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When students get home after a long day at school, homework is usually the last thing they want to do. For parents, getting their children to complete homework can be an exhausting and stressful task. So what's a teacher to do? Homework can't be eliminated entirely.

But, there are ways to make it more fun and exciting for both parents and their children. To take a fresh approach to homework and energize your students, follow these 10 easy tips for making homework more engaging.

Provide Choice

One of the reasons students become disengaged with homework is because they find it to be pointless. Providing students with an emotional or personal connection to homework can boost engagement.

Education consultant and speaker Rick Wormeli suggests that teachers provide more choices when assigning homework. For example, have students choose which problems to do (odd or even) or provide a choice of several prompts. Another idea is to have students choose to work with partners, or on their own. When students have choice, they become more connected to what's at stake and homework becomes more engaging.

Authentic Audiences

The things we think inside of our heads tends to differ from what we say out loud. This is also true for learning and doing homework. Spending too much time on work that's simply completed and graded can feel monotonous. Instead, help students find real world context in their work by encouraging them to share aloud.

The Educator, a resource for teachers, adds that reading and discussing homework with an audience helps a student understand the work in a different way. It also provides parents and other family members with an opportunity to engage in what the student is learning. This opens up room for dialogue and debate that can make someone dig deeper into the ideas that their homework is presenting.

Switch Things Up

There are varying perspectives on how to assign homework. However, one truth about homework remains true: it should never introduce new ideas.

Educational scientist and teacher Helen Silvester says that homework is meant to reinforce ideas learned in class. New concepts can cause confusion and frustration, and make it harder for students to learn at a rate equal to their peers. To make homework engaging, even when it is a reiteration of daily lessons, teachers can select work that's relevant to student interests and values. Therefore, students have an opportunity to explore the same common theme through fresh new pathways that excite and inspire.

Altering the Homework Concept

Many students consider homework to be a burden. But what if we changed the concept of homework all together? This is exactly what's proposed by education writer Darci Maxwell. She explains that homework is full of negative connotations. These ideas begin at an early age and tend to continue throughout college.

Teachers can transform these thought patterns by using other terms to describe homework. Terms like home learning, brain exercises and study time are all better ways to talk about homework. In the classroom, you can try replacing the word homework with these terms.

Incorporate Art

Most students enjoy engaging in creative thinking. Help make homework more fun and relaxing by adding art-focused assignments to the mix.

One idea is to give students options to draw, write a song, or play an instrument in response to a certain book. Chris Cotter, director at Alpros, a language school in Japan, adds that students can also prepare a short role play to perform in class. This would require students to research the characters and places they're assigned. In addition to making it more personal, this project encourages kids to step outside of their comfort zones.

Inspire Adventure

Sitting at the kitchen table doing homework isn't necessarily a bad thing. But, doing homework in the same location every day can cause disinterest and boredom. Switch it up by encouraging kids and parents to take homework on an adventure.

The Talented Ladies Club, an inspirational resource for working moms, says one idea is to pop into a local coffee shop. Working outside in the garden or on the porch can also make homework more interesting. Parents can stay involved by bringing a craft or work of their own outside. Teachers can inspire and encourage students by setting challenges in the classroom. Students can then share their homework adventure stories in class to generate excitement for learning amongst peers.

Engage the Senses

Another way to mix up the same old, same old is to engage new senses in the at-home learning process. Parenting writer Erica Loop says that engaging a child's sense of touch, smell or taste in a different way can actually help them focus better.

For example, sending students home with a recipe for scented play dough can boost learning directly and indirectly. The dough can be incorporated into lessons, like math and spatial visual concepts, plus the citrus scent (in this case) helps keep children alert while they work. It also allows them to associate the odor with something they learned, boosting memory and recall.

Stress balls are another element that teachers can send students home with. Using a stress ball before, during or after assignments can help a student think more creatively and reduce anxiety in a healthy way.

Create Breaks and Intervals

Some students may be able to complete all of their homework in one sitting. For those students who can't sit still, consider incorporating breaks into the homework process.

Peg Dawson, a psychologist at Seacoast Mental Health Center, explains that breaks can be incorporated into weekly learning schedules. Breaks can include getting a snack, playing one level on a video game, or chatting with a friend. Teachers can discuss these ideas with parents and students to help set the tone for when and how homework breaks are taken.

This works in two key ways. First, it gives students a reward for completing their homework. Second, it offers a mental break so that they can return to their work feeling refreshed and engaged.

Offer Incentives

Offering incentives in the classroom is nothing new. However, these techniques aren't often brought to the concept of homework. And while some parents may create their own rewards (as mentioned above), teachers aren't always informed about what's being offered and whether or not it's working. Creating in-classroom incentives is a smart alternative.

Beth Frueh, creator of the blog Adventures of a Schoolmarm, offers a unique way to incentivize students. She suggests providing coupons, which students earn by completing their homework. These coupons include rewards like sitting next to a friend in class, time on the computer and free time in the classroom. When students associate homework completion with positive, in-classroom experiences, it'll boost their engagement both inside and outside the classroom.

Quality over Quantity

Teachers become accustomed to assigning a certain amount of homework each day, week and month. In turn, students get used to this cadence and sometimes focus too much on getting things done in a sloppy manner. Instead of encouraging a quantity over quality approach, focusing on longer, higher quality assignments can boost engagement.

For example, you might switch over to less daily homework assignments and one long term project due on a weekly or monthly basis. Learning service provider Angela Stockman explains that more time allows room for deeper revision work, which is better for overall learning. She also says that hobbies are as important as learning, whether in the classroom or at home, and less daily homework can allow children to develop important skills in music, sports or the arts.

