conferences, to meet your child's teachers. Ask about their homework policies and how you should be involved.
• Set up a homework-friendly area. Make sure kids have a well-lit place to complete homework. Keep supplies — paper, pencils, glue, scissors — within reach.
• Schedule a regular study time. Some kids work best in the afternoon, following a snack and play period; others may prefer to wait until after dinner.
• Help them make a plan. On heavy homework nights or when there's an especially hefty assignment to tackle, encourage your child break up the work into manageable chunks. Create a work schedule for the night if necessary — and take time for a 15-minute break every hour, if possible.
• Keep distractions to a minimum. This means no TV, loud music, or phone calls. (Occasionally, though, a phone call to a classmate about an assignment can be helpful.)
• Make sure kids do their own work. They won't learn if they don't think for themselves and make their own mistakes. Parents can make suggestions and help with directions. But it's a kid's job to do the learning.
• Be a motivator and monitor. Ask about assignments, quizzes, and tests. Give encouragement, check completed homework, and make yourself available for questions and concerns.
• Set a good example. Do your kids ever see you diligently balancing your budget or reading a book? Kids are more likely to follow their parents' examples than their advice.
• Praise their work and efforts. Post an aced test or art project on the refrigerator. Mention academic achievements to relatives.
• If there are continuing problems with homework, get help. Talk about it with your child's teacher. Some kids have trouble seeing the board and may need glasses; others might need an evaluation for a learning problem or attention disorder.

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The Value of Parents Helping with Homework

Dr. selena kiser.

• September 2, 2020

The importance of parents helping with homework is invaluable. Helping with homework is an important responsibility as a parent and directly supports the learning process. Parents’ experience and expertise is priceless. One of the best predictors of success in school is learning at home and being involved in children’s education. Parental involvement with homework helps develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom. Parents helping students with homework has a multitude of benefits including spending individual time with children, enlightening strengths and weaknesses, making learning more meaningful, and having higher aspirations.

How Parental Involvement with Homework Impacts Students

Parental involvement with homework impacts students in a positive way. One of the most important reasons for parental involvement is that it helps alleviate stress and anxiety if the students are facing challenges with specific skills or topics. Parents have experience and expertise with a variety of subject matter and life experiences to help increase relevance. Parents help their children understand content and make it more meaningful, while also helping them understand things more clearly.

Also, their involvement increases skill and subject retention. Parents get into more depth about content and allow students to take skills to a greater level. Many children will always remember the times spent together working on homework or classroom projects. Parental involvement with homework and engagement in their child’s education are related to higher academic performance, better social skills and behavior, and increased self-confidence.

Parents helping with homework allows more time to expand upon subjects or skills since learning can be accelerated in the classroom. This is especially true in today’s classrooms. The curricula in many classrooms is enhanced and requires teaching a lot of content in a small amount of time. Homework is when parents and children can spend extra time on skills and subject matter. Parents provide relatable reasons for learning skills, and children retain information in greater depth.

Parental involvement increases creativity and induces critical-thinking skills in children. This creates a positive learning environment at home and transfers into the classroom setting. Parents have perspective on their children, and this allows them to support their weaknesses while expanding upon their strengths. The time together enlightens parents as to exactly what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are.

Virtual learning is now utilized nationwide, and parents are directly involved with their child’s schoolwork and homework. Their involvement is more vital now than ever. Fostering a positive homework environment is critical in virtual learning and assists children with technological and academic material.

Strategies for Including Parents in Homework

An essential strategy for including parents in homework is sharing a responsibility to help children meet educational goals. Parents’ commitment to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and participating in homework supports a larger objective. Teachers and parents are specific about the goals and work directly with the child with classwork and homework. Teachers and parents collaboratively working together on children’s goals have larger and more long-lasting success. This also allows parents to be strategic with homework assistance.

A few other great examples of how to involve parents in homework are conducting experiments, assignments, or project-based learning activities that parents play an active role in. Interviewing parents is a fantastic way to be directly involved in homework and allows the project to be enjoyable. Parents are honored to be interviewed, and these activities create a bond between parents and children. Students will remember these assignments for the rest of their lives.

Project-based learning activities examples are family tree projects, leaf collections, research papers, and a myriad of other hands-on learning assignments. Children love working with their parents on these assignments as they are enjoyable and fun. This type of learning and engagement also fosters other interests. Conducting research is another way parents directly impact their child’s homework. This can be a subject the child is interested in or something they are unfamiliar with. Children and parents look forward to these types of homework activities.

Parents helping students with homework has a multitude of benefits. Parental involvement and engagement have lifelong benefits and creates a pathway for success. Parents provide autonomy and support, while modeling successful homework study habits.

• #homework , #ParentalInvolvement

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How to help your kids with homework (without doing it for them)

Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Monash University

Lecturer, Monash University

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Parents are a child’s first and most important teachers . Parent involvement in their child’s learning can help improve how well they do in school. However, when it comes to helping kids with homework, it’s not so simple.

While it’s important to show support and model learning behaviour, there is a limit to how much help you can give without robbing your child of the opportunity to learn for themselves.

Be involved and interested

An analysis of more than 400 research studies found parent involvement, both at school and at home, could improve students’ academic achievement, engagement and motivation.

School involvement includes parents participating in events such as parent-teacher conferences and volunteering in the classroom. Home involvement includes parents talking with children about school, providing encouragement, creating stimulating environments for learning and finally – helping them with homework.

Read more: What to do at home so your kids do well at school

The paper found overall, it was consistently beneficial for parents to be involved in their child’s education, regardless of the child’s age or socioeconomic status. However, this same analysis also suggested parents should be cautious with how they approach helping with homework.

Parents helping kids with homework was linked to higher levels of motivation and engagement, but lower levels of academic achievement. This suggests too much help may take away from the child’s responsibility for their own learning.

Help them take responsibility

Most children don’t like homework. Many parents agonise over helping their children with homework. Not surprisingly, this creates a negative emotional atmosphere that often results in questioning the value of homework.

Homework has often been linked to student achievement, promoting the idea children who complete it will do better in school. The most comprehensive analysis on homework and achievement to date suggests it can influence academic achievement (like test scores), particularly for children in years seven to 12.

But more research is needed to find out about how much homework is appropriate for particular ages and what types are best to maximise home learning.

Read more: Too much help with homework can hinder your child's learning progress

When it comes to parent involvement, research suggests parents should help their child see their homework as an opportunity to learn rather than perform. For example, if a child needs to create a poster, it is more valuable the child notes the skills they develop while creating the poster rather than making the best looking poster in the class.

Instead of ensuring their child completes their homework, it’s more effective for parents to support their child to increase confidence in completing homework tasks on their own.

Here are four ways they can do this.

1. Praise and encourage your child

Your positivity will make a difference to your child’s approach to homework and learning in general. Simply, your presence and support creates a positive learning environment.

Our study involved working with recently arrived Afghani mothers who were uncertain how to help their children with school. This was because they said they could not understand the Australian education system or speak or write in English.

However, they committed to sit next to their children as they completed their homework tasks in English, asking them questions and encouraging them to discuss what they were learning in their first language.

In this way, the parents still played a role in supporting their child even without understanding the content and the children were actively engaged in their learning.

2. Model learning behaviour

Many teachers model what they would like their students to do. So, if a child has a problem they can’t work out, you can sit down and model how you would do it, then complete the next one together and then have the child do it on their own.

3. Create a homework plan

When your child becomes overly frustrated with their homework, do not force them. Instead, together create a plan to best tackle it:

read and understand the homework task

break the homework task into smaller logical chunks

discuss how much time is required to complete each chunk

work backwards from the deadline and create a timeline

put the timeline where the child can see it

encourage your child to mark completed chunks to see the progress made on the task

4. Make space for homework

Life is busy. Parents can create positive study habits by allocating family time for this. This could mean carving out one hour after dinner for your child to do homework while you engage in a study activity such as reading, rather than watching television and relaxing. You can also create a comfortable and inviting reading space for the child to learn in.

Parents’ ability to support their child’s learning goes beyond homework. Parents can engage their child in discussions, read with them, and provide them with other ongoing learning opportunities (such as going to a museum, watching a documentary or spending time online together).

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How Parents Can Help With Homework (Without Taking Over)

Sometimes taking the stress out of homework means taking a step back. learn how to curb your hands-on habits and help your kids do their best..

After a long day at school, the last thing my kids want to do is tackle their assignments. And after a long day at work, arguing with them about homework is the last thing my husband and I want to do. But we’ve always thought that the more involved we were, the better off they’d be.

It turns out that that isn’t necessarily true: After looking at 30 years’ worth of studies, researchers concluded that in most cases, such parental interest actually doesn’t help raise test scores or grades — and sometimes backfires. The reason: When parents are overly immersed in homework, they deny kids the chance to become more independent and confident. Worse, it can breed anxiety along the way.

Of course, backing off is easier said than done. So we asked education pros to share their secrets for helping kids study without hovering. Use these techniques to bring peace to your evenings — starting tonight!

Old way:  Sit beside your child so you can answer questions and fix his mistakes. New way:  Stay available by doing chores nearby.

When you hover, you essentially send the message to your kid that you don’t think he can do the work. To empower him instead, stay busy and wait until he asks for your help, says Miriam Liss, Ph.D., author of Balancing the Big Stuff: Finding Happiness in Work, Family, and Life.

For example, say your child is stumped by a math problem. You could ask questions (“So how many groups of two equal eight?”). If he says, “Got it,” leave him alone. If he continues to struggle, make suggestions (“Hey, do you want to use baby carrots as manipulatives?”). He’ll feel a greater sense of accomplishment if he’s worked for the answer mostly on his own.

Also avoid stepping in to correct every mistake without your child’s input. “Homework is a chance for a child to practice what he’s learned in class,” explains Jacqueline Cross, a fourth-grade teacher in Hingham, MA. “If he’s really challenged by long division, I’d like to know that so I can help.”

If your child asks you to look over his worksheet, point out the errors in a subtle way. Say, “Can you go back and see where you went wrong here?” or even do a quick reminder of the point of the exercise (“Remember, you’re supposed to be finding coins that add up to four dollars. Want to count these numbers out loud and I’ll listen?”).

Old way:  Nag until your child starts working. New way:  Set up a no-nonsense routine.

