doing homework together with family

21 Family Bonding Activities to Strengthen Your Family’s Connection

These twenty-one family bonding activities will bring your family together and build cohesion – often while having fun!

It’s a modern-day scene: after work and school, your family runs around to kids activities, errands, quickly eats dinner, the kids complete their homework, and before you know it, it’s bedtime.

Research shows that a strong parent/child relationship  is essential for children’s wellbeing and behavior. But in our hectic lives, trying to find time to bond as a family can be challenging. Which means we have to be more intentional than ever to make it happen.

Here are twenty-one of the best family bonding activities: 

Sometimes family bonding activities can be special outings, but they don’t have to be. Even everyday or weekly activities can help bring us closer to our kids.

#1 – Have a family game night

Playing board games  as a family can be a fun way to spend time together. It also brings out everyone’s personality, starts unexpected conversations (and goofiness), and can help kids work through self-doubt and confidence depending on the outcome of the game. A few classic family games include Monopoly, Pictionary, and Catan.

If you’re looking for suggestions for  the best family games for all ages, look no further than this list ! These games have been tried and tested and get top ratings from a family that does little else with its free time besides playing board games. 

#2 – Get outside

Spending time outside is beneficial for everyone – adults and kids alike. It can  lift moods , create a sense of wonder, and provides the perfect space to burn energy and be active. 

During the summer, families can go swimming, go on a hike (and geocache), go camping, spend time on a boat, or visit an outdoor attraction such as a zoo. Even a simple picnic can bring the family together or on special occasions, attend an outdoor concert together. 

In the winter, if temperatures reach freezing and below, ice skating, skiing, sledding and snow tubing are fun family activities. Or even just simply building a snowman when it snows. Hiking can also happen in the winter, although snowshoes may be necessary at times.

Get the Kids Outside is a great resource for inspiration and ideas for getting kids and the family outdoors.

#3 – Cook or bake together

Cooking or baking with kids is always a fun activity. Kids enjoy participating in something grown-ups typically do – especially when there’s a delicious reward at the end! 

Besides, teaching kids to cook is a life skill that will set them up for success later in life. Knowing how to cook leads to healthier eating and often saves money over prepared meals or takeout dinners. Additionally, cooking can become a relaxing and creative pastime after a busy day. 

Baking chocolate chip cookies or an easy snack is a great way to get started. Kids can help read the recipe, measure ingredients, mix, and place dough on baking sheets.

See related:  Teach Kids to Cook by Age and Ability

#4 – Hold regular family meetings

Coming together once a week for a meeting is one of the best ways to bring more cohesion to your family. 

Family meetings provide a forum to work together on challenges the family, siblings or a family member is facing (for example, not cleaning up dirty dishes or keeping a shared bathroom clean). It’s also a time to discuss family rules, make sure everyone is aware of the family’s schedule, and plan meals and any special family outings. 

Children also gain numerous life skills during these meetings such as learning to collaborate, take turns talking, and problem-solve with family members. And family meetings that allow children to play a part in family dynamics, as opposed to being bystanders, give them a sense of belonging and purpose that builds self-esteem. 

See related:  Family Meeting Toolkit

#5 – Eat dinner together (whenever possible)

Eating dinner together has been shown to be beneficial for family bonding and  children’s self-esteem . Sharing meals while sitting around a table provides the perfect opportunity to spur conversation and get to know one another better. Kids  feel a greater sense of security and belonging  when family meals are routine. 

Need a few prompts to get your family dinner conversation started? These 125+ Family Conversation Cards can help. Each one contains a lighthearted question any family member can answer. Kids will have fun learning more about you and you’re bound to discover something you didn’t know about your kids . Click here or the image below to learn more and get your own set.

#6 – Do chores together

Doing chores together might not seem like a logical family bonding activity. After all, chores certainly aren’t associated with doing something fun and enjoyable.

But the teamwork it takes for the whole family to get the house clean can build family cohesiveness…if chores are presented to kids in a way that’s empowering and builds their sense of belonging. ( Click here to see the best way to introduce chores to your kids ). And chores can be a bit more fun if everyone works to music or kids know a fun family activity follows the clean-up.

Research also shows that doing chores as a child leads to greater academic, emotional, and professional success. See: Why Kids Need Chores to Be Successful in Life to learn more. 

#7 – Volunteer together

Doing volunteer work as a family often exposes kids to the world outside their home, neighborhood, and community. It also  teaches kids life skills  such as working as a team, interacting with people different than oneself, and problem-solving. Volunteering is also shown to  improve the happiness and self-esteem  of those who do it. And it lets kids know that they can make a difference when they hear about problems and societal issues in the news. 

If you’re looking for volunteer ideas for your family, this resource should help:  4 Family Volunteer Opportunities: Bond While Doing Good

#8 – Organize special outings 

Special outings, either as an entire family or one-on-one with a parent and child, can be a great bonding opportunity, often creating lasting memories. Outings can include trips to a museum, aquarium, historic site, bowling, or doing an activity outside. It can also be as simple as taking your young child to a playground and getting ice cream afterwards.

With our busy lives, it can be easy to forget to make time for special outings. Rather than trying to fit these outings in spur of the moment, it helps to schedule them well in advance. 

#9- Create Family Traditions

Family traditions – around holidays or certain times of the year – unite families and create positive experiences and memories. 

Traditions can be as simple as eating certain foods on holidays, going apple picking every fall, or having a special cadence to someone’s birthday.

Family traditions tend to be handed down from generation to generation, but it’s a fun bonding experience to also create new traditions. If you’re looking for new family traditions ideas see:  40 Fun Family Tradition Ideas to Steal ASAP

Other family bonding activities you can do together:

There are endless ways to bond as a family. Here are twelve other ideas:

• Go camping in your backyard or at a campground
• Visit a museum, aquarium, or other cultural sights together
• Explore a nearby town
• Go bird watching together
• Go on a picnic
• Have a family movie night
• Create a family photo album together
• Work on a craft project together
• Random acts of kindness
• Do a scavenger hunt together
• Have an outdoor scrimmage 

Good rules to abide by during family time:

True family bonding doesn’t happen unless we’re spending quality time together. It’s best to have the following rules when family time occurs:

No cell phones or electronic devices

This includes parents! All cell phones, iPads, and laptops should be placed in another room if an activity is happening at home. Outside of the home, everyone should agree that cell phone use should be kept to a minimum. Cell phones should only be used for essential calls and texts or when looking up directions or information relevant to the activity. 

No work or homework to distract

Both work and homework need to be put on hold when family bonding time happens. Which is why the next rule is important. 

Inform all family members well in advance so everyone is fully available

Let everyone know well in advance when the activity will occur so they can be prepared and free from distractions. If it’s a big outing, a week or more may be necessary. More casual activities, occurring over the weekend, could be discussed and planned on a Friday night or at a family meeting. 

See related:

125+ Questions to Ask Your Kids and Bond as a Family

100 Thought-Provoking Questions to Ask Teenagers

These 5 Family Rules are Essential for Raising Well-Adjusted Kids

Do This Once A Week to Get Better Cooperation From Your Kids (and Teens!)

What to do next…

1. subscribe to self-sufficient kids’ email list., 2. take one of my quizzes.

Find out if you’re raising a self-sufficient kid ( click here ) or if you’re doing too much for your kids ( click here ). At the end of each quiz, you’ll be asked to provide your email address to see the results.

3. Get your kids started on chores.

Learn how to get your child started on chores (& keep them motivated + avoid power struggles) by enrolling in my Get Your Kids Successfully Started on Chores course. Click here to learn more and sign up.

About Kerry Flatley

Hi! I’m Kerry, the mother of two girls and a certified parent educator. I believe it is possible for parents to have a supportive, loving, and warm relationship with their kids while raising them to be independent and ultimately self-sufficient. Over the years, I’ve read numerous books and articles that support this belief and I’ve put these ideas into practice with my own kids. Read more about me and Self-Sufficient Kids here.

• What Happens When You Don’t Know Your Students
• How Diverse Are We?
• Culturally Responsive Curriculum Ideas
• What Families Want
• Reflecting on your goals
• Strategies to Improve Communication with Families
• How to Overcome Language Barriers
• Ways to familiarize families with the school system
• Transitioning From Elementary to Middle School
• Transitioning from Middle School to High School
• Developing Cultural Sensitivity
• Families Experiencing Poverty
• Homeless Families
• Native Hawaiian Families
• Immigrant Families
• Filipino Families
• Micronesian Families
• Military Families
• LGBTQIA2S+ Students and Families
• Families with Students in Special Education
• What You Don’t Know About Family Engagement

Ways to Engage Families at Home

• Ways to Engage Families at School
• Welcoming Parent into Schools
• Student-Led Conferences
• Family Engagement Strategy Impact Levels
• Greeting and Welcoming
• Getting to Know Your Families – General Strategies
• Getting to Know Your Families – Connecting with Diverse Families in Your Classroom
• Communication with Families – General
• Communication with Families- Conferences
• Creating Opportunities for Family Engagement
• Ways to Help Parents Support Academics at Home
• Partnering with Diverse Populations
• Partnering with the Community

• Family Engagement /
• 3.2 Ways to Engage Families at Home

Creating an environment for learning at home

Setting goals

Communication folders

Carefully consider your homework practices

Homework planner

More homework support

Homework hotline

Lending library

Mini-books for fluency

Decodeable and phonic readers

High frequency words

Timed readings

Audio books

Reading tips

Promoting writing at home (traveling Flat Stanley)

Promoting Math at home

Dual language books

Examining and learning from family engagement initiatives in Hawai‘i

Home visits

Neighborhood Inventory

One of the barriers to family engagement in the schooling of their children is that often families do not know how to be involved 1 . Teachers and schools with a commitment to parent involvement take an active role in helping parents learn a variety of ways to be involved. Student achievement is related to families help with homework. Families can provide assistance with subjects such as reading, writing, and math, and support the development of students’ first language at home.