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Is Homework Ever Fun? 10 Ways Teachers Can Make It More Engaging

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Keep your students interested outside the classing: inspire creativity and boost homework engagement with these tips for teachers, administrators, parents and students.

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The topic of homework is a hot button issue in education. Do we give it? Do we not? What do we give? How much? We all have read articles about children crying and fighting with their parents over homework. Homework should never lead to tears. If homework is to be assigned, then let it be meaningful to students. We must also remember the after-school commitments that children attend: sports, music lessons, religious school... These extra-curricular activities are vital to the development of young minds. We should never put families in the position of having to choose between their child playing in a championship soccer game and completing 1-2 hours of homework. We need to work on this issue with families, not ignore them.

We also need to take into account that more families are dual income households now than in past years. Students may spend time each day in after-school care while both parents are still working. This makes less time for parents to help with homework in the evening after a long day at school. Work weary parents and tired children trying to get through homework before bedtime is a recipe for disaster.
Here are five ways to charge homework practices now:

Stop Assigning Large Amounts of Problem Sets

There is no reason to assign 20-30 math problems that focus on the same skill. Students can show mastery of a skill in just 2-3 problems. Even the brightest of students who can whiz through problems will become resentful and detached from the assignment when forced to complete 20 problems more than they need to.

Never Introduce a New Concept Through Homework

A child should never be introduced to new material via homework. In many scripted curriculums, students are assigned designated homework regardless of whether or not the teacher was able to get through all the material. If it wasn't covered, don't make it homework.

Time and time again, research tells us that students perform best when given choices. Giving students a menu of choices will increase participation and allow students to demonstrate mastery in the way they learn best.

Students Should Be Able to Complete Homework Without Parental Assistance

Homework should rarely need the help of a parent. If the intent of the homework is to reinforce that skills learned at school, then the student should be able to complete it on their own. If they can't, then they didn't properly learn the skill at school. Sending them home with homework isn't going to change that. Requiring parents to sit and re-explain the concept to their child might lead to greater confusion as the parent might re-teach it differently, or worse, incorrectly as they are not teachers. This can also lead to tears from both the student and parent!

One of the primary goals of educators is to cultivate a love of reading. As an educator and a parent, there are few things in this world I have found more amazing than watching a child begin to read and have them discover a whole new world of wonder. We want them to want to read, not think of it as homework. Assigning a reading log does just that - it diminishes the act of reading down to a homework assignment.
Dr. David Franklin is an experienced school administrator, education professor, curriculum designer, and presenter. Dr. Franklin has presented at national and international education conferences as is available for school and district professional development sessions.

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The topic of homework is a hot button issue in education. Do we give it? Do we not? What do we give? How much? We all have read articles about children crying and fighting with their parents over homework. Homework should never lead to tears. If homework is to be assigned, then let it be...

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It should come to no surprise that students and parents are feeling the stress of mounting homework assignments. It is not uncommon for elementary schoolers to complete a few hours of homework every night. The subject of homework and how much is too much has become somewhat controversial, especially recently, when we are seeing children diagnosed with depression and anxiety at an alarming rate. Elementary students in America today are stressed, overworked, and over-scheduled. Regardless of how families may contribute to the "over-scheduled" child, we educators must be cognizant of the reality that homework for homework's sake is hurting our students. It appears that, after much consideration and research, many schools are changing their stance on the implementation of nightly homework. That said, how can we change our own visions of what homework is meant to accomplish?

Let's take a look at some alternative perspectives on how homework could be implemented differently in today's public schools.

Some schools are doing away with homework altogether. The argument behind this movement is that students are wildly overworked, over-tested, and overly stressed. Since even elementary schools have shifted their instructional focus from socialization, imagination, and creativity to a heavier emphasis on academics, it makes sense to cut homework from the agenda. Consider this-students as young as kindergarten and first grade are seeing more curriculum-based instructional time than ever before. Coloring, sharing, napping, and imaginative play are largely things of the past, replaced by advanced curriculums and content-specific lessons. Since the school day has become more grounded in more difficult school work, schools are forgoing the concept of homework in an effort to balance out the rigor of classes.

Other schools are adopting a similar plan for greatly reduced homework. Again, the argument is that the school day is tough enough-jam-packed with more difficult instruction and classwork. Students are encouraged to complete work outside of the classroom only when extra practice is necessary. This alleviates the "homework for homework's sake" issue that both parents and students push back against. For example, teachers may provide additional optional worksheets, practices, or websites to peruse for students who would like extra practice with a concept or skill.

Many teachers are becoming proponents of the exit card or entry card in place of checking homework assignments for grades. These small , graded assignments at the opening or closing of a lesson act as check-ins, much like homework. Instead of students taking work home to exhibit their understanding, teachers issue brief formative assessments, like an exit card, to establish whether or not students have mastered the concept on their own. This is just one method which replaces the need for homework without compromising the teacher's ability to assess student progress.

Another method that teachers are utilizing in place of formal homework assignments is to use class time to complete essays or projects. The push for this comes from many perceived advantages. Workshopping papers during class time allows teachers to have a more hands-on approach to helping students with their writing. This also provides useful opportunities for students to practice peer editing and revision. In terms of group projects, class time to work allows collaborative opportunities without the stress of planning to meet outside of school, which can be difficult for students who cannot drive. Finally, classwork allows students the opportunity to ask questions and receive help in real time. With homework, assignments that are difficult or confusing add another layer of frustration, since help is not always immediately available at home.

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Homework: A New Approach for Teachers | Learning Essentials