Talk to Explore Learning about helping your DCs with their homework - you could win a £250 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

We've been asked by Mumsnet Family Friendly Innovation Award winners, Explore Learning, to find out about Mumsnetters' experiences with helping their DCs with their homework.

Explore Learning say "As a tuition provider, it's our aim to teach children skills that are directly transferable to the classroom, and give them confidence to tackle their work at school (we don't set any extra homework for our members to do). We also aim to reduce the stress for parents at homework time, and would like to find out more about what would make lives easier for mums and dads when it comes to helping or encouraging their kids."

So, how - if at all - do you help your DCs with their homework? Do you sit with them while they work on it? Or if your DCs are older, do you just leave them to it? What are the challenges when it comes to homework? When's the best time to tackle it? Are there any subjects which you find it harder to help your DCs with? Where's the best place to do it in your home?

Whatever your experiences of helping your DCs with their homework, Explore Learning would love to hear about it.

Every MNer who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw, where one winner will receive a £250 Love2Shop voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Explore Learning's social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

We have to work hard to get DD2 to get started on homework. Routine is hard because it has to fit around work hours. She really resents having to do work after school and the only way is to sit with her. I try hard to help her by asking her questions to make her think about what she is doing rather than spoon feeding her answers, sometimes I feel like I have to actually teach her the topic as she doesn't know what to do based on what she should have already learned in school. Just occasionally she will be motivated and whizz through it all accurately and prove to me she is capable when she puts her mind to it!
DD1 - only has reading and is usually very willing to do this.
DD3 - only just started school but will be supported with her reading when she brings books home.
We usually sit at the kitchen table and try to minimise distractions around (ie sisters out of the way unless they are busy and quiet at the time). I try and get it done asap when possible after school. I prefer learning for tests than written sheets as it feels like the work has more of a point and is more likely to be retained longer term.

DS1 has just started Y1.
Last year was reading, and a couple of worksheets at the weekend.
All OK, but sending stuff out on a friday, to return on a Monday was hard if we were away for the weekend.

No ideas how much we will get this year - but they have been much more proactive at changing reading books.

I am living in fear of the "project" they will need to complete at home at some point this term. I wonder how much I will have to do, or how pathetic DS's work will look 'cause I make him do it him self and everyone else's Mummy has done it.

Just hope we get enough notice. If it arrives just before half term, and needs to be transported to school on the first day back, its going to be tough.

My daughters attendance at school is only approx 50% due to I'll health, but she is in some of the top sets for her main subjects, i believe a huge part of that is down to Explore Learning, they are fantastic, and when she was ill sent her work she could do at home. Worth every penny!!

My son is 5 so I sit down with him to keep him on track (he's easily distracted) but all the work is his own. I try to get it done at the weekend during his little sister's nap to help him concentrate.
It can take some convincing with writing homework but he loves maths and usually wants to do that straight after school.
Kipper books are the devil though, it's proof that I love my son that I repeatedly sit through those monstrosities!

The only way it works is to have a set time to get things done. Otherwise it turns into constant 'not now' arguments. Up until Yr 5 we sat with her (sigh), but from age 9 onwards she wanted to do it herself. We just answered questions, and got involved when asked. The exception to this is when research is needed and we have to point her in the right direction on the internet!
We read every night together.

Our biggest challenge with homework is attitude. One of our dc has a dreadfully defeatist attitude to homework and to their own ability. The slightest difficulty and they give up. It either does not occur to them to ask for help, or if they do ask for help they just want to be spoon fed the answer and refuse to be guided towards it.

Causes huge stress.

Yet this is a bright and academically successful child.

They started secondary this week, and I am gently encouraging them to try out the school's 'Homework Club' - basically the opportunity to do homework in the school library firectly after school. I'm hoping that the quiet atmosphere and studious, non-family environment will help them.

With 3 dc, there's a lot of homwork in this house. I sit with ds as he has dyspraxia and struggles to concentrate. I like to have lots of background materials - thesaurus, dictionaries, fab history and geography resources from the Book People, and a times table poster for copying, err, I mean memorising ;)

I kind of use things around the house to help them. So if I'm helping them expand their vocabulary, I point to things and make it a sort of competition where the prize is a treat. My 6 year old loves stickers, so we have a sticker chart for him where a set number of stickers means we buy him something. When it's maths, then I prefer using hands on materials like coins which seems to do the job well.