“Make it clear that everyone has obligations — and your child’s include things like going to school, working with her teacher, and doing the best she can on her homework,” says Susan Kuczmarski, Ed.D, author of The Sacred Flight of the Teenager: A Parent’s Guide to Stepping Back and Letting Go.

Doing her best includes buckling down to finish her assignments without constant check-ins from you. Together, figure out a specific time and place for her to work. It’s okay if she needs a little while to recharge after school before starting, but be sure she knows that four o’clock (or whatever time is best for your fam) is non-negotiable.

Once you’ve established a firm homework routine, make it a habit that happens every day. “Kids can whine, but they just won’t get to watch their TV show or whatever else they’d like to do until the homework is done. Period,” says Dr. Liss. (There goes your need to nag!)

And if your kid doesn’t do an assignment because you failed to remind her? As tough as it is, let her deal with the consequences. You won’t always be around to stay on top of her, and learning responsibility is a cornerstone of education.

Old way:  Lecture your kid for waiting until the night before to study for the spelling test. New way:  Teach time-management skills.

Scolding just makes your child feel bad (and he’ll tune you out, anyway). But because kids appreciate structure, teach yours how to break tasks up into more manageable chunks.

A printed calendar is a great tool for learning how to map out deadlines and a better visual reminder for grade-schoolers than the digital kind. Hang it in a prominent place. Then help your kid set daily goals, like “study four words on Monday and five on Tuesday …,” or break that science project into weekly goals, like “gather resources by the 5th, plant the seeds on the 11th.”

By giving your child control over deadlines, you remove yourself from the battle: If it’s on the calendar, he’s responsible for it. Skip handing out negative consequences for not getting things done. Instead, says Dr. Liss, you can offer him rewards for hitting each of the milestones.

Old way:  Get sucked into whine fests. New way:  Walk away.

If your child gripes about the work itself (“It’s too hard!” or “I don’t get it!”), figure out what’s behind her frustration. If it’s a lack of motivation, let her know that the sooner she applies herself, the sooner it’ll get done and the faster she can move on to something more fun. Then leave the room. After all, without an audience, she can’t complain, and you avoid getting trapped in a negative cycle.

But if the material is too difficult, that’s another story. In that case, try your hand at doing some of the problems with her (as long as you can stay calm). You may be able to make that lightbulb turn on in her head.

If not, reach out to the teacher to ask for assistance (or, if your child is over 8, suggest she speak with the teacher herself). Educators don’t want their students struggling to the point of tears, so your child’s teacher will probably be happy to clue you in to extra resources that can help your kid understand the lesson.

Old way:  Work on your kid’s project until the end product is perfect. New way:  Let your child take the lead.

“We assign projects so kids get a chance to apply new skills they’ve learned,” Cross explains. So if you’re getting super hands-on to wow the teacher, do your best to resist the urge. “We see your child every day, so we’re pretty familiar with the kind of work she does!” Cross adds.

That doesn’t mean you can’t pitch in, but let your kid be the creative force. For example, if you notice that the assignment includes a timeline and your grade-schooler skipped that step, point it out, then let her figure out which dates to include and how best to showcase them. After all, brainstorming lets your child hone her problem-solving skills and increases her confidence; hand-feeding her a solution won’t teach her anything.

When your kiddo proudly shows you the finished product, tell her something specific, like “Your report really makes me want to read that book now!” or “Wow, look at all the details you included in that flower diagram!” By saying something descriptive instead of generic (“That poster you made looks really awesome!”), you’re acknowledging the content itself and the effort your child put into it rather than just how it looks, notes Dr. Kuczmarski.

Achieving balance is key — and that’s true for all homework conundrums. Says Dr. Liss: “Your goal is to find that sweet spot of being there if your kids need you, but not being totally on top of them all the time.”

Plus: 10 Homework Help Tips The Do's and Don'ts of Homework Help

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A parent's view of homework: I waver between tolerance and outright hatred

From new mathematical methods to the appropriate level of help, mother-of-three Toni Hargis shares her pet peeves about homework

L ike many parents, I have a complicated relationship with homework. One day I’m reminding my children to get to work – vocabulary doesn’t happen by osmosis – and the next I’m struggling to understand the work myself, let alone find the time to help.

I’ve had nearly two decades of helping my children (now aged 22, 19 and 12) with everything from simple addition to Spanish verb endings. Homework has covered the gamut of straightforward memorization or comprehension, to detailed research of family matters, complete with photographs and tales supplied by me.

There are some things I accept about homework: teachers can’t spend the entire lesson making sure all children keep up and most students need time for new topics to sink in. Unfortunately, however, there are a few items on my dislike list too.

Parental involvement

First there’s the dreaded instruction to “Ask a parent to help”. Many of us also work full-time, have other children needing homework help, dinner or a lift somewhere. While we love helping our children learn, we don’t always have the time to build a small scale ark at the end of a long day.

Inviting parental involvement can also be a slippery slope. My approach is usually to brainstorm ideas then see how much the child can do on their own. But I’m well aware of parents who roll their sleeves up and do 99% of it themselves. Therein lies the dilemma – I don’t want to do my child’s homework for them, but I also don’t want their lovingly created ark to get laughed off the playground just because it looks like a child made it.

An introductory email at the beginning of the school year, spelling out exactly how you’d like us to help our children, would be extremely useful. Do you want to see all their mistakes or should we go over homework, catch mistakes and have them try again? How much of their homework should we help with? Is it okay to write a note on the homework pointing out the exact place where the penny didn’t drop?

New information

My pet peeve is the extra questions or challenges thrown in at the end of a homework sheet. This can range from an extra set of brackets suddenly appearing in the order of operations maths homework, to a newer verb added to the “Use this verb in a sentence” assignment.

It may seem harmless – a good exercise in independent learning, even – but parents have a one in three chance of this ending well. Some children rise to the challenge and give it a go, others are frustrated they can’t do the work, and the last third simply say “Why do optional homework?” and resist all persuasion. Most of us aren’t teachers and simply don’t know how to introduce new concepts or topics without tears – theirs and ours. What’s more, while many children are quite happy to take instruction in the classroom, bristle when their parent tries it around the kitchen table. I get that sometimes it’s a race against the syllabus, but if parents are expected to cover new material, please give us tips on how to teach.

New methods

It appears I can no longer do long division and multiplication. Or at least, I can’t do it the way my children are taught. If I’m going over their homework, I can tell them whether their answers are right or wrong, but for the life of me I can’t tell them why in terms they understand. (The phrase “Carry the one” is like a foreign language to them.) For me to help them, they first have to teach me their method so that I can see where they’ve gone wrong. If they don’t fully understand that method, it all falls apart very quickly.

Cheat sheets – where teachers share their method with parents – would be really useful. There are now excellent internet tutorials on many academic subjects; sending us links to these if they use the same methods would be extremely helpful. Last year, when my youngest was studying operations of arithmetic (Brackets, Operation, Divide, Multiply, Add, Subtract, or BODMAS to me), his terminology was so different to mine, I had to email his teacher to confirm that I had remembered the method correctly. Her availability to me was much appreciated – I know teachers have a life outside of school.

Too many subjects per night

The kids may have five or more lessons a day but problems arise when subject-specific teachers all give homework on the same night. Even if students don’t have after-school activities, life (in the form of a sibling trip to A&E or a panic shop for new gym shoes) can get in the way, making hours of homework a challenge.

Teachers can help by allowing students a day or two extra to hand the work in work so that they can plan when they’ll do each assignment. After all, time management is a life skill we all need. Alternatively, collaborate with colleagues to ensure that pupils aren’t being given every single subject for homework on the same night.

As I said, it’s complicated. Most parents want what’s best for their children; we want to help them do well, but we vacillate between tolerance and outright hatred of homework, depending on what else we have to juggle. Teachers can’t win either as there are usually complaints when there’s no homework at all. We need a middle ground, where teachers teach and parents support the learning at home, both parties respect each other’s’ roles and communicate regularly about the how best to help the individual child.

Toni Hargis is a British author and blogger, currently living in Chicago, US.

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Parental support to learning

This brief examines the role of parents in supporting their children’s learning in school and how planners and decision-makers can support this role. A related brief looks at issues of school and learning readiness.   Parents (or caregivers) are the first educators of their children. The support they provide affects children’s development, learning, and subsequent educational outcomes. This includes direct support to learning before and during formal education, as well as indirect facilitating of factors such as nutrition, health, and hygiene. Support tasks range from school and home communication, assistance in learning activities at home, participation in school events, and participation in school-decision-making bodies (Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003). Support may vary according to the age of the child, ranging from preschool support in the home to direct support once the child has transitioned to school, including assistance with homework and volunteering in classrooms and with school functions.

What we know

A large body of research shows that ‘at-home good parenting’ is a strong predictor of children’s achievement, even after other factors which impact achievement have been taken out of the equation, including the quality of schools at the primary age (Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003: 4). Mahuro and Hungi (2016) found in Uganda that parental participation in the form of commitment of time and resources to their children’s education plays a pivotal role in motivating children to improve their academic grades. 

Findings from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) confirm that parental involvement in education is pivotal for the success of children throughout their learning pathways. By showing their children how to plan, monitor, and be aware of the learning process, involved parents help them develop the language and other skills needed for learning. Moreover, teachers may pay more attention to students if they know that their parents are more involved (OECD, 2012: 13). 

Research shows how children’s literacy improves when their parents are involved in schools, regardless of the parents’ level of educational achievement (Marphatia et al., 2010). Promoting higher levels of parental involvement may help to reduce performance differences across socioeconomic groups (Borgonovi and Montt, 2012). Evidence suggests that with support disadvantaged parents can become more engaged with their children’s learning and that in turn, this can lead to better outcomes (Axford et al., 2019). 

The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of parental support, as parents have had to join the front-line teaching and learning process (Winthrop et al., 2020). Parents’ lack of education and ability to provide support for homework may crucially affect child learning outcomes, especially during school closures (Brossard et al., 2020).

Overall, findings suggest that children of involved parents are more motivated to learn for learning’s sake, because they adopt their parents’ positive attitudes towards school and learning (OECD, 2012). Accompanying and supervising children’s main school goals – that is, to study and to learn – modelling positive behaviours and attitudes towards school and conveying the importance of school have the strongest positive impact on learning (Castro et al., 2015). Family policies can also be used as entry points for promoting school attendance and learning at all stages of childhood, but these need strengthening to have an impact on promoting equitable learning outcomes. (Richardson et al., 2020).