1. Delgado-Gaitan, 1991

2. For example, see Van Voorhis, 2003 for homework; Sheldon & Epstein, 2005

Suggested procedures :

1. Help the families of your students create homework routines at home. There are at least four important factors to consider: location, space, time, and schedule. Some activities you can do assist families in this area are:

• Provide information about your homework policy and expectations during your Open House presentation. If possible, have samples of the homework you tend to give to your students in the different subject areas.
• Periodically and in small increments, inform families about how they can help their children with schoolwork. For example, you can have a “homework tips” section in your weekly newsletter.
• Survey students and families about their homework routines. Recognize what is going well and collaborate with students and families to work towards improving these routines.
• Visit your students’ homes. You can gather relevant information about the opportunities to learn that are available to your students and their families.

InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards

Standard #1: Learner Development

1(c) The teacher collaborates with families, communities, colleagues, and other professionals to promote learner growth and development.

Standard #3: Learning Environments

3(n) The teacher is committed to working with learners, colleagues, families, and communities to establish positive and supportive learning environments.

1. Homework tips for parents (kids age 5-13): https://www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/homework-help/homework-project-tips/10-homework-help-tips.html

2. Strategies to establish a homework routine at home, as well as a daily assignment planner and incentive planning sheet: https://childmind.org/article/strategies-to-make-homework-go-more-smoothly/

3. Faber, A., & Mazlish, E. (1995). How to talk so kids can learn: At home and in school. New York, NY: Scribner.

4. Christenson, S. (2004). Parent-teacher partnerships: Creating essential connections for children’s reading and learning. Harvard Family Research Project, Harvard, University, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved from https://archive.globalfrp.org/var/hfrp/storage/fckeditor/File/parent-teacher_module.pdf

5. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Bassler, O. C., & Burow, R. (1995). Parents’ reported involvement in students’ homework: Strategies and practices. In The Elementary School Journal, 95(5),pp. 435-450.

6. “How to Create an At-Home Learning Space for Your Child” at  https://www.waterford.org/resources/how-to-create-an-at-home-learning-space/

7. Hull, G., & Schultz, K. (2001). Literacy and learning out of school: A review of theory and research. Review of Educational Research, (71)4, pp. 575-611.

1. Identifying needs and resources. Help students and families gain ownership of the learning process working with them to identify personalized goals.

2. Work with students to create a list of goals they will be working on. Send a folder home that includes the following docs:

• An explanation of the activity
• Tips for families to help children identify goals.
• A goal-setting template.
• A documentation form.

3. Share with students and families the progress made and redefine goals or create new ones as the goals are met.

Standard #6: Assessment

6(m) The teacher knows when and how to engage learners in analyzing their own assessment results and in helping to set goals for their own learning.

6(q) The teacher is committed to engaging learners actively in assessment processes and to developing each learner’s capacity to review and communicate about their own progress and learning.

6(r) The teacher takes responsibility for aligning instruction and assessment with learning goals.

6(s) The teacher is committed to providing timely and effective descriptive feedback to learners on their progress.

Standard #7: Planning for Instruction

7(b) The teacher plans how to achieve each student’s learning goals, choosing appropriate strategies and accommodations, resources, and materials to differentiate instruction for individuals and groups of learners.

Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration 

10(q) The teacher respects families’ beliefs, norms, and expectations and seeks to work collaboratively with learners and families in setting and meeting challenging goals.

1. List of children’s story books on goal setting can be found at http://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/goal-setting-examples.html

2. “Goal Setting for Students, Kids, & Teens” at https://positivepsychology.com/goal-setting-students-kids/

3. “Homework: A Guide for Parents” at  https://apps.nasponline.org/search-results.aspx?q=Homework%3A+A+Guide+for+Parents

4. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Bassler, O. C., & Burow, R. (1995). Parents’ reported involvement in students’ homework: Strategies and practices. In The Elementary School Journal, 95(5), pp. 435-450.

1. You need to organize a system to have continuous and effective communication with families. For example, you can send a home folder every Monday and call it “Monday Folder.” Label the folder with its title and use its title when you communicate with students and families.

2. Decide what goes into the folder. For instance, you can include a relevant piece of students’ previous week’s work, a classroom weekly newsletter (if you don’t choose to email it) and letters and notifications about things such upcoming events, fieldtrips, and classroom guests. Whenever possible, have documents translated into the families’ native languages.

3. Let students take ownership of the process. As a Monday routine, have students organize their folders, deciding what papers need to be sent home in the “Monday Folder.”

4. Introduce families to your system of communication. You can present your system at Open Night, send families a letter, or ask your students to share the system with their parents.

5. Make it workable. In addition to enlisting your students to help to choose and organize the folders, solicit a reliable family volunteer or a group of rotating family volunteers to help collate papers into students’ folders each Monday.

9. Be creative. There are many ways in which you can organize the folders. Here are a couple of ideas:

– Use color-coded folders for take-home assignments. This can help prepare students to be organized as well as provide parents with a reliable tool to be informed of homework. It can also help minimize confusion and increase communication amongst all stakeholders.

– Include memos to parents and goal setting charts

Standard #1: Learner Development 

Standard #3: Learning  Environments 

3(q) The teacher seeks to foster respectful communication among all members of the learning community.

Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration 

10(d) The teacher works collaboratively with learners and their families to establish mutual expectations and ongoing communication to support learner development and achievement.

1. “Engaging Families in Out-of-School Time Programs Toolkit” at https://cdn.ymaws.com/nafsce.org/resource/resmgr/Toolkits/Boston_Engaging_Families_Out.pdf

2.  “8 Innovative Ways to Organize Take Home Folders” at https://www.weareteachers.com/8-innovative-ways-to-organize-take-home-folders/

3. “Weekly Folders Deliver News from School to Home” at http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin463.shtml

4. Another example of a communication folder. http://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/08/daily-communication-folders-teacher-tip.html

Suggested procedures:

It is important to consider the reasons why you are asking students to do homework and what you expect students to get out of it. Read these two short texts (click here), and then answer the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of your homework? Vatterott talks about the following purposes:

• Pre-learning , Tasks to provide an introduction to a topic or background for a more in-depth lesson and prepare students for the materials that are going to be introduced.
• Checking for understanding . Tasks that provide information to teachers about students’ knowledge in order to plan for re-teaching or for further instruction.
• Practice . Tasks that allow students to practice the knowledge and skill learned in class. It is important to ensure that students have actually learned the material and don’t have any misconceptions that might be reinforced by practice, as well as to make sure that practice is distributed and not given all at once.
• Processing . Tasks that ask students to reflect, synthesize, apply, or extend what they have learned in class.

2. What type of learning are you seeking for your students? Vatterott provides the following overview:

• Facts —Discrete bits of information that we believe to be true (e.g., whales are mammals)
• Concepts —Categories of things with common elements that help us organize, retain, and use information (e.g., the process of photosynthesis)
• Principles —Rules that govern concepts (e.g., matter can change forms)
• Attitudes —Degrees of commitment to ideas and spheres of learning (e.g., we should be concerned about the environment)
• Skills— The capacity to apply the understandings students have gained (e.g., drawing conclusions from data)

3. How will you promote students’ interest and motivation to do homework? You need to carefully consider the following aspects:

• Academic purpose — Tasks should have a clear academic purpose.
• Competence — Tasks should have a positive effect on a student’s sense that they can be successful.
• Ownership — Tasks  s hould be personally relevant and customized to promote ownership.
• Aesthetics — Tasks  s hould be aesthetically pleasing.

4. How will you differentiate your homework? Homework should be differentiated based on the learner’s readiness, learning style, and organizational skills. Homework may be differentiated by difficulty or amount of work, by the amount of structure or scaffolding provided, or by learning style or interest.

5. How do you plan to give feedback to students about their homework? Good feedback on homework requires back-and-forth dialogue between teachers and the students, so teachers need to find efficient ways of doing so. Consider also self- and peer- feedback on homework.

6. How do you plan to use the homework info in your teaching? Ideally, homework should provide feedback to the teacher about student understanding, allowing the teacher to adjust instruction, and when necessary, reteach concepts, before practice is assigned.

Read the following quote:

“ If children are not required to learn useless and meaningless things, homework is entirely unnecessary for the learning of common school subjects. But when a school requires the amassing of many facts which have little or no significance to the child, learning is so slow and painful that its school is obliged to turn to the home for help out of the mess the school has created.”

– Excerpt from article in the November 1937 issue of Parents magazine, cited in Alfie Khon’s “The homework myth: Why our kids get too much”

Do all students need homework?

by Cathy Vatterott

A parent once asked her daughter’s teacher “If my daughter already knows how to do these math problems, why does she have to do 30 of them?” To which the teacher replied, “Well, if she already knows how to do them, she should breeze right through it.”

The answer to the question “Do all students need homework?” depends on what one believes the purpose of homework is. If you believe the purpose is to reinforce learning or extend learning outside the classroom, then you probably believe that the child needs more challenging homework. If you believe the purpose of homework is to develop independent learners, then you probably believe the child should be able to create her own homework. If you believe the purpose of homework is to build the habit of doing homework, then you probably believe all children must have homework.

The idea that some children would not have homework makes many people very uncomfortable. Is it fair that they have less work than other students? But if you believe the purpose of homework is to help students master a set of standards for a grade level or course, and the student has done that, then you may quite comfortable with some students not doing homework.

In standards based systems, homework is often optional. If the student can pass the assessments, they have shown mastery—the homework is merely a tool for those who need it, much like in many college courses. If a student gets 100% on the 3rd grade spelling test, that student doesn’t have spelling homework. And no, they don’t have extra homework in other subjects.

