On homework: How to make sure kids do them

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Homework -- many adults must have hated them as children, but it is actually good for kids. Homework is given for many reasons, primarily as a means of extending a child’s learning space beyond the walls of the classroom. It also enhances a child’s time management and study skills. The US Department of Education’s official blog shares some tips on how to encourage your kids to do their homework:

Set up a good study place
Ideally, this place must be quiet and void of any distraction. You must keep television, toys, or the computer away, unless they are needed for the assignment. Ensure that the place is well lit.

Set a good example
Your child tends to imitate what you do. As your child is focusing on the homework, do something similar like reading a novel while your child completes her reading assignment.


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Teach time management
Be sure to schedule a “homework time” and teach your child to become more responsible about deadlines.

Teach independence
Do not spoon-feed your child with answers. Let your child work alone, but provide help when it is needed.

Teach your child how to tackle a challenge
Teach your child to recognize which questions are hard and which are easy. Have him or her do the hard ones first and save the easy ones for later.

Homework is not given to children for nothing. It helps develop certain skills, and presents an opportunity for you to be involved and to determine how much progress your child is making in school. It gives you time to bond, too.


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Frank Biden is an advocate for alternative methods of education that focus on learning. This Facebook page offers more updates on the education sector.

Making education matter: Taking cue from the students' interests and circumstances

Sometimes, educators need to cut back on their use of traditional learning methods and take a look at the situations and the interests of their students to find novel ways to make learning more enjoyable and more relevant.

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Evidence of the importance of a change in approach can be found in the success of alternative learning institutions such as the Frank Biden-supported Mavericks High, which has schools designed to be simple, inviting, and reflective of a teen’s lifestyle, and the use of Skype in the classroom initiative, which grants teachers with a free and easy way to open up the classroom.

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In many alternative learning institutions, students who found themselves hindered by traditional learning methods are given a unique opportunity to earn a state-recognized diploma in a school environment that matches their pace of learning instead of leaving them unable to catch up.

Meanwhile, through alternative learning opportunities that take technology that the students of today are used to seeing and using in their leisure time, educators can keep their students more engaged with the lesson. It also fosters the sense of curiosity that is inherently within young students, giving them the motivation to pursue topics related to what they have just learned.

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With educators who are able to take into account the students’ interests and their situations in and out of school, the students are able to focus on their studies better and are empowered to take charge of their own future.

More updates on alternative education may be found on this Facebook page.