Challenges and limitations

Evidence on the impact of parental involvement on children’s learning outcomes in developing countries is minimal. Most research has been conducted in urban settings in Western countries where supportive structures often exist to facilitate parental participation (Marphatia et al., 2010; Carter, 2017). Measures of parental involvement used in studies in developing countries are based on scales that have been established in the context of developed countries, where parental involvement may be different (Chowa et al., 2013).

Not all forms of involvement have the same impact on learning. According to Cao et al. (2014), the evidence from experimental and quasi-experimental studies on this issue is mixed, depending on the type of parental involvement and type of outcome considered. Some argue that supervision and control of homework and parental attendance at school activities are not necessarily related to children’s academic achievements (Castro et al., 2015). Others indicate that school-based parental involvement is only modestly associated with student outcomes, at least when compared to ‘at-home good parenting’ (Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003). In Ghana, home-based parental involvement was found to be associated positively with academic performance, while school-based parental involvement had a negative association (Chowa et al., 2013). 

Evidence on the causal impact of parental involvement on academic achievement is scarce. Most studies that document a strong correlation between parental involvement and education outcomes are descriptive but cannot show causality (Marphatia et al., 2010; Cao et al., 2014: 11; Carter, 2017). 

Differing definitions of parental involvement and a general lack of consensus concerning which types of parent involvement lead to which educational outcomes means that establishing links between parental involvement and student learning is complicated, especially since educational outcomes are influenced by a number of different factors (Cao et al., 2014; Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003).

Obstacles to parental involvement

Some parents, in particular those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or minority groups, face barriers to involvement in their children’s learning. According to Axford et al. (2019: 7), there are material and psychological obstacles ‘which operate differentially (and discriminatingly) across the social classes’ and evidence of a socioeconomic gradient to parents’ engagement in their children’s learning and the home learning environment. Findings from the UK suggest that parents from ethnic and/or linguistic minority groups may not have the confidence or skills to guide their children or may be viewed by teachers and schools as having less ability and effectiveness to contribute to their children’s education (Goodall and Vorhaus, 2010). This was also found to be the case for parents of migrant or refugee children (d’Addio, 2019). While most parents feel that they are able to assist their child with school-related work during the primary years, many feel less capable of helping their children as the curriculum becomes more advanced. 

Policy and planning

Embedding parental engagement in education plans and policies.

Parental engagement is increasingly recognized by policy-makers as one of the integral parts of educational reforms (Wilder, 2014). At the national level, the constitution and/or the education sector policy should define the parameters for parental engagement in schools as well as provide incentives and support for engagement (Marphatia et al., 2010). At the decentralized level, district education offices can support parents with regard to their roles and responsibilities (Kayabwe, Asiimwe, and Nkaada, 2014). Parental engagement must be planned for and embedded in a whole-school or service strategy, including in needs analysis, establishment of priorities, monitoring and evaluation, and raising of public awareness (Goodall and Vorhaus, 2010: 9).

Capacity-building for teachers and administrators

Teachers and administrators may need training to sensitize them to ways in which they can involve parents in the education of their children (Bray, 2001; OECD, 2012). Suggestions include for teachers to organize ‘just drop in’ sessions, establish an open-door policy in their classrooms, create a class website with a dedicated space for questions and answers from parents, and organize home visits. Education systems can help by identifying milestones and objectives as well as providing adequate financial resources to meet the objectives (OECD, 2012).

Parenting and parental involvement programmes

Parenting programmes aim to create awareness of the importance of parents’ role in supporting their children’s growth and development and to strengthen or modify their attitudes, beliefs, and practices in relation to caring for a child (Evans, 2006). Parental involvement programmes aim to strengthen home–school relations with the objective of improving educational outcomes (Barrera-Osorio, 2021). Most programmes focus on marginalized or disadvantaged parents or ethnic minority families, for example, the HIPPY ( Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters ) programme, implemented in a wide range of countries, provides support to socially disadvantaged families and parents of young children. In Romania, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education are collaborating on a National Parenting Education Platform through which 31,000 parents and caregivers have received parenting classes. UNICEF reports that such classes contribute to higher school participation and improved communication between parents and schools.

Inclusion of parental involvement in teacher training and curricula

Parents can serve as educational allies of teachers by assisting them in developing children’s full academic potential and monitoring the quality of teaching and teaching strategies (Marphatia et al., 2010). The importance for teachers of working with parents to support children’s learning and development is also underscored in curriculum frameworks in many countries (OECD, 2017). For example, the new Kenyan curriculum (2018) emphasizes the role of parents as essential to their children’s education with ‘parental empowerment and engagement’ as one of its guiding principles. In Malta,  the National Curriculum Framework (2012) highlights the fact that educators need to work with parents and the wider community in order to ensure a successful educational process.

Promotion of parents’ associations

The positive impact of parents’ involvement and support is significant, both on school governance and on children’s learning outcomes (Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003; Balarin and Cueto, 2007). While such policies have a particularly notable impact on governance, they also have a learning component. Evidence from Mexico suggests that trust between parents and teachers, and clear rules about parents’ expectations are key factors to any improvement (Barrera-Osorio, 2021). School governance policies can also provide a starting point for parental engagement within schools. However, roles and responsibilities of parents in relation to other stakeholders are not clearly defined in most countries, and the roles of different stakeholders need to be made clear and accepted by all (Marphatia et al., 2010; Bray, 2001). 

Parental support during school closures

Policy decisions on school closures and continuing education remotely need to take into account parents’ capability to help their child learn. Parents can be supported with home learning packages, particularly where there is no IT connectivity or electricity (Brossard et al., 2020). Angrist et al. (2020) found that engaging parents through SMS and phone calls led to increased parental participation in their children’s education and improved parents’ understanding of their child’s learning level. It is important that any strategies developed also take into account parents’ busy lives and the variety of family situations with support targeted to those who need it most (Winthrop, 2020).  

Plans and policies

• Kenya: Guidelines on parental empowerment and engagement (2019)
• South Africa : Practical guidelines: How parents can contribute meaningfully to the success of their children in schools (2016)
• Education Scotland.  Engaging parents and families - A toolkit for practitioners
• Garcia, M.E.; Frunzi, K.; Dean, C. B.; Flores, N.; Miller, K.B. 2016. Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education . Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education; Institute of Education Sciences; National Center for Education.

Angrist, N.; Bergman, P.; Brewster, C.; Matsheng, M. 2020. Stemming learning loss during the pandemic: A rapid randomized trial of a low-tech intervention in Botswana.    CSAE Working Paper WPS/2020-13. Oxford: Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE).

Axford, N.; Berry, V., Lloyd, J.; Moore, D.; Rogers, M.; Hurst, A.; Blockley, K.; Durkin, H.; Minton, J. 2019. How can schools support parents’ engagement in their children’s learning? Evidence from research and practice. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

Balarin, M.; Cueto, S. 2007. The quality of parental participation and student achievement in Peruvian government schools. Working Paper 35. Oxford: Young Lives.

Barrera-Osorio, F.; Gertler, P.; Nozomi Nakajima, N.; Patrinos, H.A. 2021. Promoting parental involvement in schools: Evidence from two randomized experiments.  RISE Working Paper Series. 21/060.

Borgonovi, F.; Montt, G. 2012. Parental involvement in selected PISA countries and economies. OECD Education Working Papers No. 73. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Bray, M. 2001. Community partnerships in education: Dimensions, variations and implications. Education for All: 2000 Assessment. Paris: UNESCO. 

Brossard, M.; Cardoso, M.; Kamei, A.; Mishra, S.; Mizunoya, S.; Reuge, N. 2020. Parental engagement in children’s learning: Insights for remote learning response during COVID-19. Innocenti Research Briefs no. 2020-09, Florence: UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti.

Cao, Y.; Ramesh, A.; Menendez, A.; Dayaratna, V. 2014. Out-of-school parents and community involvement interventions. Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development.

Carter, N. 2017.  Engaging parents in their children’s education. K4D Helpdesk Report. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.

Castro, M.; Expósito-Casas, E.; López-Martín, E.; Lizasoain, L.; Navarro-Asencio, E.; Gaviria, J.L. 2015. Parental involvement on student academic achievement: A meta-analysis .  In: Educational Research Review, 14, 33–46 .

Chowa, G.A.N.; Masa, R.; Tucker, J. 2013. Parental involvement’s effects on academic performance: Evidence from the YouthSave Ghana experiment. St. Louis, MO: Washington University Center for Social Development.

D’Addio, A. 2019.  'Parents and communities need to be engaged in migrant children’s education’. World Education Blog, 3 July 2019.

Desforges, C.; Abouchaar, A. 2003. The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievements and adjustment: A literature review. Research Report, 443. London: Department for Education and Skills.

Evans, J.L. 2006. Parenting programmes: An important ECD intervention strategy. Background paper for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007. Paris: UNESCO. 

Goodall, J.; Vorhaus, J. 2010. Review of best practice in parental engagement. Research report DFE-RR-156. London: Department for Education.

Kayabwe, S.; Asiimwe, W.; Nkaada, D. 2014. Successful decentralization: The roles and challenges of DEOs in Uganda. Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.

Mahuro, G.M.; Hungi, N. 2016. Parental participation improves student academic achievement: A case of Iganga and Mayuge districts in Uganda. In: Cogent Education, 3(1) .

Marphatia, A.A.; Edge, K.; Legault, E.; Archer, D. 2010. Politics of participation: Parental support for children’s learning and school governance in Burundi, Malawi, Senegal and Uganda. Johannesburg: ActionAid; London: Institute of Education.

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2017. Starting Strong V: Transitions from early childhood education and care to primary education. Paris: OECD Publishing.

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2012. Let’s read them a story! The parent factor in education. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Richardson, D.; Dugarova, E.; Higgins, D.; Hirao, K.; Karamperidou, D.; Mokomane, Z.; Robila, M. 2020. Families, family policy and the sustainable development goals.   Innocenti Research Report. Florenc e: UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti. 

Wilder, S. 2014. Effects of parental involvement on academic achievement: A meta-synthesis.   In: Educational Review, 66(3), 377–97 .