Most of us could see the logic of allowing an Olympic athlete or a gifted musician to succeed academically without doing homework, because they are honing a unique talent. But if other students are allowed to skip unnecessary homework, they may spend more time reading, learning Spanish, or delving into their passion for history, science or art. And isn’t that what educating the whole child is all about?

1(b) The teacher creates developmentally appropriate instruction that takes into account individual learners’ strengths, interests, and needs and that enables each learner to advance and accelerate his/her learning.

Standard #2: Learning Differences

2(e) The teacher incorporates tools of language development into planning and instruction, including strategies for making content accessible to English language learners and for evaluating and supporting their development of English proficiency.

2(f) The teacher accesses resources, supports, and specialized assistance and services to meet particular learning differences or needs.

2(g) The teacher understands and identifies differences in approaches to learning and performance and knows how to design instruction that uses each learner’s strengths to promote growth.

3(i) The teacher understands the relationship between motivation and engagement and knows how to design learning experiences using strategies that build learner self-direction and ownership of learning.

1. Esptein, J., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2001). More than minutes: Teachers’ roles in designing homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 181-193.

1. Before the start of the school year develop or purchase homework planners for your students. Collaborate and consult with colleagues and administration, since this may be implemented on a grade- or school-wide basis.

2. Decide what will go in the homework folder.

3. Present and explain the purpose and use of the homework folder to students and parents during Open House, with a letter home, or both.

4. Establish daily and weekly routines. For example, at the end of the day, students could quietly and independently copy down homework off the whiteboard. At the beginning of the day, students can put the folder in a pre-arranged bin. During the day, check the folder for completion, add information as needed, and include new homework. You can enlist the help of parents or community volunteers to do this.

5. You may want to have parents sign or initials next to completion of homework on a daily or weekly basis.

6. Work with your students and their families to decide what happens when homework is not submitted on a consistent basis. What are the classroom consequences? Will there be any consequence at home?

1(d) The teacher understands how learning occurs—how learners construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop disciplined thinking processes—and knows how to use instructional strategies that promote student learning.

1(k) The teacher values the input and contributions of families, colleagues, and other professionals in understanding and supporting each learner’s development.

3(d) The teacher manages the learning environment to actively and equitably engage learners by organizing, allocating, and coordinating the resources of time, space, and learners’ attention.

Standard #8: Instructional Strategies

8(k) The teacher knows how to apply a range of developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate instructional strategies to achieve learning goals.

Strategy #10: Leadership and Collaboration

1. Tips for using a homework planner. http://homeworktips.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/planner.htm

2. “7 Tips for the Most Successful Planner” and a free student tutor planner at https://student-tutor.com/blog/7tipsforthemostsuccessfulplanner/

3. Additional resource for planners for primary, elementary, middle school, and high school students at https://meridianplanners.com/

4. Success by Design, Inc. provides primary, elementary. middle, and high school planners at https://www.successbydesign.com

5. Homework reminder slips can be found for K-12 students at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Check out other support systems in the resource section.

2(i) The teacher knows about second language acquisition processes and knows how to incorporate instructional strategies and resources to support language acquisition.

Standard #5: Application of Content

5(s) The teacher values flexible learning environments that encourage learner exploration, discovery, and expression across content areas.

1.”11 Ways Parents Can Help Their Children Read at Home” https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/11-ways-parents-can-help-their-children-read

2. Tips for parents for supporting their child’s writing at home at https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/support-writing-home

3. “Listen, Talk, Answer—Support Your Child’s Learning” at https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/listen-talk-answer-support-learning

4. Helpful Homework Tips for Parents. This 1-page PDF file gives basic suggestions on things parents can do to support their child(ren)’s homework and learning at home. You can download this at http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/homework-project-tips/10-homework-help-tips

5. “Helping Your Child Do Well in School” from the National Education Association and National Parent Teacher Association at https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/helping-your-child-do-well-school

1. Talk to your administration and colleagues about the feasibility of setting up a homework hotline and whether there is a budget to support teachers who participate. If there are no funds, collaborate with peers to investigate grants for which you can apply.

2. If the administration is supportive and you have funds and commitment from teachers, seek input on ideas from the PTA, families, and students about how to set up and run the homework hotline. Conduct a needs analysis survey to find out:

a) The subjects with which the students need help. b) How, specifically, teachers will be able to help students with the homework. c) The time of day that would be convenient for students to call the hotline and for teachers to be available. d) Whether you will need bilingual teachers (or assistants) to help with non-native English speaking families

Be open to other feedback. In addition, consult with the other teachers about the needs of their students.

3. Based on the above information gathering, create a plan of action:

a) Set up a schedule (day and times) indicating the names and telephone numbers of volunteer teachers. b) Establish guidelines or expectations for calling the hotline. For example, make a list of the kinds of questions students might ask, the type of homework assignments volunteers will assist with, and what is an acceptable frequency of calling. c) Write a letter and send it home to parents. d) Give students a written copy of the schedule, phone numbers, expectations, and other relevant information.

4. Pilot test the hotline.

5. At the end of the semester, send home a survey to collect feedback and suggestions and also gather information from the other teachers regarding whether the program is helping students improve their homework. Remember to continuously modify your system, as needed.

Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration

10(g) The teacher uses technological tools and a variety of communication strategies to build local and global learning communities that engage learners, families, and colleagues.

1. Reach, K., & Cooper, H. (2004). Homework hotlines: Recommendations for Successful Practice. Theory into Practice, 43(3), pp. 234-241.

1. Gather books to start your own lending library. You might have access to funds from the school, write a grant, seek donations, and/or purchase inexpensive second hand books.

2. Decide whether the lending library will be used for all children or if you will target at-risk children. While all students will benefit from additional opportunities to read, having access to books is especially important for at-risk students, who may not have access to books at home and may have difficulty determining the level of books they should choose. Providing books for at-risk students can accelerate their academic achievement, love of reading, and sense of self-worth.

3. Send an explanatory letter home and follow up with a phone call, if necessary.

4. Explain to students the purpose and goals of the program.

5. Model how you want students to complete the readings.

6. Allow for choice and student ownership by setting up a system. For example, if you send home five picture books a week, students may be given the option to choose three to which they will respond. Responses can be written, drawn, or presented in other forms.

7. Create a system to keep track of who is doing what and when. For instance, make a checklist and mark books that are borrowed. Gather and label resealable (e.g., Ziploc) plastic bags for students to carry books home. Provide a checklist for students to mark the books they have read and responded to, and record students’ completed reading comprehension tasks.

8. Send home the resealable bag full of books on Friday. Collect them the following Friday, check off and collect tasks, and refill the bag with new books.

9. During the week, have each student share at least one of the lending library books using multiple modes of delivery.

10. If possible, try to get help for your project by involving family volunteers, student helpers, colleagues, the school librarian, and others relevant parties.

RL.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding

RL.2: Recount stories

RL.5: Describe the overall structure of a story

RL.7: Use illustrations and words to understand characters, setting, or plot

RL.10: Read and comprehend a variety of texts

RI.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding

RI.2: Identify the main topic

RI.10: Read and comprehend informational texts

RF.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis to decoding words

RF.4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension

1. Creating your own classroom library at http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/creating-your-own-classroom-library-set

2. “What an Effective Classroom Library Looks Like: Organization and Layout” at https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/articles/migrated-files-in-body/organize_class_library.pdf

3. “6 Tips to Help Set Up a Classroom Library” at https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/articles/6-tips-to-help-set-up-a-classroom-library.html

4. Classroom library checkout system suggestions at https://organizedclassroom.com/classroom-library-checkout-systems/

1. Print out and photocopy printable mini-books according to your students’ levels and interests.

2. Send home a parent letter explaining the mini-books, highlighting their purpose and use in improving children’s reading proficiency. Provide suggestions about how parents can support their children’s at-home reading development (go to the resources section for some ideas about this). Even better, hold a home literacy night to give this information to parents and model reading with their children.

3. Integrate the mini-books as part of your weekly homework assignments. For example, you can send the books home in your “ Monday Folder”  or “ Homework Folder.”

4. Explain to students the procedures and expectations for completing the mini-books. Model and provide examples.

5. In small group reading instructional teams, discuss and follow up on the assigned mini-books.

6. Get students excited about reading. Expose them to a variety of topics and genre. If you can afford to allow students to keep the books, encourage them to highlight new words, write questions, make text connections, and decorate the pages.

7. When possible, try to connect the reading of these books with children’s individual goal setting and interests.

1. Scholastic mini-books at https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/premium/printable-minibooks.html

2. Enchanted Learning at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/mini/

3. A to Z Teacher Stuff at http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Printables/Printable_Books/

4. Amazon (search for mini-books) at http://www.amazon.com

1. To complement your Language Arts and Reading instruction, start an at-home literacy program to help your struggling readers or the whole class, and get families involved.

2. Design a phonic/decodable reader homework routine for your struggling readers or the class. Depending on the students’ reading proficiency, you may use a combination of single-sheet printables or phonic printable mini-books.

3. Find, print, and/or photocopy decodable and phonic readers or single-sheet exercises. Design a system to send this reader home on a regular basis.

4. Send home a letter explaining the program, its purpose, and how the families can be involved. See the resources section for a sample of a letter home. Invite families to email, call, or visit you if they have questions.

5. Integrate the phonics/decodable readers with your weekly Language Arts homework assignments. Make sure to integrate reading, writing, and spelling and pay attention to oral development as well.

6. In order to get students and families accustomed to the routines, make sure you are consistent in the implementation of this program.

RI.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text

1. Printable Decodable & Phonic Readers at http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/home/

2. Printable phonic readers at https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/premium/printable-minibooks.html

* NOTE: You need to be a subscribing member to download and print these resources.

3. Decodable readers teacher’s guide at https://eps.schoolspecialty.com/EPS/media/Site-Resources/Downloads/Miscellaneous/spire/spire_eBook_TE.pdf?ext=.pdf

4. Building phonics skills. http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/developing-reading-skills/building-phonics-skills

1. In your small instructional Language Arts team (e.g. literacy/struggling readers), explain the high frequency word program that you’ll be starting with them. Explain the purpose and benefits.