Ds 15 has just started yr 11. He does is homework in his bedroom at a desk, and on average does around 2hrs every evening mon-fri. I tend to leave him to it but if he is particularly stuck on something or wants my opinion im on hand to help/advise.

Ds (7) gets spellings and a reading book and some maths. He reads his book before bed, in bed mostly. I potter around to listen to him and he asks me if he can't read certain words. I practice spelling with him, as left to his own devices he would rush through them and just say 'done' whether Thor not they were right. We only start maths this week so I am waiting to see what happens with that, but I think it's an ipad app so I think he will be more receptive to that.

It is sometimes a battle to fit in and he invariably moans about being dragged away from TV, ipad, lego.....but he does it and it isn't too much of a chore.

My DS has a horrible time with his hand-writing. I actually think he might have some dyspraxia issues (like me!). He hates practicing it so my mum, who lives overseas, had a very clever idea and became his pen friend! So he regularly gets letters from her and writes her back so he can get another letter from her. It's been a really nice, creative way to get him to practice.

DD (primary school) gets spellings weekly and sometimes Mathletics. The school has taken a decision to give less homework and frankly we're relieved. It's a chore and frankly after a school day, an after-school club and a long walk home, she's too tired to do any work and be positively receptive to it!

I think TBQH it's a PITA that parents could well do without and as far as I'm aware, it does nothing to improve children's educational outcomes anyway. So what is the point!

DS (Yr 9) gets a lot more but it's still a bit 'all or nothing.' Some bits take about 20 minutes but others, such as History, Citizenship, English can take more than a couple of hours....Trying to get him into good habits this year so that he does it when it's set so that it doesn't stockpile. I think it's essential that they do get a break from work at the weekends but that's not possible if they're always playing 'catch-up'.

Sometimes think it would be better if they had a prep club and could stay at school late to do it - without distractions!

My children's primary school gave far too much homework (whole other thread) but the trick was to start off helping/encouraging as much a they needed but gradually help them towards self reliance.

So in Year 3, I'd sit at the dining room table alongside my son while he did his maths, explaining where necessary etc. In Year 4, I'd be in the same room, but only called over occasionally and by Year 6 he'd mostly just get on with it by himself often in his own room, with me checking it afterwards.

Now they're at seniors, they just get on with it by themselves and I'm confident they've got the skills to manage their workload etc. No idea how we'd have managed with the homework load at primary if I'd been working full time though.

Ds came home with his first bit of homework on his second day of school. I'm quite sad about that. It's to learn some words but trying to get him to sit down and have a look is a nightmare. I'm going to attempt to make a game out of it then give up. But of course I will be there to help him every step of the way. That's my job I think. I'm guessing when he's older that he will do it all himself though.

A set time of the week helps. It's the weekend here as the week is full of other stuff. Get it done early and out of the way, with the temptation of a reward if it's done without too much fuss

I must admit after Y2 I tended to pick and choose carefully what homework I helped my dc's with when they were at primary school. I worked as a primary school teacher, so I'd always look at what they had and if I unsure, quickly assess whether they could do the work independently and let them get on with it if they were confident. If I thought the work was too easy or too hard I would always (politely) let the teacher know, so it could be adjusted accordingly. It wasn't until until Y5 that they started to become more independent about getting on with homework without being reminded, mainly because they realised that literacy homework was sometimes better done in chunks over a few evenings I was able to help them with anything they brought home, but if they were stuck, we'd try to see what they knew, if we could work from there, to where they needed to go etc.

They're at grammar school now, the homework load increases steadily each year, and there are end of year exams. Helping them to be organised seems to be the really big deal so far. I discovered when dc1 sat his first end of year exams that he very rarely stuck any handouts he was given in class into his exercise books. He was supposed to but just forgot because there was so much to get used to in that first year, which was totally understandable and we had a big sort out, sticking in missing sheets and finding info online which would plug the gaps usefully.