Winthrop, R.; Ershadi, M.; Angrist, N.; Bortsie, E.; Matsheng, M. 2020. A historic shock to parental engagement in education: Parent perspectives in Botswana during COVID-19.   Washington, DC: Brookings Center for Universal Education.  

Related information

• Let’s not forget the role of parents in education!

• Learning outcomes

Parents and Homework: Should Parents Help with Homework?

Homework—like yellow buses and lockers—is a hallmark of the American school system. On average, teachers assign third graders 30 minutes and seventh graders 70 minutes of homework every night . Parents who help their kids with their school assignments may save them some time and ensure they’re doing the work. But do moms and dads help or hinder their child’s progress at school if they offer too much help?

Parents—Put Those Pens Down!

Most parents want to do all they can to prime their kids for future success. Researchers from University of Texas at Austin and Duke University, however, discovered that once children start middle school, parental help with homework might lower test scores . The reason: parents might have forgotten about the topics their kids learn in school—or never really understood them in the first place.

“Parents tend to take the reins of how they’re going to help with homework without consulting the child,” says Keith Robinson , assistant professor of sociology at the University of Texas and one of the researchers of the study. “So maybe parents could ask kids, ‘Is what I’m doing helping you?'”

On the other hand, some educators believe that children should complete their homework themselves. They say this will give children more independence , reduce homework-related arguments, and provide parents with more free time.

When Parental Help with Homework Is Helpful

There are still benefits for kids whose parents provide homework help. “It can, for example, provide opportunities for parents to see what their children are learning in school and help families communicate with their children and school staff,” according to The Department of Education . Parents can also set a regular time and place for assignments, limit distractions, take an interest in what their child is learning, and provide resources and supplies.

Other research suggests that kids spend more time on their homework when they receive help from their parents , particularly when it comes to math and social studies. Moreover, children consistently complete their homework when their parents are involved in their education.

How Much Help Is Too Much?

How parents help their children with homework is important. “Don’t complete your child’s assignments for them; ask them to think critically about how they can solve their problems,” says Project Appleseed , an organization that promotes public school improvement. “Feel free to re-explain concepts that they might have learned recently in school, but also encourage your children to look up information in their textbooks or solve a problem themselves.”

So, how involved should parents get? Should parents tell their kids the answer to a problem? Or let them work it out themselves? “Too much help can mean, in the short term, that the day’s lesson is not reinforced, which is the point of homework,” says Laureen Miles Brunelli , writing for The Spruce . “In the long term, if parents are overseeing homework too much, kids won’t learn the organizational skills they need. They can become disconnected from understanding their responsibilities when it comes to homework.” Still, a British study found that one in four parents actually do all of their child’s homework for them, believing that they simply have too much homework to handle.

Calling all parents! Do you help your child with their homework? Do you think parental help with homework influences test scores? Leave a comment below and share your views!

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Whether you study at school, college, or university, it’s more likely you have to do your homework after classes. Most teachers believe that out-of-class studies help kids get a deeper understanding of the subject, turn theoretical knowledge into practical skills, and improve academic achievement.

However, most children are overwhelmed with the number of homework projects they have to complete. Once school students get too much homework , they turn to their parents to ask for help with their studies: Whether they need to complete school assignments, college projects , or university coursework. Why? Not only do parents know the material better than their kids, but they also help to manage time wisely which means working on homework faster without sacrificing the quality.

But a logical question appears: Should parents help with homework ?

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The question is controversial: Although some researchers believe that parents should gradually reduce homework help as their children grow older, other people claim that parental involvement cultivates positive learning behaviors.

First, we’ll discuss what role a parent plays in the kids’ education. Next, let’s find out the pros and cons of helping youngsters with homework.

The Role of Parents in the Educational Process

It’s in parents’ nature to feel responsibility for their kids’ academic performance. More often than not, they want to take part in their children’s education , engage in learning, and help their kids prepare for learning and set priorities.

Researchers have found that parental involvement in learning has many benefits for children : When parents help their school students with studies, it helps to improve student performance, reduce absenteeism, get higher grades and test scores, and improve social skills.

For a variety of reasons, parental involvement has many benefits for family relationships if a parent avoids trying to control the process and completes homework assignments for kids. Thus, it’s important to find out the pros and cons of this involvement.

Let’s dive in.

The Pros and Cons of Parental Involvement in Homework Preparation

• Help to understand the material better: Most students seek out homework assistance at school if they lack knowledge or don’t understand the task and/or the material even if they study well at school. In most cases, it’s difficult for children to understand the principles of calculus so they ask parents for help. Since parents have more experience and knowledge, they can find alternative ways to explain the subject to their kids.
• Improve parent-child relationships: When parents and kids spend time together on doing kids’ homework, it helps them turn quantity time into quality time which means they can improve parent-child relationships.
• Stay organized and beat procrastination: Most parents are more focused and organized and they know how to set priorities, so their assistance helps children manage their time and work on assignments faster. Plus, being organized helps students spend time with friends or enjoy their hobbies.
• Cultivate positive learning behaviors: When parents help their kids and gradually reduce homework help when their children get older, it helps school students follow an example their parents give and stick to positive learning behaviors. Plus, children stop bothering about the homework ban .
• Motivate children for education: It’s no secret that parents have their tips and tricks on motivating kids for education that work well for their offspring. Some parents promise their kids to allow them to spend time with friends while other moms and dads give expensive gifts. No matter what motivates your kid , if your child is interested in the learning process, it’s more likely he or she will keep on studying even if you stop motivating them.
• Add stress by parental expectations: If children ask a highly educated parent for homework assistance after school, it’s no wonder that these moms and dads have high expectations to children even if they have to deal with biostatistics homework . Thus, they expect their kids to complete assignments faster without losing the quality. But if kids can’t meet their parents expectations, it leads to additional stress, anxiety, and headaches.
• Lead to misunderstanding between a parent and a kid: Although involved parents are aimed at helping their kids improve academic performance, adults and kids may have different attitudes toward the learning process. For example, some parents may believe that children should study and complete their philosophy assignments after classes while their kids need to relax after in-class activities so they want to do their homework later in the evening. All in all, it can lead to misunderstanding between them and family.
• Discourage independent learning and self-management: When parents put much effort into helping children with homework assignments and they control the process from A to Z, it discourage children to stay responsible for their homework routine. Why? They know that parents will remind them about the workload and help them complete their tasks on a good level. All in all, it discourages independent learning and self-management.
• Result in lower test scores: It’s no wonder that most parents want to raise their kids smart and successful, so it can lead to the temptation to complete assignments for their kids when it comes to helping children with homework. As a result, children get high grades for out-of-class activities, but they can’t set priorities and implement these skills during tests.

The Bottom Line

If you still wonder whether should parents help with homework or not, you’d better pay attention to your child’s individual learning needs and his or her academic performance.

Plus, it’s a good idea to consult teachers and other school staff on how to make the most out of your homework engagement so that your children can improve academic performance, achieve better results, and obtain in-depth knowledge.

• What Happens When You Don’t Know Your Students
• How Diverse Are We?
• Culturally Responsive Curriculum Ideas
• What Families Want
• Reflecting on your goals
• Strategies to Improve Communication with Families
• How to Overcome Language Barriers
• Ways to familiarize families with the school system
• Transitioning From Elementary to Middle School
• Transitioning from Middle School to High School
• Developing Cultural Sensitivity
• Families Experiencing Poverty
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• Native Hawaiian Families
• Immigrant Families
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• What You Don’t Know About Family Engagement
• Ways to Engage Families at Home
• Ways to Engage Families at School
• Welcoming Parent into Schools
• Student-Led Conferences
• Family Engagement Strategy Impact Levels
• Greeting and Welcoming
• Getting to Know Your Families – General Strategies
• Getting to Know Your Families – Connecting with Diverse Families in Your Classroom
• Communication with Families – General
• Communication with Families- Conferences
• Creating Opportunities for Family Engagement

Ways to Help Parents Support Academics at Home

• Partnering with Diverse Populations
• Partnering with the Community

• Finding Appropriate Strategies /
• 5.8 Ways to Help Parents Support Academics at Home

Supporting academic skills at home

At-home literacy program

Increasing parents' understanding of child development

Parents have a crucial role in their child’s education, and their involvement is key to students’ academic success. This lesson provides teachers with strategies for helping parents know how to support their child’s learning at home.

1) Help parents create homework routines at home, encouraging them to focus on location, space, time and schedule. Four activities to help promote these ideas can be found under “suggested procedures” in Module 3, Lesson 2 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Creating an environment for learning at home.

2)  Give parents specific suggestions for working with children at home, such as:

• reading for 15 minutes most nights
• doing about 5 math problems each night
• saying to their children “Let’s go over this together.”

These suggestions have shown to be beneficial in increasing parental knowledge and efficacy in promoting their children’s school learning (Hoover et al., 1995)

( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Creating an environment for learning at home )

3) Provide parents with these 8 strategies to help their children finish their homework.

https://www.teachervision.com/help-parents-deal-homework

( Module 2, Lesson 3 – Strategies to Improve Communication with Families: Open House )

4)  As parents help their children with their homework, suggest that they:

• ask him/her to explain how she/she arrived at his/her answer
• ask him/her to make predictions in stories as they read together, as this strengthens reading comprehension (#14 in the following resource)

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-developing-positive-relationships-parents-elena-aguilar

( Module 2, Lesson 3 – Strategies to Improve Communication with Families: How Positive is My Communication with Families? )

5) Encourage parents to provide a space at home where children can do their homework.

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/encouraging-and-sustaining-ell-parent-engagement

( Module 2, Lesson 5 – Ways to Familiarize Families with the School System: Learn About Others Strategies to Help Families Gain a Better Understanding of the School System )

1)  This resource provides 9 specific strategies parents can use to help their young children learn about and practice writing.

https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/support-writing-home

( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: More Homework Support )

2) This resource provides 6 specific strategies parents can use to help enrich their interactions with their young children.

https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/listen-talk-answer-support-learning

3)  Provide parents with this list of 10 strategies to help their K-5 children be successful in completing their homework and understanding their assignments.