2. Individually assess each student (in the at-risk instructional group) during Language Arts/Reading or any other free time during the day. The student is given a laminated copy (one sheet) of the first one hundred words. You have the assessment sheet. Write down the student’s name and date. Ask them to read the words one-by-one. They do not need to know the meaning; they only have to decode.

3. Put a check next to the word any time they make a mistake. After reading all 100 words, tally how many words were misread. If more than 95% of the words were read correctly, they can advance to the next level. In the same way, give the next level test.

4. Note: if the student is making many mistakes and struggling to read the words, you should stop the test and congratulate them on what they’ve done so far. You don’t need to have them get through all 100 words.

5. If the student doesn’t pass the level, then you know this is the benchmark level.

6. Prepare resealable plastic bags filled with laminated flashcards for each level. Label the bags.

7. When the student doesn’t pass the level, give a bag filled with the words misread mixed with some of the words that were read correctly. Have them practice and memorize those words for the next week.

8. Send a parent letter/memo home explaining the high frequency word program, its purpose, and how parents can support their child (e.g., having them practice the words, read aloud the words to the parents, playing word games with the cards, fun quizzes to review).

9. A week later, retest the student on the same 100 words. If they score more than 95%, then they pass on to the next level and the process starts over again (e.g. benchmark text, flashcards in a bag, practice for a week, retest).

10. Involve your parent volunteer: have a station during Language Arts/Reading time in which students who are involved with this program rotate to the volunteer to practice reading their words, playing word games, and other decoding/word manipulation activities.

11. Be consistent and you’ll see exponential growth in your struggling readers.

12. Make connections and help your students make connections with the high frequency words and words they see in their texts and reading assignments.

1. High frequency word flashcards at https://sightwords.com/sight-words/flash-cards/

2. High frequency word flashcards, worksheets, and assessments (for purchase) can be found at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com

3. Tips for teaching high frequency words. http://www.reading-tutors.com/tips/TH_Tips_HFW.pdf

1. It is well documented that students’ reading comprehension is closely tied to reading fluency. Without fluency, students will struggle to read grade level texts. The following at-home tasks can help to accelerate students’ reading proficiencies.

2. If, due to management and time constraints, you only have time to work with a small group of your struggling readers, identify the students with whom you will be working.

3. Schedule a time during the day when you can assess each of the students. (a) Find an on-grade level text (or if that’s too difficult, find one that’s slightly above student’s level)– preferably a one-page story from a teacher’s resource book. (b) Photocopy the story–one for you and one for the student. (c) Ask children to read the story to the best of their abilities. (d) As the students read, check off any words that are misread. (e) Stop the student after 1 minute– regardless if they finished the story or not. (f) Congratulate the children on their reading. (g) Count the number of words read in the 1 minute minus the words misread. This is the total words per minute, (h) Go over the misread words with the students, and if possible read the story together and practice.

4. Assign the story (same one as above) as part of the students’ special homework or integrate it as regular homework. Tell the student that they should practice reading the story as often as possible to practice their fluency–at home during breakfast, in front of siblings/parents, by themselves, etc.

5. Send home a parent letter explaining this at-home reading fluency program and how the family can help Ask families to encourage practice, listen to children reading aloud, check for accuracy, record progress, and praise!

6. In one week, retest the students on the same story to see how much their fluency has improved. Record the results.

7. Pre-test using another story, and continue the same process.

8. In a few short months you should steadily see an increase of your students’ reading fluency and confidence.

9. This reading fluency program is also a low stress task for parent volunteers. They can help students practice reading their text and provide correction.

10. You may also connect this to the students’ portfolio, goal setting, and communication folders for parents.

1. How to conduct and record timed readings at https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/timed_repeated_readings

2. Timed reading fluency record sheet (free pdf download) at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Timed-Reading-Fluency-Recording-Tracker-Sheet-Words-per-Minute-4938292

3. Chang, A. C-S (2010). The effect of a timed reading activity on EFL learners: Speed, comprehension, and perceptions. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(2), 284-303. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ901548.pdf

Many educators recommend that parents use audio books to promote children’s language and literacy development (Beers, 1998; Koskinen, Blum, Bisson, Phillips, Creamer, & Baker, 2000). Audio books can help develop children’s abilities to read books fluently and may enhance feelings of confidence and excitement in reading. Audio recordings can assist struggling readers. Listening to a book on tape together promotes awareness of children’s reading materials and may encourage family members to be involved in children’s reading.

The following are tips to promote the effective use of audio books at home (Beers, 1998).

• Provide positive experiences of using audio books at school.
• Recommend audio books that interest students or are related to the current academic topics.
• Introduce the content of the audio books to the kids first before sending the books home.
• Check the speed of the recording. Struggling readers might need a slower speed.
• Check with parents about whether they have compatible machines to play the audio books at home.
• Encourage parents to use books and recordings with their children.

1. This article describes the benefits of audiobooks for children, where to find audiobooks, and how to preview them: http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/forparents/a/audiobooks.htm

2. A New York Times article on audiobooks together with some suggested titles: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/books/review/lets-go-reading-in-the-car.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

3. A brief explanation of the benefits of audio books along with six suggested places to find audio books for children at https://www.learningliftoff.com/free-audio-books-for-kids/

Check out the list of resources and ideas, including links to websites for further information.

RL.1: Ask and answer questions to show understanding RL.2: Recount stories RL.3: Describe how characters in a story respond RL.5: Describe the overall structure of a story RL.7: Use illustrations and words to understand characters, setting, or plot RL.10: Read and comprehend a variety of texts RI.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding RI.2: Identify the main topic RI.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text RI.6: Identify the main purpose of a text RI.10: Read and comprehend informational texts RF.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis to decoding words RF.4: Read with accuracy/fluency for comprehension

1. “Supporting Your Beginning Reader.” This 2-page PDF file gives basic information and suggestions for parents on supporting their children reading at home. It also includes useful websites. This is a free download at: http://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/abbeydale/SiteCollectionDocuments/Supporting-Your-Beginning-Reader.pdf

2. “What Kids Really Want to Read.” This 2-page PDF file gives basic information and suggestions for parents on selecting reading texts for their children. It also includes useful websites. This is a free download at: http://www.avonworth.k12.pa.us/Downloads/What_kids_really_want_to_read_2018621142528428.pdf

3. “5 Readings Tips for Parents to Keep Their Kids Engaged” at https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/developing-reading-skills/reading-tips-parents.html

1. Introduce this unit to your whole class. Tell students what they’re going to be doing with this unit. Explain the big picture and the final objectives. For example you might say “We are going to start a new unit so that we can all get to know each other better. I want to learn more about you and your families, and I want all of us to get to know each other better. I think that is really important to us having a good school year together.

2. Start by activating students’ background and asking them to make predictions. For instance, you can ask: “Has anyone ever read this book before? What do you see on the cover page? What do you think the book will be about?”

3. Give instructions to students, like:

a) “We are going to read this Flat Stanley chapter book together. We will practice our reading and it will also help us get ready for other things we are going to do in this project.”

b) “After we read the book, each of us is going to take this Flat Stanley traveling journal to our homes and write about our families and the experiences “Flat Stanley” has while he is visiting with us. I will be the first person to take it home so that you can see how to do it.”

(c) “Next you will return the journal and share a few things that Flat Stanley experienced at your home with your family.”

(d) “In this way, each of us will take a turn to bring Stanley to our homes and then talk about it with the class.”

(e) “This will give us a really great chance to get to know each other better, and practice our reading and writing at the same time.”

3. Read aloud the selected Flat Stanley book. While reading, remember to engage students, apply reading strategies, and make personal connections.

4. Send a letter to families explaining the project and motivating them to be engaged with it.

5. Introduce the traveling journal component once you have finished reading the book. Negotiate with students the criteria for taking the journal and “Flat Stanley” to their homes and narrating Stanley’s journeys. For example, the number of days they will take it home, how much they should write, what they should write about, in what capacity they should include their family members, and whether they should include photos. Take notes of the criteria and later post this prominently on classroom wall, next to memorabilia of Flat Stanley. If you have the time, you may want to scan student and family work in case the journal is misplaced.

6. Take the journal and “Flat Stanley” (e.g. laminate a color picture of Flat Stanley; also if you have extra copies, you might send a Flat Stanley book along with the journal). After the designated number of days, return the journal and Flat Stanley and share it.

7. Review students’ expectations of taking the journal home, answer students’ questions, and assign the first student to take it home.

8. Have the first student share the traveling journal and provide time for questions from the audience. Continue with the rest of the students of the class.

9. Make the traveling journal and extra copies of Flat Stanley available for students to read during the silent time or free time.

10. Consider creating a visual map of the “traveling” of Stanley from home to home.

11. Close the unit with written and/or oral reflections. You can ask questions like: What did you learn from the traveling of Flat Stanley? What are some things you learned about your classmates? Why do you think it is important for us to know each other in our classroom? What’s the most interesting thing you learned about a classmate that you didn’t know before? What else do you think we should do to continue getting to know each other and have a good classroom community?

RL.1: Ask and answer questions to show understanding RL.2: Recount stories RI.1: Ask and answer questions to show understanding W.2: Write an informative or explanatory text W.3: Write a narrative W.5: Focus on a topic; strengthen writing by revising W.7: Participate in shared research and writing projects W.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from sources SL.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners SL.4: Tell a story or recount an experience SL.5: Add drawings/visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences

1. Flat Stanley Project. See this website for additional resources and connections to other classrooms around the world: http://www.flatstanleyproject.com

As with other subjects, parent involvement is important for students to learn mathematics. There are several ways to promote your students’ parents engaging with their children about math topics.

