This is the fifth article in a series by Susan Kruger of SOAR® Learning, LLC covering her ‘Homework Problems Inventory’. We hope you find this series helpful as the school year progresses.
Issue #5- He Spends Too Much Time on Homework!
“My child takes longer than she should to complete her homework.”
What’s the Problem?
There are many reasons why homework may take longer than it should; procrastination, lack of focus, fatigue, and poor study skills are a few common factors that contribute to the problem. Another huge epidemic contributing to extended homework time is the prevalence of electronic distractions.
As a parent, you can probably recall how easy it was to be distracted by a phone or the TV as you did your homework. Children today have the same trouble, yet magnified many times greater! They have computers, iPods, and mobile phones with the ability to instantly text-message their friends…and instantly receive text-messages from their friends.
As a generally self-disciplined adult, I cannot even resist the temptation to check my emails or text-messages every time I hear the “tone” announce their arrival. How can we expect children and young adults to focus?
Why is this happening?
Very often, our children will try to convince us that they can multi-task and do their homework while texting friends. To a certain extent, that is true. However, they take much longer to complete homework, are not actively learning/absorbing content, and are merely going through the motions to “get it done.” Ultimately, this costs them more study time down the road.
As sophisticated as our brains are, they are only capable of processing one set of input at a time. If a child is doing homework and listening to her iPod, her attention is playing a sporadic game of ping-pong…tuning in to the song, then her homework then the song… This shift of attention happens so fast, she may not even notice, but it is preventing her brain from engaging in “high-gear” learning (see issue #7), is stunting her efficiency, and her ability to learn while doing homework.
What can be done about it?
In the last 4-5 years, I have noticed a significant change in students’ responses during the live classes that I teach. When we review and recap time-management, I always ask them to describe three hints, tips, or strategies they have learned that have helped them save time on homework. An overwhelming majority of students now list “Power Down” as their top time-saver. This is a marked shift from just a few years ago.
“Powering Down” is the concept of turning off the phone, iPod, TV, and computer to tackle homework quickly. Certainly, at first, students are a little reluctant to turn everything off and buckle down to do their work because they think they can multi-task and handle everything at one time. However, time and time again, students are genuinely surprised at their increased efficiency and quickly discover that they can cut their homework time significantly, simply by Powering Down the electronics and allowing their brain to get into High-Gear Learning.
The Homework Help! for Parents CDs and e-book address this topic in much greater detail and include additional strategies to help children and young adults work and learn faster, making it easier and less tiresome for them to tackle homework. As a result, they will become more focused, be less likely to procrastinate, have happier evenings, and be more successful in school!
“By Susan Kruger of SOAR® Study Skills. Please visit
Susan’s web site at http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=L8ell&m=1axauS4Vd6QrBb&b=inirOt6PA2ET2wE2Uw3IlA for additional articles and resources to make managing homework easier.”