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/homework-help/homework-project-tips/10-homework-help-tips.html

4) Print out and photocopy printable mini-books to your students’ levels and interests. Explain to parents that reading mini-books with their child can help improve their child’s reading fluency. ( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Mini-books for fluency )

• Printable mini-books can be found at this resource:  https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/mini-books.html   ( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Mini-books for fluency ) *You must be a subscribing member to download and print these resources
• Printable mini-books can be found at this resource:  https://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/mini/ ( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Mini-books for fluency )
• Encourage parents to use these reader materials that are provided in 9 different languages found in the Pacific region:  http://www.prel.org/earlyreaders/index.html

5)  Start an at-home time-reading program at home by following the “suggested procedures” in Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Timed readings.

6)  Encourage parents to listen to audio books with their children at home. LibriVox inclues a collection of free audio books at

https://librivox.org/search?primary_key=37&search_category=genre&search_page=1&search_form=get_results

( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Audio books )

7) Promote writing at home through introducing Flat Stanley to your class. Follow the “suggested procedures” in Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Promoting Writing at Home. You can use the following resource to help get the Flat Stanley Project started in your classroom.

http://www.flatstanleyproject.com

8)  Promote parental involvement at home by providing activities related to school curriculum and suggesting opportunities parents can use to discuss math at home. Ideas can be found under “suggested procedures” in Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Promoting Math at Home.

• Provide parents with this booklet with mathematic activities they can complete with their preschool- 5 th grade children.  https://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/math/math.pdf ( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Promoting math at home)

9) Incorporate dual language books into your language arts curriculum by following the “suggested procedures” in Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Dual language books. View “resources” to see seven suggested websites that offer dual language books.

1) Start an at-home literacy program to help improve your students’ reading skills by following the “suggested procedures” found on Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Decodable and Phonic Readers. Make sure to send home a letter to parents explaining what the program is and how they can be involved.

• https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-the-Home-Reading-Log-A-Letter-to-Parents-291288
• Printable decodable and phonic readers can be found at this resource:  https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/search-results.html?search=1&text=Printable%20Decodable%20and%20Phonic%20Readers&prefilter=&filters=&selected=%5B%5D ( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Decodable and Phonic Readers ) *You must be a subscribing member to download and print these resources
• Printable decodable and phonic readers can be found at this resource:  http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/literacy/readers/spire-decodable-readers/about-the-program ( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Decodable and Phonic Readers )
• Provide parents with this resource that suggested 4 quick and easy phonics activities they can do with their children.  https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/developing-reading-skills/building-phonics-skills.html ( Module 3, Lesson 3 – Ways to Engage Families at Home: Decodable and Phonic Readers )

1) This page provides information about children’s developmental stages for grades 1-12. Each section includes a handout for parents of their child’s expected developmental milestones that may be helpful to distribute at conferences and/or open houses.

https://www.teachervision.com/grades-stages-development

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Home Blog Why Parent-Teacher Collaboration Matters (and How to Foster More of It)

Why Parent-Teacher Collaboration Matters (and How to Foster More of It)

April 19, 2024

Contributing Author: Alley Bardon

7 mins read

For children of all ages, collaboration with parents and teachers can have a huge impact on learning outcomes. Whether you plan to go into a career in teaching or are already teaching in the classroom, there's no overstating the importance of effective collaboration in education. At the same time, building those meaningful relationships with parents and guardians can be easier said than done, especially when you have a lot of other students on your roster. 

Understanding the importance of parent and teacher collaboration in enhancing learning outcomes and student success is crucial. With effective collaboration strategies for teachers, educators can significantly improve their efforts in this vital area. 

Understanding the Role of Collaboration in Education

Students' best interests are served when there is  extensive collaboration between parents and educators . When parents and teachers can communicate openly and effectively, they can work together to create a better learning environment for students while forming a united front to support educational outcomes. 

Importance of Collaboration in Education

More specifically, there are several ways in which collaboration in education can benefit students. This includes increased levels of student engagement, improved academic success, and better student mental health and well-being. 

Increasing Student Engagement

When a student seems disengaged from a class, there is often more going on than meets the eye. Perhaps the student simply isn't feeling challenged enough by the course material, or maybe there are things going on at home making it difficult for the student to focus. 

Regardless of the cause, collaboration and an open line of communication between teachers and parents can help get to the root of the problem. From there, teachers and parents can experiment with different strategies to drive engagement until an improvement is observed. 

Encouraging Academic Progress and Success

Interaction and communication between parents and teachers are also critical to promoting academic progress and success. Consider the example of the parent-teacher conference, which serves as an important opportunity for teachers to address student strengths and weaknesses with parents/guardians. 

If a parent is informed that their child is struggling in a certain subject, the parent can take measures to address the issue. This may consist of hiring a tutor or spending more time on homework in that subject. From there, parents can effectively encourage academic improvement and success in their children. 

Student Mental Health and Well-Being

In some cases, simply keeping an open line of communication between teachers and parents can help to protect a learner's mental health and well-being. When a teacher observes problematic changes in a student's behavior or grades, this can be addressed with the student's parents — and the learner can get the support or help that they need. 

Effective Collaboration Strategies for Education

So, what are some steps that educators can take to foster better collaboration with parents and guardians? From establishing the right communication channels to encouraging parent involvement, there are plenty of collaboration strategies for teachers to consider in their own classrooms. 

Establishing Communication Channels

Teachers should start by making sure that they are using the right communication channels to foster ongoing communication and dialogue between themselves and parents. This may include anything from email to video conferences and phone calls. 

Regular Communication with Students and Family

From there, teachers also have a responsibility to be in regular communication with students and family. This could be something as simple as a quick check-in each month to inform parents of student progress or even a weekly newsletter that invites parents to reach out with any questions or concerns. 

Parent Involvement in Student Education

Parents also share some of the responsibility when it comes to being involved and invested in their children's education. In fact, there are a few ways in which parents can be more engaged. 

Homework and Studying

Parents should be encouraged to monitor homework and study habits, ensuring that students are spending the appropriate amount of time on homework and other assignments outside of the classroom. Questions or concerns should be addressed with teachers promptly. 

Extracurriculars and School Events

Parents should also be involved in their children's extracurricular events, including sports and clubs. This can give them a better idea of the kinds of demands that may be affecting their academic performance. Whenever possible, parents should also find ways to be involved in school happenings, such as by joining the school PTO or PTA. 

Benefits of Collaboration for Students and Parents

Learners, parents, and teachers alike all stand to benefit from collaboration in a myriad of ways. 

Academic Success and Development

Students with parents and teachers united on the same front are more likely to achieve academic success and growth. This is especially true when teachers can address student strengths/weaknesses and parents are able to react accordingly. 

Social-Emotional Development

Collaboration in education can also help to improve social-emotional development, especially among younger students in elementary school classrooms. When students feel supported by both their teachers and parents, positive relationships are built that can aid in this important area of development. 

Improved Relationships and Communication

Students with connected and invested parents and teachers also tend to see improved relationships and better communication overall. That's because with healthy collaboration, everybody stays on the same page and is working toward the same goal. 

Positive View of Education

Students supported by collaborative parent-teacher relationships also tend to have better overall views of education. This may be due to being better supported and welcomed in the classroom, as well as having a shared understanding about academic goals and progress. This improved view of education can help students find higher levels of success as they move through their educational journey. 

Promoting Student Success Through Collaboration

As a teacher, of course one of your main objectives is to improve student outcomes and help them achieve the success that  you  know they are capable of. At the end of the day, collaboration between parents and educators is one of the most effective ways to promote this success and empower students to reach their full potential. 

Empowering Students

Collaboration between parents and teachers leads to a sense of empowerment among students and parents alike. When students and parents know that their teachers are fully invested and that they have the communication resources they need to stay informed, they are more likely to be involved in their own educational journeys. 

Supportive Learning Environment

Following the right collaboration strategies for teachers can also help to foster a more supportive learning environment. That's because the right collaboration and communication between parents and teachers can help keep the lines of dialogue open. As a result, this ensures that students are welcomed into inviting and supportive places for them to learn. 

For instance, when collaboration is prioritized, a teacher may discover more about a particular student and how they learn best. From then on, the teacher can adapt and adjust their teaching style or even offer supplemental instruction in a way that supports the student's unique learning style. 

Impact on Student Motivation and Engagement

When a student is struggling in class, teachers have an important responsibility to open the dialogue between themselves, their students, and their families. Only in doing so can they get to the bottom of what may be causing the issue, whether it be a problem of motivation or a lack of engagement due to something going on at home. 

When teachers have the knowledge and context that they need to understand their students, they can make the necessary pivots or adjustments needed to better support these students. When students feel that they are supported in their learning, they are more likely to feel motivated and engaged in the classroom. In return, this leads to better learning outcomes. 

Ready to Continue Your Education? 

As you can see, parent-teacher collaboration is a crucial part of any young learner's education. With the right level of collaboration, students can be empowered to achieve higher levels of success while working toward greater social-emotional development and a more positive outlook on their education. With these practical collaboration strategies in mind, teachers of all backgrounds can start building and strengthening those connections inside and outside of the classroom. 

Looking for more ways to build your skills and knowledge as an educator? It may be time to pursue your  master of arts in school administration  from Lindenwood University or explore any number of related education programs that we have to offer, including: 

• Master of arts in education  
• Master of arts in education administration  
• Educational specialist in school administration  
• Master of arts in early intervention in autism and sensory impairments  

These programs are offered 100% online, so you can work at your own pace while continuing your important work as an educator. Learn more about these programs by filling out our  information request form  today.  

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August 29, 2019

Should parents help their kids with homework?

by Daniel Hamlin, The Conversation

Cause or consequence?

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4 ways to raise mentally strong children, according to psychologists and parenting experts

By tom huddleston jr.,cnbc • published april 23, 2024 • updated on april 23, 2024 at 3:48 pm.

If you're a parent, you probably want your kids to be able to take on life's biggest challenges — with the resilience to handle whatever comes their way.

That likely means teaching them how to be mentally strong . People with mental toughness exhibit a range of traits and qualities that make them more likely to be happy, successful people, including confidence, perseverance and resilience, research shows .

Kids and adults alike can develop and hone mental toughness over time, researchers say. Here are four things parents can do to raise mentally strong children, according to psychologists and other parenting experts.

Help them empower themselves

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Confidence and self-motivation are important aspects of mental toughness, which means your kids shouldn't be dependent on other people to feel good about themselves, according to psychotherapist Amy Morin .

You can help kids empower themselves by teaching them repeatable phrases that remind them "they are in charge of how they think, feel and behave — regardless of how those around them are doing," Morin wrote for CNBC Make It in 2021.

