How Long Homework Should Really Be Taking
It is not uncommon for families to be concerned because their child's homework is taking what seems like forever to get through. Homework struggles can stem from multiple causes. It can be hard, it can be boring, or, it could be a sign of an underlying struggle for your child.
How Long You Should Spend on Homework
The rule we advise families to stick with is 10 minutes per grade level per night. That means if you have a second-grader, he or she should be doing 20 minutes of homework each night. If you have a 6th grader, it should be an hour.
If this sounds impossible based on your child's current homework time, we encourage you to reflect on some factors that may be causing the homework to take longer.
Is your child paying attention to their homework the whole time?
Is one class (like reading) taking longer than the rest?
Is the workload just TOO much?
What You Can Do if Homework Feels Like it Takes Forever
We recommend monitoring your child's behavior while they do their homework. Track how long they are on task, how many times they get distracted, what subjects they prefer, and what subjects are causing them the most trouble. This can be valuable information as attention difficulties and learning challenges can point to an underlying attention or learning disability. If you are concerned, we encourage you to reach out and get more information. You can read our blog, Discovering a Learning Disability here.
Once you know if there is an underlying struggle, you should begin to practice good homework habits to help build your child's executive functioning skills.
