What Home-work Means for Children ? - Adjust & Adapt to New Phases

A child is first away from home, usually when he or she starts going to school. School is fun and school is responsibility. We feel that they are amongst a host of other children, which should be intersting and entertaining for them. What we forget is that, we are not there with them, we, who have made ourselves a habit for them. They are supposed to manage on their own, understand their needs, realize them and ask for help, or for that matter relate to complete strangers, and perform tasks assigned.
 

Significance of Home-work - Adjust & Adapt to New Phases

Some children adapt to these changes very well and tackle the new phase with ease. Some children , fail to manage and end up being miserable. Here comes in the  parents. It is up to the parents of those children to make their respective child  aware of the changes and their new responsibilities . Some parents are only too eager to help their child with every possible task; this, does make the child happy and comfortable initially, but does not allow the child  to be self-dependent.

Home-work  is one area which evolves the child as a human being because , it is the child who is assigned a task, and knows what he /she has to do, more than anyone. It is important , very important, for the parent to give the child a chance to do his work, instead of trying to help him , before being asked for help. Some parents end up in school to inquire about the day's progress and the home-work given , just to ensure the child has not missed out on anything. Personally I have never done that.

I have always felt, that a  child should be given time to adjust and adapt to new phases in his/her life. A home-work is usually related to what has been done in class, so a child should be able to recall the teachings in the class and do the respective job assigned.  Parents should wait for  their children to come up with their problems and only then , they should get involved into the details. Ideally , parents should inquire , as to what task has been given and then ask the child to complete the work within a given time. It is important for a parent to keep an inconspicuous watch on the child , to make sure that the child is actually trying to do the work and not just pretending, (chilrden are very smart, they know how to fool us, and make us help them!). It is our duty to help  our children , if they are stuck, but it should never become a habit.

Some children are used to having their parents sit with them , while they do their work, this also is another wrong thing. As the child grows up, the habit of sitting with the child does not vanish. The child becomes totally dependent for everything on the parents, mothers usually, because they are the ones who try to be with children more often. I have students, who forget to pack in books, project works because their mother(s) had not reminded!

It is important for a child to be responsible for his/her deeds, and home-work is the foundation stone for this realization. The teacher gives the home-work to see how well the child recapitulates and reproduces that which has been explained to her/him.