Activities related to school curriculum:

1. Send math projects home for parents and students to talk about. Provide a feedback sheet for parents to provide comments. For example, ask parents to talk about quantities of things with their children. Tell them to ask their children how they came up with their answers. Below is an example of a conversation between a parent and her child.

– Family member: Tell me about your picture. – Child: This is me, Amy. I am drawing my dolls at home. – Family member: How many dolls did you draw here? – Child: Four. – Family member: In your room, I saw six dolls. Why did you draw only four in your picture? – Child: Oh, because on that day, I only had four in my room. Daddy just sent me that blue one yesterday and Auntie Lily gave me this one today.

2. Design math projects that promote family engagement. For example, ask students to find containers at home, investigating the purposes and size of each container.

Opportunities parents can use to discuss math at home:

1. Dinner time. A family member takes advantage of an upcoming improvised dinner with some family members and turns the occasion into a math game.

– Family member: Tūtū and auntie Mary are coming for dinner. How many more utensils should we prepare now in addition to those for mommy, daddy, and you? – Child: I’m not sure… – Family member: OK, let’s set up the chairs and see how many more utensils we need. [Child counts newly set up chairs and gets two forks] – Family member: we also need knives, right? [Child gets them and sets them on the table] – Family member: OK, let’s count together [Family member and child count up to four] – Family member: four, great, we needed 4 more utensils, 2 more forks and 2 more knives. And now, how many plates do we need? [Continue to the conversation for other items needed to set the table for two more guests]

2. Clean-up time.

– Family member: Kahea, it’s time to clear up. We have to get ready for bed. – Child: OK. (Starting to put away all of the toys into a big basket). – Family member: Kahea, what could we do differently instead of putting away everything in that green big basket so everything will look neat? Maybe we can put things by color? – Child: Can I put the green toys here? – Family member: That’s a great idea. How about those blue toys? [Continue to the conversation with other ways to sort items by color]  

*Potentially all the Math standards:

2.0A.1-4: Operations and Algebraic Thinking

2.NBT.1-9: Number and Operations in Base Ten

2.MD.1-10: Measurement and Data

2.G1-3: Geometry

1. For a list of Math terminology, support for Math homework, Math games, family Math games, and other resources check out Oregon City School District’s website at https://www.ocsd62.org/district/mathematics

2. “Doing Mathematics With Your Child: Kindergarten to Grade 6” A Parent Guide by Ontario Ministry of Education at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/parentguidenumen.pdf

3. Help your child learn mathematics: With activities for children in preschool through grade 5 http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/math/math.pdf

This shows respect and recognition of students’ and families’ identities, and also helps to increase literacy in both languages. Dual language books can be used as a scaffolding structure for your English language learners. Incorporate the native language (other than English) and/or bilingual books into your language arts curriculum and into the weekly reading homework.

1. Send an explanatory letter home to parents. Gather resources. Ask for donations of used children’s books in the native languages of your students, get a grant, and ask your school to see what is already available.

2. During your small group reading time, explain the purpose and goals of the program to the bilingual students.

3. Read a couple of books with your students as a class activity.

4. Model and explain how you would like them to complete the readings at home.

5. Integrate these books into your lending library system. For example, you can create a checklist of books borrowed, get re-sealable plastic bags for students to carry books home, maintain a checklist of the books students have completed, and keep a file for recording students’ completion of reading comprehension tasks.

6. Motivate students. Encourage family members to get involved by having their child share the story at home, reading together, discussing the contents, and making personal connections to the student’s home and culture.

7. Have students share their readings and use the opportunity to connect to students’ home cultures.

8. Promote family members reading aloud in the native language, helping children read, and extending the readings by explaining, comparing, and commenting on the text. Recruit bilingual family members to come to class and do the same.

9. As a culminating activity, have students read aloud their chosen bilingual texts, with or without the help of their family.

1.  International Children’s Digital Library at http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

2. Children’s Books Online. Find children’s books online as well as corresponding translations at http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library-translations.htm

3. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This site provides different children’s genre and instructional books, in addition to books in different languages. http://www.hmhbooks.com

4. Scholastic is the largest children’s book publisher. For dual language resources, search using key words such as bilingual, culture, diversity, and dual language at http://www.scholastic.com

5. Amazon has a large database for books. Search using key words such as language, bilingual, culture, etc. at http://www.amazon.com

6. Search for children’s books at https://www.barnesandnoble.com

7. Cinco Puntos. This site a selection of bilingual Spanish-English books and audiobooks at https://cincopuntos.com

Read several examples about family engagement initiatives in Hawai‘i. Consider what was successful and challenging, and generate at least two action items you could try in your classroom to enhance your family engagement practices.

1. Read the two short newspaper articles about two different family engagement initiatives in Hawai‘i.

• Use multiple strategies to keep parents updated: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2010/10/08/hawaii-news/teacher-best-in-kids-book/
• Families and classroom teachers (FACT) at Kaunakakai school:  http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/02/06/news/story4.html  or http://themolokaidispatch.com/hero-kaunakakai-school/

2. Reflect on what you learned. How can you use what was learned to shape your approach to family engagement?

3. Peruse the resources section to see links to family engagement in current school projects in Hawai‘i.

4. Select two projects that pique your interest.

5. Based on the previous reading and the two projects you learned about, answer the following:

• What is the most powerful aspect of family engagement you observed in this project?
• Who took the initiative for the project?
• How did the families, teachers, and students react?
• What kinds of resources are available for you and your school to support your family engagement efforts?

1(g) The teacher understands the role of language and culture in learning and knows how to modify instruction to make language comprehensible and instruction relevant, accessible, and challenging.

1(h) The teacher respects learners’ differing strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to further each learner’s development.

2(d) The teacher brings multiple perspectives to the discussion of content, including attention to learners’ personal, family, and community experiences and cultural norms, including Native Hawaiian history and culture.

2(j) The teacher understands that learners bring assets for learning based on their individual experiences, abilities, talents, prior learning, and peer and social group interactions, as well as language, culture, family, and community values.

2(k) The teacher knows how to access information about the values of diverse cultures and communities and how to incorporate learners’ experiences, cultures, and community resources into instruction.

2(m) The teacher respects learners as individuals with differing personal and family backgrounds and various skills, abilities, perspectives, talents, and interests.

2(o) The teacher values diverse languages and dialects and seeks to integrate them into his/her instructional practice to engage students in learning.

8(p) The teacher is committed to deepening awareness and understanding the strengths and needs of diverse learners when planning and adjusting instruction.

Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice 

9(e) The teacher reflects on his/her personal biases and accesses resources to deepen his/her own understanding of cultural, ethnic, gender, and learning differences to build stronger relationships and create more relevant learning experiences.

9(i) The teacher understands how personal identity, worldview, and prior experience affect perceptions and expectations, and recognizes how they may bias behaviors and interactions with others.

10(f) The teacher engages in professional learning, contributes to the knowledge and skill of others, and works collaboratively to advance professional practice.

10(l) The teacher understands schools as organizations within a historical, cultural, political, and social context and knows how to work with others across the system to support learners.

10(m) The teacher understands that alignment of family, school, and community spheres of influence enhances student learning and that discontinuity in these spheres of influence interferes with learning.

http://www.waikikischool.org

Home visits allow teachers and families to connect in an informal setting, provide teachers an opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding of students’ home lives and cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and provide opportunities to identify, prevent, and resolve problems in a more friendly and efficient manner.

Home visits allow teachers and families to connect in an informal setting, provide teachers an opportunity to expand their knowledge and understating of the students’ home life and cultural and linguistic background, and provide opportunities to identify, prevent, and resolve problems in a more friendly and efficient manner.

Conduct at least one home visit with the family of a diverse student in your class. Write 2 double-spaced pages of reflections about the experience, and indicate three specific things that you learned as well as three specific actions you can take to use your newly acquired knowledge and experience about the children and families you are serving in your daily teaching practices.

1. “Parent Teacher Home Visits: Creating a Bridge Between Parents and Teachers as Co-Educators in Springfield, MA and Seattle, WA”  https://www.neafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/pthv-full-issue-brief-5.pdf

2. “Home Visits 101” at https://www.edutopia.org/article/home-visits-101-cristina-santamaria-graff

3. The Parent Teacher Home Visit Project provides some tips for scheduling and preparing for home visits. The project also provides educator training as well as hosts a conference on parent teacher home visits. http://www.pthvp.org

4. Should teachers visit student homes? The following blog appeared in The Washington Post and addresses this question. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/should-teachers-visit-student-homes/2011/08/17/gIQApbzoMJ_blog.html

Become familiar with the neighborhoods where the majority of your students live. You can then be aware of the resources available and refer students and families to them.

As the classroom teacher, are you familiar with your students’ community? What resources exist? What’s available in the community for students to do after school? Where do they go shopping? The neighborhoods students come from always have a great influence on students’ learning in class. When teachers spend time understanding where their students are from, the students get more respect from their teachers. At the same time, the teachers will have a deeper understanding of the neighborhood in terms of its history, challenges, and resources. Several places/ people you can visit:

• Local landmarks
• Longtime residents
• Community activists
• Church leaders
• Small business owners who live or work in the neighborhood for years

With one or more colleagues, explore your school’s community. Before you go, do some homework first. You can jot down some questions that you want to ask community members. What you learn from the neighborhood walk will help you identify resources that you can use for your instruction. Also, you might start to build your relationship with parents before the school starts during the walk.

After or while familiarizing yourself with the neighborhood(s), draw a map illustrating the location of the school and the various resources in its vicinity.

7(m) The teacher knows when and how to access resources and collaborate with others to support student learning (e.g., special educators, related service providers, language learner specialists, librarians, media specialists, community organizations).

9(d) The teacher actively seeks professional, community, and technological resources, within and outside the school, as supports for analysis, reflection, and problem solving.