The catchphrases should be short and easy to remember, according to Morin, who is also an author and host of  The Verywell Mind Podcast . She offered up these four examples:

• "All I can do is try my best."
• "Act confident."
• "I'm good enough."
• "I choose to be happy today."

Show them the value of doing something hard 

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It can be tough to watch children fail at something. Still, parents need to show their kids that embracing a difficult challenge can teach them a lot — like how they perform under pressure, for example — whether they succeed or fail.

Celebrate your kids when they show the courage to take on a difficult challenge, recommends psychologist Mary C. Murphy. Help them reflect on what they learned and how they can apply those new lessons and skills going forward, she wrote for Make It last month.

Try telling your children personal stories about times when you persevered in difficult situations, and what you've learned from your past mistakes, Murphy advised. "These types of stories help normalize and show kids that almost anything worth doing usually involves a bit of struggle, especially at the beginning," she wrote.

Stay optimistic

Your attitude can be infectious, which is why child psychologists say it's important for parents to model good behavior for their children. That includes optimism, which is a key component of mental strength, according to neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki .

Optimistic, hopeful children feel more in control of their own lives and are typically more confident when taking on new challenges, educational psychologist Michele Borba told Make It last year. Optimism can be learned and taught, so remember that kids are always listening and watching for cues on how to behave, she added.

"The next time something happens, [you can say] 'That's OK, we've got this.'" said Borba. "If you keep saying it, you're actually having your kid eavesdrop on your management strategy. And the most amazing thing is very often they pick it up, and now they have a way to talk back to the worry themself."

Teach them how — and when — to apologize

A key aspect of mental toughness is emotional intelligence , which includes empathy and self-awareness. Teach your kids the importance of respecting others and themselves — including listening respectfully to others' points of view and apologizing with sincerity when they've wronged someone, Morin advised in 2019 .

That doesn't mean you or your children should be constantly apologizing : Morin warned against falling into the trap of "toxic self-blame," which typically happens when negative thoughts sap your self-confidence.

Just remember that mentally tough people "take responsibility for their behavior," she wrote. "They offer sincere apologies when they regret their actions and strive to make amends whenever possible."

Want to make extra money outside of your day job?  Sign up for CNBC's new online course How to Earn Passive Income Online to learn about common passive income streams, tips to get started and real-life success stories. Register today and save 50% with discount code EARLYBIRD.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

Also on CNBC

• Parents who raise successful, resilient kids never do these 5 things: experts
• The No. 1 parenting technique for tough moments, from child psychologists
• Harvard-trained researcher: 4 tips for parents to raise confident girls

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College is hard enough — try doing it while raising kids

From Hechinger Report

Hannah Allen attends Hudson County Community College and is the mother of three children. "First you put your kids," she says. "Then you put your jobs, then you put your school. And last, you put yourself." Yunuen Bonaparte/The Hechinger Report hide caption

Hannah Allen attends Hudson County Community College and is the mother of three children. "First you put your kids," she says. "Then you put your jobs, then you put your school. And last, you put yourself."

When Keischa Taylor sees fellow students who are also parents around her campus, she pulls them aside and gives them a hug.

"I tell them, 'Don't stop. You've got this. You didn't come this far to stop. You're not going to give up on yourself.' "

Taylor is exceedingly well qualified to offer this advice. She began her college education in her early 20s, balancing it with raising two sons and working retail jobs in northern New Jersey. And she just finished her bachelor's degree last semester — at 53.

It's a rare success story. There are more than 5 million student parents attending U.S. colleges and universities. Yet they are disproportionately less likely to reach the finish line. Fewer than 4 in 10 graduate with a degree within six years, compared with more than 6 in 10 other students.

Many have long had to rely on themselves and each other, as Taylor did, to make it through.

4 tips for parents and caregivers who want to go to college

Now, however, student parents are beginning to get more attention. A rule that took effect in California in July, for example, gives priority course registration at public colleges and universities to student parents, who often need more scheduling flexibility than their classmates.

New York State in September expanded the capacity of child care centers at community colleges by 200 spots. Its campus child care facilities previously handled a total of 4,500 children, though most of those slots — as at many institutions with child care on campus, nationwide — went to faculty and staff.

For Taylor, child care was a huge issue. She first attended Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, N.J., and later moved on to Rutgers University. While she was in community college, she put her sons in a Salvation Army day care center.

"It's a matter of paying for college, paying for the babysitter or sneaking them into class," Taylor recalled. Even though the community college is among the few that have improved its services for student parents, she remembered asking herself back then, "How am I going to do this?"

Keischa Taylor began her college education in her 20s, balanced it with raising two sons and working retail jobs. She recently finished her bachelor's degree at age 53. Yunuen Bonaparte/The Hechinger Report hide caption

Keischa Taylor began her college education in her 20s, balanced it with raising two sons and working retail jobs. She recently finished her bachelor's degree at age 53.

Experts say there are several factors driving the new efforts to serve student parents:

• They are a huge potential market for colleges and universities looking for ways to make up for the plummeting number of 18- to 24-year-olds. "If you want to serve adult learners, which colleges see as their solution to enrollment decline, you have to serve student parents," said Su Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes, a nonpartisan research organization that focuses on education and workforce policies.
• They offer a potential solution to the need in many states for workers to fill jobs requiring a college education.
• Many parents already have some college credits. More than a third of the 40.4 million adults who have gone to college, but never finished, have children under age 18, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, or IWPR.
• Another reason student parents are more visible now: The COVID-19 pandemic reminded Americans how hard it is to be a parent generally, never mind one who is juggling school on top of work and children.
• A new body of research has also drawn attention to the benefits for children of having parents who go to college. "The greatest impact on a child's likelihood to be successful is the education of their parents," said Teresa Eckrich Sommer, a research professor at Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research.

For parents struggling to juggle courses, study time and raising a child, the conflicting demands can seem overwhelming.

Tayla Easterla was enrolled at a community college near Sacramento, Calif., when her daughter was born prematurely four years ago; she took her midterms and finals in the neonatal intensive care unit. "I just found that motherly drive somewhere deep inside," she recalls.

The new kids on campus? Toddlers, courtesy of Head Start

Now 27, Easterla is majoring in business administration at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Krystle Pale is about to get her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz. When she looks at her children who live with her, who are 5, 7, 12 and 13, she chokes up. "I want better for them," she says. "I just want them to have a better life."

Sydney Riester of Rochester, Minn., who is about to earn her dental assistant associate degree, also said her children — ages 3, 6 and 7 — were foremost in her planning: "These kids need me, and I need to get this done for them."

There's a surprising lack of information about students in college who have dependent children.

"Ask community college presidents what percentage of their students are parents, and they'll say, 'That's a really good question. I'll get back to you,' " said Marjorie Sims, managing director of Ascend at the Aspen Institute, one of a growing number of research, policy and advocacy organizations focusing on student parents.

This is slowly changing. California, Michigan, Oregon and Illinois have passed legislation since 2020 requiring that public colleges and universities track whether their students are also parents. A similar federal measure is pending in Congress.

Broader national data compiled by the Urban Institute show that nearly 1 in 4 undergraduates, and nearly 1 in 3 graduate students, are parents. That's more than 5.4 million people . More than half have children under age 6 , according to the IWPR.

Women make up more than 70% of student parents. Just over half (51%) are Black, Hispanic or Native American. Student mothers are more likely to be single, while student fathers are more likely to be married.

Student parents face huge financial obstacles

Among student parents who go to college but drop out, cost and conflicts with work are the most-stated reasons, various research shows. Seventy percent have trouble affording food and housing , according to the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University.

Most financial aid is based on an estimated cost of attendance that includes tuition, fees, books, supplies, transportation and living expenses – but not expenses related to raising a child.

Hannah Allen, who attends Hudson County Community College, gets up at 5 a.m. to get her three kids ready for the day. Yunuen Bonaparte/The Hechinger Report hide caption

Hannah Allen, who attends Hudson County Community College, gets up at 5 a.m. to get her three kids ready for the day.

The out-of-pocket cost of attending a public college or university for a low-income parent can be two to five times higher than for a low-income student without children, according to the advocacy group The Education Trust.

A student parent would have to work 52 hours a week, on average, to cover both child care and tuition at a public university or college, EdTrust says. A separate analysis by California Competes found that students in that state who have children pay $7,592 per child a year more for their education and related expenses than their classmates who don't have kids.

But "when they apply for financial aid, they get financial aid packages as if they don't have children," said Jez, at California Competes. "It's ludicrous."

Forty-five percent of student parents who dropped out cited their need to provide child care as a significant cause, a survey released in February found. Yet the number of colleges and universities with on-campus child care has been dropping steadily, from 1,115 in 2012 to 824 today, federal data shows.

Fewer than 4 in 10 public colleges and universities, and fewer than 1 in 10 private institutions have on-campus child care for students , an analysis by the think tank New America found. Other research shows long waiting lists for those centers, while other students don't bother because they can't afford the cost.

"Colleges and universities that enroll student parents should be committed to serving their needs," said Christopher Nellum, executive director at EdTrust-West. Nellum is himself the son of a student-mother, who ultimately dropped out and enlisted in the military, concluding that it was easier to be a parent there than at a community college. "It's almost willful neglect," he says, "to be accepting their tuition dollars and financial aid dollars and not helping them succeed."

Even where child care is available and spots are open, it's often too expensive for students to manage. More than two-thirds of student parents in Washington State said they couldn't afford child care, a state survey last year found. About half of student parents nationwide rely entirely on relatives for child care.

Hannah Allen, who attends Hudson County Community College, gets up at 5 a.m. to get her three kids ready for the day — first the 4-year-old, then the 6-year-old, then the 8-year-old. "I go down the line," she said. Her schedule is so tight, she has a calendar on her refrigerator and another on the wall.

She can't drop off her children at school or day care earlier than 8:30, or pick them up later than 5. "When my kids are in school is when I do as much as I can." She calls her school days "first shift," while her time at home at night is "second shift."

"First you put your kids. Then you put your jobs, then you put your school. And last, you put yourself," Allen explains. "You have to push yourself," she adds, starting to cry softly. "Sometimes you think, 'I can't do it.' "

Limited sources of assistance

There is a little-noticed federal grant program to help low-income student parents pay for child care: Child Care Access Means Parents in School, or CCAMPIS, which last year received $84 million in funding.