Dc1 is in Y9 now and gets on with homework without being prompted, cross fingers this continues. Dc2 is in Y7, early days but also conscientious so again cross fingers!

Homework hell is what we call it! It's pretty easy and there's not masses of it (year 2) but it's still yet another thing to do and DD really would rather not. I don't see much point in it but pretend to and our strategy is to get it done when it's set and forget about it. For number work I find it's better to practise through play - board games etc - so there's an element of fun and competition and so we can all join in.

I don't include reading or spellings in that. Reading is daily anyway and not resisted. Spellings we put in the car to practise on way to after school fun activities so they are painless.

DS has just gone into Yr2 and as yet, hasn't had any homework other than reading.
His Yr1 homework was just reading, spellings (6 words to be learnt each week), worksheets and a project every term.
He reads a book to me every night. He enjoys reading so that's not a challenge to get him to do.
He usually enjoyed the worksheets too and I tried to leave him to get on with those by himself as much as possible, just being around to answer questions if needed.
I did get quite involved with the projects last year! They were things like designing a poster, or making something and he did need help. I always tried to get him to come up with the initial idea and I just help with execution.
I stick the weekly spellings to the fridge so that DS sees them all the time. I test him once or twice during the week to make sure he knows them.

DD1 has only just started reception, but she already has some words to learn at home. Very early days, bit so far she is enthusiastic and obviously I help her.

DD2 is in Reception, so is currently delighted to have some very basic homework. She sits and does her colouring alongside DD1 who has just started Year 2 and needs quite a bit of support.

She's keen to do her work, and very good at getting on with it, but does still need an adult on hand. I try to be avaiable, doing other things in the same room (such as helping DD2 with her colouring) rather than sit right next to her, as often she'll get more done on her own than she does if she believes I'll help with it all.

DS is in Year 5 and does his homework in his room. I'll have a chat with him before he gets started about what he's got, how he's going to do it, possible strategies etc. and we'll agree whether there's anything in particular that he might want specific help with from me. Generally, he gets most of it done, then I double check the spelling, handwriting and accuracy, and he will come to find me if he gets stuck. He's much better at getting on with it now he has a desk in his room and I've made sure he's got all the 'tools' he needs (sharp pencils, sharpener, rubbers, ruler etc) right there : he's quite disorganised, so this helps him to settle down and focus.

Personally, I think there's far too much homework. I think children should be given homework in key areas-such as arithmetic, literacy, spelling and reading-and that should be it. I don't think parents should be-or feel to be-obliged to "help with" or otherwise enable homework. I encourage it, and that's all. I'd be interested to know whether there is a proven link between parental involvement in homework and educational attainment.

My daughter struggles academically and has a short attention span so homework can be torture after a full day at school. My strategy is to do a little every day so I might listen to her read 2 pages of a book one day, we write her spellings out the next day, etc. I find she responds and understands best if we make homework a game so we get bags of copper coins out and play shops to do maths homework or we get Scrabble letters to do spellings. We go to the library so she can pick books she's interested in, it's a challenge to keep being creative to maintain an interest in education!

Starting the new term full of good intentions, clean study space and lots of new pens and post it notes. DD is pretty organised and independent with her homework but the best motivation is NO social internet time until today´s homework is done...

I helped my daughter with reading and maths in primary school and now I am doing the same with my son who goes to Year 1. As soon as my daughter got to Junior school she started having quite difficult homework with several tasks to complete. As I am not an English native speaker I find it hard to help her so my husband does. I noticed that the hardest thing to tackle is 'organisation and time management', in other words my daughter tend to find it difficult to organise her work in a way that she can deal with it, concentrate and then have free time.

Using the computer helps a lot doing the homework from getting general information to writing things down.

My husband sits with my daughter in the living room and I sit on the sofa' to listen my son's reading. Sometimes is a challenge for me as my son keeps messing around or doing silly things instead than carrying on with his work.

I find doing homework after tea at the dinning room table is the best for my daughter.
We read together every night but I think that the older she gets I am going to find it more difficult and will probably have to have a quick lessonbebefore I can help