• The Journal
• Vol. 19, No. 1

The Case for (Quality) Homework

Janine Bempechat

Any parent who has battled with a child over homework night after night has to wonder: Do those math worksheets and book reports really make a difference to a student’s long-term success? Or is homework just a headache—another distraction from family time and downtime, already diminished by the likes of music and dance lessons, sports practices, and part-time jobs?

Allison, a mother of two middle-school girls from an affluent Boston suburb, describes a frenetic afterschool scenario: “My girls do gymnastics a few days a week, so homework happens for my 6th grader after gymnastics, at 6:30 p.m. She doesn’t get to bed until 9. My 8th grader does her homework immediately after school, up until gymnastics. She eats dinner at 9:15 and then goes to bed, unless there is more homework to do, in which case she’ll get to bed around 10.” The girls miss out on sleep, and weeknight family dinners are tough to swing.

Parental concerns about their children’s homework loads are nothing new. Debates over the merits of homework—tasks that teachers ask students to complete during non-instructional time—have ebbed and flowed since the late 19th century, and today its value is again being scrutinized and weighed against possible negative impacts on family life and children’s well-being.

Are American students overburdened with homework? In some middle-class and affluent communities, where pressure on students to achieve can be fierce, yes. But in families of limited means, it’s often another story. Many low-income parents value homework as an important connection to the school and the curriculum—even as their children report receiving little homework. Overall, high-school students relate that they spend less than one hour per day on homework, on average, and only 42 percent say they do it five days per week. In one recent survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a minimal 13 percent of 17-year-olds said they had devoted more than two hours to homework the previous evening (see Figure 1).

Recent years have seen an increase in the amount of homework assigned to students in grades K–2, and critics point to research findings that, at the elementary-school level, homework does not appear to enhance children’s learning. Why, then, should we burden young children and their families with homework if there is no academic benefit to doing it? Indeed, perhaps it would be best, as some propose, to eliminate homework altogether, particularly in these early grades.

On the contrary, developmentally appropriate homework plays a critical role in the formation of positive learning beliefs and behaviors, including a belief in one’s academic ability, a deliberative and effortful approach to mastery, and higher expectations and aspirations for one’s future. It can prepare children to confront ever-more-complex tasks, develop resilience in the face of difficulty, and learn to embrace rather than shy away from challenge. In short, homework is a key vehicle through which we can help shape children into mature learners.

The Homework-Achievement Connection

A narrow focus on whether or not homework boosts grades and test scores in the short run thus ignores a broader purpose in education, the development of lifelong, confident learners. Still, the question looms: does homework enhance academic success? As the educational psychologist Lyn Corno wrote more than two decades ago, “homework is a complicated thing.” Most research on the homework-achievement connection is correlational, which precludes a definitive judgment on its academic benefits. Researchers rely on correlational research in this area of study given the difficulties of randomly assigning students to homework/no-homework conditions. While correlation does not imply causality, extensive research has established that at the middle- and high-school levels, homework completion is strongly and positively associated with high achievement. Very few studies have reported a negative correlation.

As noted above, findings on the homework-achievement connection at the elementary level are mixed. A small number of experimental studies have demonstrated that elementary-school students who receive homework achieve at higher levels than those who do not. These findings suggest a causal relationship, but they are limited in scope. Within the body of correlational research, some studies report a positive homework-achievement connection, some a negative relationship, and yet others show no relationship at all. Why the mixed findings? Researchers point to a number of possible factors, such as developmental issues related to how young children learn, different goals that teachers have for younger as compared to older students, and how researchers define homework.

Certainly, young children are still developing skills that enable them to focus on the material at hand and study efficiently. Teachers’ goals for their students are also quite different in elementary school as compared to secondary school. While teachers at both levels note the value of homework for reinforcing classroom content, those in the earlier grades are more likely to assign homework mainly to foster skills such as responsibility, perseverance, and the ability to manage distractions.

Most research examines homework generally. Might a focus on homework in a specific subject shed more light on the homework-achievement connection? A recent meta-analysis did just this by examining the relationship between math/science homework and achievement. Contrary to previous findings, researchers reported a stronger relationship between homework and achievement in the elementary grades than in middle school. As the study authors note, one explanation for this finding could be that in elementary school, teachers tend to assign more homework in math than in other subjects, while at the same time assigning shorter math tasks more frequently. In addition, the authors point out that parents tend to be more involved in younger children’s math homework and more skilled in elementary-level than middle-school math.

In sum, the relationship between homework and academic achievement in the elementary-school years is not yet established, but eliminating homework at this level would do children and their families a huge disservice: we know that children’s learning beliefs have a powerful impact on their academic outcomes, and that through homework, parents and teachers can have a profound influence on the development of positive beliefs.

How Much Is Appropriate?

Harris M. Cooper of Duke University, the leading researcher on homework, has examined decades of study on what we know about the relationship between homework and scholastic achievement. He has proposed the “10-minute rule,” suggesting that daily homework be limited to 10 minutes per grade level. Thus, a 1st grader would do 10 minutes each day and a 4th grader, 40 minutes. The National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association both endorse this guideline, but it is not clear whether the recommended allotments include time for reading, which most teachers want children to do daily.

For middle-school students, Cooper and colleagues report that 90 minutes per day of homework is optimal for enhancing academic achievement, and for high schoolers, the ideal range is 90 minutes to two and a half hours per day. Beyond this threshold, more homework does not contribute to learning. For students enrolled in demanding Advanced Placement or honors courses, however, homework is likely to require significantly more time, leading to concerns over students’ health and well-being.

Notwithstanding media reports of parents revolting against the practice of homework, the vast majority of parents say they are highly satisfied with their children’s homework loads. The National Household Education Surveys Program recently found that between 70 and 83 percent of parents believed that the amount of homework their children had was “about right,” a result that held true regardless of social class, race/ethnicity, community size, level of education, and whether English was spoken at home.

Learning Beliefs Are Consequential

As noted above, developmentally appropriate homework can help children cultivate positive beliefs about learning. Decades of research have established that these beliefs predict the types of tasks students choose to pursue, their persistence in the face of challenge, and their academic achievement. Broadly, learning beliefs fall under the banner of achievement motivation, which is a constellation of cognitive, behavioral, and affective factors, including: the way a person perceives his or her abilities, goal-setting skills, expectation of success, the value the individual places on learning, and self-regulating behavior such as time-management skills. Positive or adaptive beliefs about learning serve as emotional and psychological protective factors for children, especially when they encounter difficulties or failure.

Motivation researcher Carol Dweck of Stanford University posits that children with a “growth mindset”—those who believe that ability is malleable—approach learning very differently than those with a “fixed mindset”—kids who believe ability cannot change. Those with a growth mindset view effort as the key to mastery. They see mistakes as helpful, persist even in the face of failure, prefer challenging over easy tasks, and do better in school than their peers who have a fixed mindset. In contrast, children with a fixed mindset view effort and mistakes as implicit condemnations of their abilities. Such children succumb easily to learned helplessness in the face of difficulty, and they gravitate toward tasks they know they can handle rather than more challenging ones.

Of course, learning beliefs do not develop in a vacuum. Studies have demonstrated that parents and teachers play a significant role in the development of positive beliefs and behaviors, and that homework is a key tool they can use to foster motivation and academic achievement.

Parents’ Beliefs and Actions Matter

It is well established that parental involvement in their children’s education promotes achievement motivation and success in school. Parents are their children’s first teachers, and their achievement-related beliefs have a profound influence on children’s developing perceptions of their own abilities, as well as their views on the value of learning and education.

Parents affect their children’s learning through the messages they send about education, whether by expressing interest in school activities and experiences, attending school events, helping with homework when they can, or exposing children to intellectually enriching experiences. Most parents view such engagement as part and parcel of their role. They also believe that doing homework fosters responsibility and organizational skills, and that doing well on homework tasks contributes to learning, even if children experience frustration from time to time.

Many parents provide support by establishing homework routines, eliminating distractions, communicating expectations, helping children manage their time, providing reassuring messages, and encouraging kids to be aware of the conditions under which they do their best work. These supports help foster the development of self-regulation, which is critical to school success.

Self-regulation involves a number of skills, such as the ability to monitor one’s performance and adjust strategies as a result of feedback; to evaluate one’s interests and realistically perceive one’s aptitude; and to work on a task autonomously. It also means learning how to structure one’s environment so that it’s conducive to learning, by, for example, minimizing distractions. As children move into higher grades, these skills and strategies help them organize, plan, and learn independently. This is precisely where parents make a demonstrable difference in students’ attitudes and approaches to homework.

Especially in the early grades, homework gives parents the opportunity to cultivate beliefs and behaviors that foster efficient study skills and academic resilience. Indeed, across age groups, there is a strong and positive relationship between homework completion and a variety of self-regulatory processes. However, the quality of parental help matters. Sometimes, well-intentioned parents can unwittingly undermine the development of children’s positive learning beliefs and their achievement. Parents who maintain a positive outlook on homework and allow their children room to learn and struggle on their own, stepping in judiciously with informational feedback and hints, do their children a much better service than those who seek to control the learning process.

A recent study of 5th and 6th graders’ perceptions of their parents’ involvement with homework distinguished between supportive and intrusive help. The former included the belief that parents encouraged the children to try to find the right answer on their own before providing them with assistance, and when the child struggled, attempted to understand the source of the confusion. In contrast, the latter included the perception that parents provided unsolicited help, interfered when the children did their homework, and told them how to complete their assignments. Supportive help predicted higher achievement, while intrusive help was associated with lower achievement.

Parents’ attitudes and emotions during homework time can support the development of positive attitudes and approaches in their children, which in turn are predictive of higher achievement. Children are more likely to focus on self-improvement during homework time and do better in school when their parents are oriented toward mastery. In contrast, if parents focus on how well children are doing relative to peers, kids tend to adopt learning goals that allow them to avoid challenge.