The Government Accountability Office found that student parents who got CCAMPIS's subsidies were more likely to stay in school than students generally . But there were more students on the waiting list for it than received aid. A Democratic proposal in the Senate to significantly expand the program has gone nowhere.

The Association of Community College Trustees, or ACCT, is pressing member colleges to make cheap or free space available for Head Start centers on their campuses in the next five years. Fewer than 100 of the nation's 1,303 two-year colleges — where more than 40% of student parents go — have them now, the ACCT says.

These efforts are a start, but more is needed, said Chastity Lord, president and CEO of the Jeremiah Program, which provides students who are single mothers with coaching, child care and housing. "When your child is sick, what are you going to do with them? It becomes insurmountable. Imagine if we had emergency funding for backup child care."

Challenges on top of challenges

Just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Hudson County Community College, or HCCC, has steadily added programs to support the parents among its 20,000 students.

It has set aside "family-friendly" spaces in libraries and lounges and holds events for parents with kids, including movie nights, barbecues, trick-or-treating and a holiday tree-lighting ceremony. There's a food pantry with meals prepared by the students in the college's culinary program.

The food pantry on the campus at Hudson County Community College. Yunuen Bonaparte/The Hechinger Report hide caption

The food pantry on the campus at Hudson County Community College.

Student parents get to register first for courses. College staff help with applications to public benefit programs. Lactation rooms are planned. And there are longer-range conversations about putting a child care center in a new 11-story campus building scheduled to open in 2026.

The college's 20,000 students are largely poor and many are the first in their families to go to college, said Christopher Reber, HCCC's president. Many are not native English speakers, and 94% qualify for financial aid . Having children, Reber said, "adds insurmountable challenges to that list of insurmountable challenges."

Those challenges can make it extremely difficult for students to earn a degree. HCCC graduates only 17% of students, even within three years, which is among the lowest proportions in the state.

"If a student doesn't know where their next meal is coming from, it doesn't matter how much academic support you offer — the student is not going to succeed," said Reber, in his office overlooking downtown Jersey City.

With a grant it got in January from the Aspen Institute's Ascend, HCCC is expanding its work with the housing authority in Jersey City to help student parents there enroll in, and complete, job-focused certificate programs in fields such as bookkeeping and data analytics. The grant allowed the college to hire a coordinator to work with student parents, and to appoint an advisory committee made up of those students.

Hudson Community College keeps a supply of clothing for students to wear to internships, job interviews, and in other professional situations. Yunuen Bonaparte/The Hechinger Report hide caption

Hudson Community College keeps a supply of clothing for students to wear to internships, job interviews, and in other professional situations.

A new program will reward student parents with financial stipends for doing things such as registering early, and researching child care options, said Lisa Dougherty, the college's senior vice president for student affairs and enrollment.

A few other colleges and universities have programs designed for student parents. Misericordia University in Dallas, Penn., provides free housing for up to four years for as many as 18 single mothers, who also get academic support and tutoring, priority for on-campus jobs, and access to a children's library and sports facilities.

At Wilson College in Pennsylvania, up to 12 single parents annually are awarded grants for on-campus housing and for child care , and their children can eat in the campus dining hall for free.

St. Catherine University in Minnesota subsidizes child care for eligible student parents , and has child-friendly study rooms.

And Howard Community College in Howard County, Md., whose president, Daria Willis, was once a student-paren t, provides mentorship, peer support, career counseling, financial assistance and a family study room in the library.

"That may not seem like a big deal, but those are the messages that say, 'You belong here, too,' " said Chastity Lord of the Jeremiah Program.

Some of the obstacles for student parents are hard to measure, says Jessica Pelton, who finished community college after having a daughter at age 20. She ultimately graduated from the University of Michigan, where her husband also was enrolled.

"You're typically isolated and alone," Pelton said. "I just kind of stuck to myself."

She would often miss out on nighttime study groups with classmates who lived on campus. "Their priorities are not to go home, make dinner and put their kid to bed." Student parents, she added, "don't have the option to go party. We're not here on our parents' money. We're paying our own way."

Some faculty offered to let her bring her daughter to class, she said, which "really meant a lot to me, because it made me feel like a part of campus."

Finding fellow classmates who are parents helps, too, said Omonie Richardson, 22, who is going to college online to become a midwife, while raising her 1-year-old son and working as a chiropractic assistant 35 hours a week in Fargo, N.D.

"I felt very isolated before I found a group of other single moms," she said. "If we had the understanding and support in place, a lot more parents would be ready to pursue their educations and not feel like it's unattainable."

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

Correction April 20, 2024

An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the university affiliation of Teresa Eckrich Sommer. She is with Northwestern University, not Northeastern.

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About 1 in 5 U.S. teens who’ve heard of ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork

Roughly one-in-five teenagers who have heard of ChatGPT say they have used it to help them do their schoolwork, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17. With a majority of teens having heard of ChatGPT, that amounts to 13% of all U.S. teens who have used the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot in their schoolwork.

Teens in higher grade levels are particularly likely to have used the chatbot to help them with schoolwork. About one-quarter of 11th and 12th graders who have heard of ChatGPT say they have done this. This share drops to 17% among 9th and 10th graders and 12% among 7th and 8th graders.

There is no significant difference between teen boys and girls who have used ChatGPT in this way.

The introduction of ChatGPT last year has led to much discussion about its role in schools , especially whether schools should integrate the new technology into the classroom or ban it .

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand American teens’ use and understanding of ChatGPT in the school setting.

The Center conducted an online survey of 1,453 U.S. teens from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, via Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel . The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey was weighted to be representative of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income, and other categories.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its  methodology .

Teens’ awareness of ChatGPT

Overall, two-thirds of U.S. teens say they have heard of ChatGPT, including 23% who have heard a lot about it. But awareness varies by race and ethnicity, as well as by household income:

• 72% of White teens say they’ve heard at least a little about ChatGPT, compared with 63% of Hispanic teens and 56% of Black teens.
• 75% of teens living in households that make $75,000 or more annually have heard of ChatGPT. Much smaller shares in households with incomes between $30,000 and $74,999 (58%) and less than $30,000 (41%) say the same.

Teens who are more aware of ChatGPT are more likely to use it for schoolwork. Roughly a third of teens who have heard a lot about ChatGPT (36%) have used it for schoolwork, far higher than the 10% among those who have heard a little about it.

When do teens think it’s OK for students to use ChatGPT?

For teens, whether it is – or is not – acceptable for students to use ChatGPT depends on what it is being used for.

There is a fair amount of support for using the chatbot to explore a topic. Roughly seven-in-ten teens who have heard of ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use when they are researching something new, while 13% say it is not acceptable.

However, there is much less support for using ChatGPT to do the work itself. Just one-in-five teens who have heard of ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use it to write essays, while 57% say it is not acceptable. And 39% say it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT to solve math problems, while a similar share of teens (36%) say it’s not acceptable.

Some teens are uncertain about whether it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT for these tasks. Between 18% and 24% say they aren’t sure whether these are acceptable use cases for ChatGPT.

Those who have heard a lot about ChatGPT are more likely than those who have only heard a little about it to say it’s acceptable to use the chatbot to research topics, solve math problems and write essays. For instance, 54% of teens who have heard a lot about ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use it to solve math problems, compared with 32% among those who have heard a little about it.

Note: Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its  methodology .

• Artificial Intelligence
• Technology Adoption
• Teens & Tech

Olivia Sidoti is a research assistant focusing on internet and technology research at Pew Research Center

Jeffrey Gottfried is an associate director focusing on internet and technology research at Pew Research Center

Many Americans think generative AI programs should credit the sources they rely on

Americans’ use of chatgpt is ticking up, but few trust its election information, q&a: how we used large language models to identify guests on popular podcasts, striking findings from 2023, what the data says about americans’ views of artificial intelligence, most popular.

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Poland's homework limits thrill many children, worry some adults

• By Associated Press

Ola Kozak is celebrating. The 11-year-old, who loves music and drawing, expects to have more free time for her hobbies after Poland's government ordered strict limits on the amount of homework in the lower grades.

"I am happy," said the fifth-grader, who lives in a Warsaw suburb with her parents and younger siblings. The lilac-colored walls in her bedroom are covered in her art, and on her desk she keeps a framed picture she drew of Kurt Cobain.

"Most people in my class in the morning would copy the work off someone who had done the homework or would copy it from the internet. So it didn't make sense," she said.

The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk enacted the ban against required homework this month amid a broad discussion about the need to modernize Poland's education system, which critics say puts too much emphasis on rote learning and homework, and not enough on critical thinking and creativity.

Under the decree, teachers are no longer to give required homework to kids in the first to third grades. In grades four to eight, homework is now optional and doesn't count toward a grade.

Not everyone likes the change — even Ola's parents are divided.

"If there is something that will make students enjoy school more, then it will probably be good both for the students and for the school," said her father, Pawel Kozak.

His wife, Magda Kozak, was skeptical. "I am not pleased, because [homework] is a way to consolidate what was learned," she said. "It helps stay on top of what the child has really learned and what's going on at school."

Ola's brother Julian, a third-grader, said he sees both sides.

Homework's plusses and minuses

Debates over the proper amount of homework are common around the globe. While some studies have shown little benefit to homework for young learners, other experts say it can help them learn how to develop study habits and academic concepts.

Poland's educational system has undergone a number of controversial overhauls. Almost every new government has tried to make changes — something many teachers and parents say has left them confused and discouraged.

For example, after communism was thrown off, middle schools were introduced. Then under the last government, the previous system was brought back. More controversy came in recent years when ultra-conservative views were pushed in new textbooks.

For years, teachers have been fleeing the system due to low wages and political pressure. The current government is trying to increase teacher salaries and has promised other changes that teachers approve of.

But Sławomir Broniarz, the head of the Polish Teachers' Union, said that while he recognized the need to ease burdens on students, the new homework rules are another case of change imposed from above without adequate consultation with educators.

"In general, the teachers think that this happened too quickly, too hastily," he said.

He argued that removing homework could widen the educational gaps between kids who have strong support at home and those from poorer families with less support and lower expectations. Instead, he urged wider changes to the entire curriculum.

