Tips for parents
Extending learning at home
Most schools have developed activities for parents and learners to work together to extend schoolwork into the home so as for learning to continue during this trying period. To maximise learning outcomes and achievements during this period, we advise parents to provide a quiet place and a regular time for homework and other learning activities.
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Creating a routine for studying - space and time
Routines are important because they give children a sense of security and help them develop patterns of self- discipline. A predictable routine allows children to feel safe, and to develop a sense of mastery in a safe secure environment. As this sense of mastery is strengthened, it then persuades a child to tackle larger challenges. Helping children feel safe and ready to take on new challenges is one of the parent’s responsibilities. Structure and routines allow children to internalise constructive habits and function well with others. Establishing a family routine with regular mealtimes, bedtimes, homework time, and outdoor play and exercise time is important. Sharing time with family in a structured routine gives a child a sense of meaning, belonging and security.
It is a parental responsibility to make the home a suitable environment for learning. Part of this includes ensuring that there is space for the child to study. Additionally, having a set time and space to do homework, kids learn how to sit themselves down to accomplish a task.
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Homework to improve learning outcomes
Although parents are not expected to play the role of the teacher when it comes to school work but during this period it will greatly benefit your children if you assist them with their homework. Homework is one way of encouraging the child to study and work independently; however, children need and supervision from their parents.
Parent Strategies
Parents have to make sure that their children do the homework and also check if the work is completed. Children must know that homework time is “serious business”.
You may use some of the following strategies as a guide to ensuring that homework gets done:
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Understand the purpose of homework so that they could understand why it is important that learners should complete homework at home.
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Create a home environment that is conducive to learning. This includes giving parents suggestions on how to set a specific time and provide a distraction-free environment where learners can complete their homework and study.
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Know how to monitor and what to check if homework is completed without being experts in the subject area.
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Support the school’s consequences if learners choose not to do their homework. These consequences may include a loss of recess time, staying after school or taking a zero on the assignment or project.
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Show their children how to break assignments into doable bites so the pressure won't be on the night before the due date.
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Avoid giving learners too much help. Parent "overinvolvement" is evident when a homework assignment would be perfect, but the learner would fail the test on the same material. Clues of "take-over" or "over-involvement" are when a parent says: "How can your teacher give me such a low mark after I worked so hard?" or when a learner starts thinking: "Mom and dad will do it for me!" A correct approach is if a child has done a maths problem incorrectly, the parent shows him/her how to work a similar problem but let him/her be the one to correct it on his/her worksheet.
Source: DoE