Age Parents Should Stop Helping With Homework: Pros and Cons 

As much as students need to do their homework, sometimes parents must offer substantial help. Parents need to guide their children to handle their assignments in the best way possible.

Even though help to children is beneficial, some parents tend to go overboard. They deny children the ability to be independent and do their assignments on their own. 

Anxiety and fear of failure are some of the greatest contributors to parents helping their children with homework. Though it is obvious that parents want their children to pass their exams, some go to the extent of doing homework on behalf of their young ones.

Nonetheless, such an approach can negatively impact the academic journey of children. Students will develop the tendency to depend more on their parents.

At What Age Parents Should Stop Helping With Homework

There is a limit to how parents oversee their students’ academic journey. At a certain age, a parent must stop helping their child with homework.

You must foster a culture of independence in your kid. At the age of 12 years, children will be ready to do their homework by themselves. 

When the child is of age to do his or her assignment alone, you should not quit helping where necessary.

That is why monitoring your child’s homework is important. But as you do so, you need to instill in your child the needed study habit and skills of hard work.

And that means you do not have to do their assignments. Yours should be to offer insight so that the child stays on the right track.

Reasons Why Parents Need to Monitor Children’s Homework

1. Improve Children’s Social Skills

Monitoring your child’s homework gives you the chance to interact with them. As you do so, their social skills are bound to become better. Your child will know how to interact with other students while at school. Through interactions, your child can take advantage of teamwork or group discussions to perform well in their studies. 

2. Give Guidelines

Students need to know the guidelines that encompass answering questions. Such guidelines can either come from tutors, teachers, or parents.

As a parent, you must monitor your children’s homework to ensure they are following the right guidelines. Where they need help, be willing to offer the necessary assistance but do not overdo it. 

3. Know their Strength and Weaknesses

Understanding the strength and weaknesses of your child enables you to engage their teacher on where the problem is. That is why you need to monitor their homework. You can easily tell where your child is struggling.

Once you identify their weaknesses, share them with their teacher or tutor. The teacher should take the necessary mitigation measures to enhance the performance of your child in the subject they are struggling in.

Reasons Why Parents Should Help Kids With Homework

1. Enhance Self-Confidence

Students who perform poorly in their academics can experience low self-confidence. Obviously, this will have a negative impact on their self-esteem.

As a parent to such a student, you need to be willing to offer the necessary help.

You can start by helping your kid with homework. Get to know which subjects they are struggling in, and help them answer assignment questions. 

2. Improve Creativity

Right from home, parents must help students in their academic journey. By helping them unravel some tough assignment questions, students become more creative and are motivated to do homework.

They learn the various ways to solve various quizzes. In this way, they can become critical thinkers. At school, the teacher will be able to nurture and accelerate their creativity and critical thinking. Therefore, parents have no otherwise but to be at the forefront in helping kids with homework.

3. Become Good Organizers

Kids tend to be very careless while doing their assignments. They are prone to falling prey to distractors which rob them of the concentration to do neat work.

And that is why parents need to take the initiative of helping their children with their homework. You can instill in them the culture of being good organizers. It is possible through enlightening them on how best to organize their homework and the benefits of submitting neat work.

4. Time to Bond With Your Child

As you help your kid with homework, you also get time to bond with them. You get to know more about your child and how best you can assist him or her academically.

It is crucial since you also improve their social skills. By giving examples, your child gets to know how to solve somehow hard questions. And that will boost their academic performance.

 Dos And Don’ts Of Helping Kids With Homework

There are some factors to consider as you take the initiative to help your kid with homework. They are rules that guide how best to help your kid. Besides, there are some things you should not do.

Dos

1. Work Closely with Educators

You get to know how best you can assist your child with their assignment.

It prevents over parenting and the over-reliance of students on parents to do their homework.

2. Reviews your Child’s Assignment

You can identify some of the mistakes your child is making. You can then help them correct in advance.

3. Be your Child’s Greatest Fan

Give your child the support necessary to help him work on their assignments. Provide the reading materials that offer knowledge and answers to the questions in their assignments.

Don’ts

1. Do not Allow Frustration to Take the Better Side of You

Even if your child provides a wrong answer, do not show them your frustration. Instead, work towards helping them to realize their mistake to correct it.

2. Do not be Too Hard on Your Children

Remember, your children need time to relax after school. Do not just force them into doing their homework right away.

3. Do not Do the Assignment on their Behalf

Your kid needs to learn to be independent. Even when they can’t do homework,as you help them with their assignment, ensure they can answer the questions by themselves.

Conclusion

Parents need to help their children with homework. However, there is always a catch. There is a specific age when children need to start doing their assignments on their own. When the age is right, you only have to play the role of an overseer. Provide guidance, but do not play the role of a teacher.