Boy's complaint inspired limits

The homework rules gained impetus in the runup to parliamentary elections last year when a 14-year-old boy, Maciek Matuszewski, stood up at a campaign rally and told Tusk before a national audience that children "had no time to rest." The boy said their rights were being violated with so much homework on weekends and so many tests on Mondays.

Tusk has since featured Matuszewski in social media videos and made him the face of the sudden change.

Education Minister Barbara Nowacka said she was prompted by research on children's mental health. Of the various stresses children face, she said, "the one that could be removed fastest was the burden of homework."

Pasi Sahlberg, a prominent Finnish educator and author, said the value of homework depends on what it is and how it is linked to overall learning. The need for homework can be "very individual and contextual."

"We need to trust our teachers to decide what is good for each child," Sahlberg said.

In South Korea, homework limits were set for elementary schools in 2017 amid concerns that kids were under too much pressure. However, teenagers in the education-obsessed country often cram long into the night and get tutoring to meet the requirements of demanding school and university admission tests.

In the United States, teachers decide how much homework to assign. Some elementary schools have done away with homework to give children more time to play, participate in activities and spend time with families.

A guideline circulated by teachers unions in the U.S. recommends about 10 minutes of homework per grade. So, 10 minutes in first grade, 20 minutes in second grade and so on.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a crisis around youth mental health have complicated debates around homework. In the U.S., extended school closures in some places were accompanied by steep losses in learning, which were often addressed with tutoring and other interventions paid for with federal pandemic relief money. At the same time, increased attention to student well-being led some teachers to consider alternate approaches, including reduced or optional homework.

It's important for children to learn that mastering something "usually requires practice, a lot of practice," said Sahlberg, in Finland. If reducing homework leads kids and parents to think school expectations for excellence will be lowered, "things will go wrong."

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April 23, 2024

"What Jennifer Did": 8 things missing from Netflix's doc of a woman who schemed to kill her parents

From an elaborate double life to lying about assult, these details are left out of netflix's true crime story, by nardos haile.

In 2010, Jennifer Pan devised a plan to kill her parents. The 24-year-old Vietnamese Canadian woman who grew up in a Toronto-area suburb appeared to be a typical daughter of immigrants. However, Jennifer struggled with the pressures of balancing cultural expectations put on her by her parents, and this led to her extreme actions.

The Netflix documentary "What Jennifer Did" focuses on the young woman's journey to ultimately conspiring with her ex-boyfriend Daniel Wong to hire a hitman who murdered her mother Bich Ha Pan and severely injured her father, Huei Hann Pan. Everyone who was involved in the murder and conspiracy, namely Jennifer and Daniel, is currently serving life in prison. While the documentary film directed by Jenny Popplewell sits on the streaming service's Top 10 movies in the U.S., it has been under fire for using artificial intelligence to alter photos of Jennifer and omitting key details about Jennifer's life and her relationship with her parents.

However, a 2015  Toronto Life  feature by Karen Ho gives a fuller picture of the story, including the Pan family's dynamics. Jennifer grew up being told to achieve, not just academically but with nonstop piano lessons, competitions and figure skating. When she did fail to meet her parents' expectations by dating Daniel, the disapproval took a toll on Jennifer. The Netflix documentary leaves large gaps that the article fills in to create a more comprehensive picture of the circumstances leading up to Jennifer's plan to murder her parents.

Here are the 8 key details "What Jennifer Did" leaves out:

In the documentary, it's revealed that Jennifer failed to graduate high school and did not get into university . . . but had lied to her family that she was admitted to Ryerson.

Ho's article reveals that the lengths Jennifer would go to in order to perpetuate that lie. For four years, instead of going to class, she would go to libraries to research relevant science topics to take notes as proof she was going to school. She forged transcripts. At some points, she spent time at cafes and visited her boyfriend Daniel at his university. But she also picked up day shifts at a restaurant in her hometown, She also taught piano lessons and then bartended at a pizza parlor where her boyfriend worked as kitchen manager. When her dad asked about her studies, her mom would defend her and say, “Let her be herself."

After pretending to attend Ryerson University for two years, her dad asked if she was still going to transfer to the University of Toronto. She lied again and said she had been accepted into the school's pharmacology program.

To keep up the charade, Jennifer suggested that she move in with a friend downtown for three nights a week. Her mom, Bich, convinced Hann it was a good idea because of Jennifer's daily commute. But Jennifer never stayed with her friend. For three days out of the week, she stayed with Daniel and his family at their home. Jennifer was also lying to Daniel's parents. She told them that her parents approved of her long stays, also rejecting their request for both families to meet.

"What Jennifer Did" alludes to Jennifer feeling like she was being watched and followed by her parents but leaves out an incident involving the blood-testing lab SickKids, revealed in Ho's story. The web of lies Jennifer had constructed about her academic career slowly began to disintegrate when she said that she had volunteered at SickKids. Since the job required spending late nights at the lab on Fridays and weekends, Jennifer suggested spending more time at her friend's place.

But Hann noticed that Jennifer never wore a uniform going to work or even had a key card to get into the lab. Following those suspicions, her dad insisted that her parents drop her off at the hospital for work one day. When they dropped her off, Jennifer ran inside and then hid in the emergency room's waiting area for hours until they left. The next day, her parents called her friend who admitted that Jennifer was never stayed there. When Jennifer came home, she confessed that she didn't volunteer at the lab, she never even went to the Univerity of Toronto and had been staying at Daniel's the whole time. This focused her parents' disapproval on her relationship with Daniel.

Hann attempted to kick her out but Bich pleaded to let Jennifer stay. They confiscated her phone and laptop for two weeks, and she was only allowed to use them while her parents were around. She was also subject to surprise checks of her messages. She was prohibited from seeing Daniel and forced to quit all her jobs except the piano. Her parents also began tracking the miles on her car.

Jennifer still had not revealed that she failed to graduate high school and never went to Ryerson. 

The Pans' disapproval of Daniel was distinctly clear in the documentary because of his previous marijuana possession charges and lack of professional work. However, the article revealed their disapproval did not stop Jennifer from seeing him. 

In February 2009, Jennifer wrote on her Facebook, “Living in my house is like living under house arrest.” Once she regained enough of her parents' trust, she was able go out, which is when she'd see Daniel between her piano lessons.

One night she stuffed her bed full of blankets to make it look like she was asleep and snuck out to Daniel's house. The next day Bich went into her daughter's room to discover Jennifer wasn't home. This led to Hann and Bich to order Jennifer to come home, apply to college to become a pharmacy lab technician or nurse and cut off her contact with Daniel for good.

The documentary was clear that a part of Jennifer's motivations for the murder plot was to be able to have the freedom to see and date Daniel as she pleased. She felt like Daniel was all she had. But the article painted a darker picture of the lengths Jennifer would go to in order to get his attention.

At this point, Daniel was tired of dating someone who had to lie to her parents in order to see him, so he broke up with her and moved on to someone new named Christine. This left Jennifer heartbroken and desperate. She created an elaborate and gruesome fiction in the hopes that he'd feel moved to reconcile with her.

She told him that she opened the door for a man who showed her a police badge. She claimed that when she let him in, a group of men pushed in, overpowered her and gang-raped her in her home. Days later she also told Daniel that she had received a bullet in an envelope. She claimed that the assault and bullet missive were warnings from Daniel's new girlfriend Christine, threatening Jennifer to leave him alone.

In "What Jennifer Did," it briefly mentioned that Jennifer had met with someone previously about a plot to kill her parents, but it never gave any details about the meetings she had with the person. In the article, Jennifer is painted as growing incredibly frustrated with her familial circumstances. So in 2010, Jennifer met up with a former friend from school, Andrew Montemayor, who commiserated with her over difficult fathers and imagining a life with them dead. This planted the seed for murder. He then introduced Jennifer to his roommate, Ricardo Duncan.

According to Jennifer, they devised a plan for Duncan to kill her father at his workplace's parking lot. She claimed she paid Duncan $1,500, but he ghosted her. In July 2010, she said she realized she had been scammed.

However, Duncan tells a different story, saying that when she asked him to kill her parents, he was offended and said no. Also, he stated that she only gave him $200, which he returned immediately. 

Eventually, Jennifer reconnected with Daniel to create another plan to murder her parents that involved at least two other men. Although the documentary details the events of Nov. 8, 2010 – when three men entered the Pan home, killed Bich and seriously injured Hann – Ho's Toronto Life story includes an extra detail.

Jennifer claims that one of the men, Eric Carty, had tied her hands behind her back and forced into her bedroom where she had to give him approximately $2,500 in cash. She went to her parents' bedroom where Carty found $1,100 in U.S. dollars in her mother’s nightstand.

At the end of the documentary, the audience is told that Jennifer and the men included in the murder plot are serving life sentences. Ho's story, however, goes into the emotional fallout of Jennifer's trial and how it has affected her family.

The story reported that the 2014 trial lasted about 10 months. When the jury read the first-degree murder conviction, she did not show any emotion. But when the press left the courtroom, Jennifer began to cry uncontrollably. She automatically received no chance of parole for 25 years.

The judge also ordered a no-communication order between Jennifer and her family at the request of her father and brother, Felix – the latter of whom was never mentioned in the documentary. Her lawyer said of the order that “Jennifer is open to communicating with her family if they wanted to."

Furthermore, Ho reported on Hann's victim impact statement, which read, “When I lost my wife, I lost my daughter at the same time. I don’t feel like I have a family anymore . . . Some say I should feel lucky to be alive but I feel like I am dead too.”

The story also stated that now Hann is unable to work because of his injuries, suffers from anxiety attacks, insomnia, nightmares and chronic pain. His son Felix moved to the East Coast to escape the controversy surrounding their family. He said Felix suffers from depression. Hann also addressed Jennifer: “I hope my daughter Jennifer thinks about what has happened to her family and can become a good honest person someday.”

The documentary updated that last year, Jennifer, Daniel, and two other men involved with the crime –  Lenford Crawford and David Mylvaganam – had all their convictions overturned. They are currently awaiting retrials. In an interview with CBC News in 2023, one of Jennifer's lawyers said, "Her fight is not over." 

"What Jennifer Did" is streaming on Netflix.

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Nardos Haile is a staff writer at Salon covering culture. She’s previously covered all things entertainment, music, fashion and celebrity culture at The Associated Press. She resides in Brooklyn, NY.

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