Homework and Social Class

Social class is another important element in the homework dynamic. What is the homework experience like for families with limited time and resources? And what of affluent families, where resources are plenty but the pressures to succeed are great?

Etta Kralovec and John Buell, authors of The End of Homework, maintain that homework “punishes the poor,” because lower-income parents may not be as well educated as their affluent counterparts and thus not as well equipped to help with homework. Poorer families also have fewer financial resources to devote to home computers, tutoring, and academic enrichment. The stresses of poverty—and work schedules—may impinge, and immigrant parents may face language barriers and an unfamiliarity with the school system and teachers’ expectations.

Yet research shows that low-income parents who are unable to assist with homework are far from passive in their children’s learning, and they do help foster scholastic performance. In fact, parental help with homework is not a necessary component for school success.

Brown University’s Jin Li queried low-income Chinese American 9th graders’ perceptions of their parents’ engagement with their education. Students said their immigrant parents rarely engaged in activities that are known to foster academic achievement, such as monitoring homework, checking it for accuracy, or attending school meetings or events. Instead, parents of higher achievers built three social networks to support their children’s learning. They designated “anchor” helpers both inside and outside the family who provided assistance; identified peer models for their children to emulate; and enlisted the assistance of extended kin to guide their children’s educational socialization. In a related vein, a recent analysis of survey data showed that Asian and Latino 5th graders, relative to native-born peers, were more likely to turn to siblings than parents for homework help.

Further, research demonstrates that low-income parents, recognizing that they lack the time to be in the classroom or participate in school governance, view homework as a critical connection to their children’s experiences in school. One study found that mothers enjoyed the routine and predictability of homework and used it as a way to demonstrate to children how to plan their time. Mothers organized homework as a family activity, with siblings doing homework together and older children reading to younger ones. In this way, homework was perceived as a collective practice wherein siblings could model effective habits and learn from one another.

In another recent study, researchers examined mathematics achievement in low-income 8th-grade Asian and Latino students. Help with homework was an advantage their mothers could not provide. They could, however, furnish structure (for example, by setting aside quiet time for homework completion), and it was this structure that most predicted high achievement. As the authors note, “It is . . . important to help [low-income] parents realize that they can still help their children get good grades in mathematics and succeed in school even if they do not know how to provide direct assistance with their child’s mathematics homework.”

The homework narrative at the other end of the socioeconomic continuum is altogether different. Media reports abound with examples of students, mostly in high school, carrying three or more hours of homework per night, a burden that can impair learning, motivation, and well-being. In affluent communities, students often experience intense pressure to cultivate a high-achieving profile that will be attractive to elite colleges. Heavy homework loads have been linked to unhealthy symptoms such as heightened stress, anxiety, physical complaints, and sleep disturbances. Like Allison’s 6th grader mentioned earlier, many students can only tackle their homework after they do extracurricular activities, which are also seen as essential for the college résumé. Not surprisingly, many students in these communities are not deeply engaged in learning; rather, they speak of “doing school,” as Stanford researcher Denise Pope has described, going through the motions necessary to excel, and undermining their physical and mental health in the process.

Fortunately, some national intervention initiatives, such as Challenge Success (co-founded by Pope), are heightening awareness of these problems. Interventions aimed at restoring balance in students’ lives (in part, by reducing homework demands) have resulted in students reporting an increased sense of well-being, decreased stress and anxiety, and perceptions of greater support from teachers, with no decrease in achievement outcomes.

What is good for this small segment of students, however, is not necessarily good for the majority. As Jessica Lahey wrote in Motherlode, a New York Times parenting blog, “homework is a red herring” in the national conversation on education. “Some otherwise privileged children may have too much, but the real issue lies in places where there is too little. . . . We shouldn’t forget that.”

My colleagues and I analyzed interviews conducted with lower-income 9th graders (African American, Mexican American, and European American) from two Northern California high schools that at the time were among the lowest-achieving schools in the state. We found that these students consistently described receiving minimal homework—perhaps one or two worksheets or textbook pages, the occasional project, and 30 minutes of reading per night. Math was the only class in which they reported having homework each night. These students noted few consequences for not completing their homework.

Indeed, greatly reducing or eliminating homework would likely increase, not diminish, the achievement gap. As Harris M. Cooper has commented, those choosing to opt their children out of homework are operating from a place of advantage. Children in higher-income families benefit from many privileges, including exposure to a larger range of language at home that may align with the language of school, access to learning and cultural experiences, and many other forms of enrichment, such as tutoring and academic summer camps, all of which may be cost-prohibitive for lower-income families. But for the 21 percent of the school-age population who live in poverty—nearly 11 million students ages 5–17—homework is one tool that can help narrow the achievement gap.

Community and School Support

Often, community organizations and afterschool programs can step up to provide structure and services that students’ need to succeed at homework. For example, Boys and Girls and 4-H clubs offer volunteer tutors as well as access to computer technology that students may not have at home. Many schools provide homework clubs or integrate homework into the afterschool program.

Home-school partnerships have succeeded in engaging parents with homework and significantly improving their children’s academic achievement. For example, Joyce Epstein of Johns Hopkins University has developed the TIPS model (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork), which embraces homework as an integral part of family time. TIPS is a teacher-designed interactive program in which children and a parent or family member each have a specific role in the homework scenario. For example, children might show the parent how to do a mathematics task on fractions, explaining their reasoning along the way and reviewing their thinking aloud if they are unsure.

Evaluations show that elementary and middle-school students in classrooms that have adopted TIPS complete more of their homework than do students in other classrooms. Both students and parent participants show more positive beliefs about learning mathematics, and TIPS students show significant gains in writing skills and report-card science grades, as well as higher mathematics scores on standardized tests.

Another study found that asking teachers to send text messages to parents about their children’s missing homework resulted in increased parental monitoring of homework, consequences for missed assignments, and greater participation in parent-child conferences. Teachers reported fewer missed assignments and greater student effort in coursework, and math grades and GPA significantly improved.

Homework Quality Matters

Teachers favor homework for a number of reasons. They believe it fosters a sense of responsibility and promotes academic achievement. They note that homework provides valuable review and practice for students while giving teachers feedback on areas where students may need more support. Finally, teachers value homework as a way to keep parents connected to the school and their children’s educational experiences.

While students, to say the least, may not always relish the idea of doing homework, by high school most come to believe there is a positive relationship between doing homework and doing well in school. Both higher and lower achievers lament “busywork” that doesn’t promote learning. They crave high-quality, challenging assignments—and it is this kind of homework that has been associated with higher achievement.

What constitutes high-quality homework? Assignments that are developmentally appropriate and meaningful and that promote self-efficacy and self-regulation. Meaningful homework is authentic, allowing students to engage in solving problems with real-world relevance. More specifically, homework tasks should make efficient use of student time and have a clear purpose connected to what they are learning. An artistic rendition of a period in history that would take hours to complete can become instead a diary entry in the voice of an individual from that era. By allowing a measure of choice and autonomy in homework, teachers foster in their students a sense of ownership, which bolsters their investment in the work.

High-quality homework also fosters students’ perceptions of their own competence by 1) focusing them on tasks they can accomplish without help; 2) differentiating tasks so as to allow struggling students to experience success; 3) providing suggested time frames rather than a fixed period of time in which a task should be completed; 4) delivering clearly and carefully explained directions; and 5) carefully modeling methods for attacking lengthy or complex tasks. Students whose teachers have trained them to adopt strategies such as goal setting, self-monitoring, and planning develop a number of personal assets—improved time management, increased self-efficacy, greater effort and interest, a desire for mastery, and a decrease in helplessness.

Excellence with Equity

Currently, the United States has the second-highest disparity between time spent on homework by students of low socioeconomic status and time spent by their more-affluent peers out of the 34 OECD-member nations participating in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (see Figure 2). Noting that PISA studies have consistently found that spending more time on math homework strongly correlates with higher academic achievement, the report’s authors suggest that the homework disparity may reflect lower teacher expectations for low-income students. If so, this is truly unfortunate. In and of itself, low socioeconomic status is not an impediment to academic achievement when appropriate parental, school, and community supports are deployed. As research makes clear, low-income parents support their children’s learning in varied ways, not all of which involve direct assistance with schoolwork. Teachers can orient students and parents toward beliefs that foster positive attitudes toward learning. Indeed, where homework is concerned, a commitment to excellence with equity is both worthwhile and attainable.

In affluent communities, parents, teachers, and school districts might consider reexamining the meaning of academic excellence and placing more emphasis on leading a balanced and well-rounded life. The homework debate in the United States has been dominated by concerns over the health and well-being of such advantaged students. As legitimate as these worries are, it’s important to avoid generalizing these children’s experiences to those with fewer family resources. Reducing or eliminating homework, though it may be desirable in some advantaged communities, would deprive poorer children of a crucial and empowering learning experience. It would also eradicate a fertile opportunity to help close the achievement gap.

Janine Bempechat is clinical professor of human development at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.

An unabridged version of this article is available here .

For more, please see “ The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2023 .”

This article appeared in the Winter 2019 issue of Education Next . Suggested citation format:

Bempechat, J. (2019). The Case for (Quality) Homework: Why it improves learning, and how parents can help . Education Next, 19 (1), 36-43.

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In the News: What’s the Right Amount of Homework? Many Students Get Too Little, Brief Argues

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In the News: Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

23 Family Bonding Activities That Will Bring Everyone Closer

Find unique ways to make memories and stronger connections with your family.

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You don't need a ton of free hours or crazy gadgets to spend some quality time with family. All it takes are a few great ideas. There are lots of family bonding activities that can help build closeness among family members without requiring much time or preparation. Bonding as a family can be quick and simple, and most of the time, it doesn't even require anyone to even leave home.

