Students are most often heard about having a wholesome loathing for homework. Coming back home from school and sitting down to complete assignments fill students with a severe hatred for the entire education system. It is one of the main reasons for students not doing homework.
This is especially true when assignments are very difficult and take late into the night to complete. If your cousin, kid or grandparent is not interested in completing his assignments, here are some excellent tips to make homework interesting for him or her.
- Use group study sessions
You must have heard about ‘study buddy’, and the concept is as old as the hills. It has been popular for a long time, and has been proven by research to be effective in making lessons interesting for students. You might have seen many students gathered around the study table or huddled together in the hallway. This is group study, and can be very effective if it consists of serious, like-minded pupils.
Students like to be with their peers, and look for opportunities to spend time together. If you wish to get your kid or cousin do homework, you can invite his classmates over to your place. With a study-buddy, students not doing homework can be a problem of the past. He can finish the task together and not feel bored by the process.
- Peer checking
You can also let each member of the study group check other’s homework and award the work with marks. Once each student finds his work is being checked by his friend and marked lower, he will definitely be more interested in improving his assignments and making them as good as possible. Over time, he will develop an interest in his lessons and complete his homework in the shortest possible time.
- Use the latest technology
You can allow him to complete his assignments online. The opportunity to sit before the computer and use the internet will make homework seem like a better activity for him. Various studies show that students do better when they are handed over assignments that involve the use of computers.
For students not doing homework, quite a few websites exist that offer interactive ways to study. These help students to be engaged and can inspire them to finish their homework as well. Students can get peer support, where they can ask questions related to their assignments and get answers. They can also get certificates and rewards for completing their homework.
- Let them self-monitor their performance
Another excellent way to get students interested in studies is to make them log on a graph or chart, which can represent their performance and show their success through:
- Pie charts
- Percentage
- Bar graphs
Students can log into the system and find out whether they have been able to a Pre- defined task or problem. Students not doing homework properly will feel motivated to do something to improve their homework performance when they view their performance represented explicitly in a graphical format.
- Rewards and appreciation
The system of appreciating students for doing their homework and offering them a reward every day after successful completion of their assignments is another old approach. This mainly works for younger students.
Rewards act as a way of positive reinforcement and encourage students to be attentive to their assignments and finish them fast. Over a period, sitting down for homework turns into a habit and they do not have to be encouraged with rewards any more.
- Allow flexibility with homework routine
When anything becomes a routine, it is likely to get boring. It is the same with homework assignments. While the student has to maintain a homework routine, you can make it flexible at times to adapt to the changing situations.
In case your kid will be busy all through the weekend with his studies for the upcoming test, or he will be out with his group of friends during the weekend for a vacation trip, you can cut down the time for homework. If that is not possible, assist him as much as possible to finish the assignments as quickly as possible.
- Time the activity
Nobody has a world of time, and you will not like to devote a lot of time to your cousin or kid and check whether he is doing his homework. It is not a good habit either to let him go on with his assignments and stay awake until the late hours.
You can set the alarm or timer on your phone for every half hour interval, which would notify him time is running out and he must complete his assignments quickly.
Have something to look forward to everyday
It is a good idea to pre- determine an activity that your kid can take part in after his homework is finished. It must be something that interests him, such as an online game, and he will look forward to it.
This generally encourages students not doing homework to complete their homework as fast as possible. After you have checked the accuracy of the assignments, participate in the activity.