At-Home Fun Family Bonding Activities

Your family bonding time can start at home. Work some family time into your everyday routine to make spending time together just a normal part of your daily life. Doing little things together can help parents and children bond with each other while strengthening all your family relationships. There are tons of indoor and outdoor activities for families to try - these ideas will just get you started!

• 16 Family Fun Ideas to Make the Most of Your Summer
• 11 Family Get-Together Ideas for More Fun & Less Stress
• My Son & I Volunteer at a Food Bank: 6 Ways It Builds Our Bond

Have a Family Movie Night

Have a weekly family movie night at home. You can rent a kid-friendly movie or choose one from your home collection. Ask each person what movie they would like to see and give each person a chance to choose one of their favorites. To complement your movie night, serve popcorn and candy to make it feel like you're at the movie theater. Movie night is a classic indoor activity, but to help build strong family bonds, talk together about the movie too. Ask about each person's favorite characters or parts of the film. The more you know about one another, the more you'll connect.

Go Through the Old Photos (and Home Movies)

You know all those boxes and albums of old photos? They're the perfect bonding opportunity. Sit down together and talk about the people in the pictures. They could be photos from just a few years ago or super old pictures taken a century in the past. Either way, looking at them together is fun and creates a connection. And don't forget to rewatch those old home movies.

Bake Cookies

Baking cookies is a kitchen project that can bring everyone in the family together. Making the cookies can be as fun as eating them. During the holiday season, allow kids to decorate festive cookies and share them as gifts. Everyone can talk about their favorite treats, or parents can share memories of baking with their parents and family recipes.

Sit Down to Dinner as a Family

Sitting down to a family dinner is a great way to connect with each other and share the details of your day. You can cook together to increase the bonding time, or make it as simple as ordering a pizza and enjoying it together.

Ask each other fun family questions , create a set of DIY conversation prompts to ask each other during the meal, or take turns coming up jokes and voting on the best ones over dinner. Making it fun for both parents and kids will encourage everyone to keep opening up and enjoying their time together. Even if you can't do it every day, sitting down together for a family meal when you can will help build family bonds that last a lifetime.

Play Games That Help You Connect

Board games can bring tons of laughter and fun to your family bonding time. Game night can bring out the inner child in everyone. Some board games to consider playing are Monopoly, Pictionary, and Trivial Pursuit. Create a family game collection and take turns picking out a game to play. You can also try laid-back question games like This or That for kids , print out some fun family trivia questions , or create your own printable board games for family fun and bonding.

Video games are also fun, especially if you play together. Also consider going outdoors and playing an active game such as basketball or catch. Exercise can be a part of family fun and offers everyone benefits.

• 100+ Fun Things to Do for Families (That Won't Cost a Dime)

Bond With Backyard Camping

Family camping for one night can take place right in your own backyard. For this family night activity , you'll want to buy or borrow a tent and sleeping bags, as well as items like bug repellent and a flashlight. Keep it simple and plan to cook hot dogs and marshmallows over a hot grill or fire pit (if zoning allows) on long skewers. Once inside the tent for the night, become a storyteller or sing songs together.

Make (and Fly) Paper Airplanes

Make a bunch of paper airplanes together and have fun decorating them with markers, crayons, and other art supplies. Then see who wins in a paper airplane race. You can use the standard paper airplane or experiment with your own designs.

Do Some Birdwatching

Birdwatching is an ideal way to get the whole family outdoors and involved. Buy a field journal to help identify birds and keep a family log of all the birds you spot. You don't have to go anywhere to see birds, either. Just look out your windows! You can also take snapshots or draw pictures and start a family birdwatching scrapbook complete with images.

Play Some Practical Jokes on Each Other

Why wait for April Fool's Day? Play a few practical jokes on one another. Make sure the jokes are safe and fun for everyone, of course. Some fun practical joke ideas include filling the bedroom with tons of balloons, replacing the sugar with salt, and filling someone's shoes with something to make them hard to put on.

You can also take turns hiding something funny in different spots where people won't expect to find it. Laughter can help bring families together - and you might be surprised at how special and memorable some of those funny moments become to your kids as they grow!

Start a Family Book Club

Pick a book that everyone is interested in. Books such as the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia, or a special holiday story are all great choices. Have each person take turns reading aloud, and then discuss the book after it is over. If you have any budding writers in your family group, try writing a story together or having each person write a story to share too.

Make a Craft

Arts and crafts can be fun for kids and adults. There are many craft projects that are simple, yet can still be a great way to bring everyone together. For example, during Christmas, have each person make an ornament to hang on the tree. Not only will the time spent making the craft build bonds, but the finished product is a great tangible reminder of that love and family time.

Create a Family Tree

Begin a family tree based on the information you have on hand. Ask the older kids to do some online research about the family history or write to long-lost relatives to fill in the branches of the tree. Discuss the geographic and ethnic origins of the family and how they have influenced present day practices, beliefs, and celebrations.

Start a Family Journal

Start a family journal to bring everyone closer. Designate one night a week to make a new entry, and take turns on who gets to write the information. Add personal observations on the events of the past week, and comment on people and places impacting your lives. If a relative from the past has left behind a diary or journal, pass it around, read it aloud, and discuss the events and people that shaped the writer's life.

• 25 Cheap Family Fun Ideas: Epic Entertainment on a Budget

Ways to Create Family Bonding Time Out and About

If you're looking to break out of your regular routine, these fun activities will help you do it - together. Try these family bonding ideas if you want to spend time together but need to get out of the house.

Visit a State or National Park

If you live within driving distance of a state or national park, head out for a day trip as a family. Getting out in nature and seeing animals can be a wonderful way to bond. You're sharing a new experience together, and that brings you closer. You can even talk about everything you saw on your way home.

Make Sidewalk Art Together

If you have a sidewalk in front of your house, you can do this at home, but if not, there are plenty of public sidewalks you can decorate if your city allows. Pick up a box of sidewalk chalk and work together as a family to make a scene. Think outer space, rainbows and unicorns, super heros, or pretty much anything you can agree on. Create chalk art of the family, of where you live, or with everyone's names or initials.

Volunteer as a Family

Volunteering together not only strengthens the family bond, but can also demonstrate the importance of giving back to the community. Some volunteer ideas that are ideal for families are serving meals at a shelter, picking a family to help during the holidays through Angel Tree or a similar project, or taking part in a charity walk.

Have an Ice Cream Taste Test

Getting ice cream as a family is a classic for a reason. Stop by your local ice cream parlor and order lots of different flavors. Then do a taste test where each member of the family ranks the ice cream from best to worst. You're sharing the same ice cream (use new spoons), so you'll be bonding over that shared experience. Plus, giving opinions and hearing other people's can help you learn about how you all see the world a little differently.

Take a Family Hike

Getting outside and enjoying the fresh air can be a great stress reliever and a fun way to get everyone together to talk and enjoy the scenery. You can take a walk around your neighborhood or go to a local park or hiking trail. For added fun, collect items from nature and discuss what you find.

Get Lost on Purpose

Getting lost on purpose can be super fun. You can do it by walking or driving, but either way, it's about sharing the decision-making and letting go of control. Take turns deciding which way to go when you get to an intersection or fork in the road. You can always use your phone to find your way home again, and you never know where you might end up! This is a unique and creative way to foster connections and build unforgettable family bonds.

Have a Family Night Out

Have a family night out and go to a movie, concert, or play. Get each person to come up with ideas of fun night out activities and make a list. Choose a different activity each week or month. Look for unique opportunities in your area, like festivals or art events too, so you can try some new activities that will build family closeness.

Go on a Picnic

Take the family on a traditional picnic with all the trimmings. Let everyone pack one of their favorite foods. While picnics are common in the summer , you may want to plan a winter picnic for something new and different! Plan some fun picnic games or a scavenger hunt to keep the fun going.

Take a Class Together

Learning new things together is another way to strengthen your family bonds. Think about something you'd all enjoy learning, such as cooking, photography, a new craft, or a fun dance. Then take a class together to learn it.

Watch a Sunset

If your kids are older, planning a walk at sunset is a fun way to spend time together. If possible, choose an elevated location from which you can see the sun's descent, or for the ultimate sunset experience, opt for a west-coast beach.

Make Sure You're All Enjoying Quality Family Time

When planning activities to enjoy with your family, remember the focus should be on spending time together. To have the best outcome, have all family members agree to set time aside for the activity and establish some rules, such as the following:

• Complete all homework before participating in the activity.
• Turn off all cell phones and stop texting.
• Don't bring work home from the office on family night.
• To prevent arguments or bickering, set some talking guidelines in advance. This could be as simple as setting a timer for a few minutes to reset if kids argue or someone says something negative.
• Respect everyone's feelings. Take turns choosing activities and coming up with ideas.
• If things don't go perfectly, don't stress. The unexpected can still be fun and memorable for everyone.

The Best Family Bonding Ideas Can Be Simple

It doesn't take a ton of time or money to bring your family together. Sometimes the simplest bonding activities make the best memories. To make the most of your family time, try to make sure that everyone is enjoying the activity at hand. There are many activities to choose from, so pick the ones that appeal to your family's specific interests. That way, you can improve your family's connections and form some happy memories everyone will love.

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Khan Academy Blog

Making Homework Easier: Tips and Tools for Parents 

posted on September 20, 2023

By Stephanie Yamkovenko , group manager of Khan Academy’s Digital Marketing Team.

Homework can present challenges for parents and children alike. You naturally want to provide support for your child’s learning journey and ensure they are reaching their full potential. In this blog post, we will delve into practical strategies to assist your child with their homework. From fostering understanding and offering encouragement to breaking down tasks and implementing rewards, we will explore a variety of effective approaches to help your child achieve academic success.

Step 1: Set Up Your Child for Success

Your child’s study environment can have a significant impact on their homework performance. Create a space that is free from distractions like the television, smartphones, or noisy siblings. The study space should be comfortable, well lit, and have all the necessary materials your child might need, such as pens, papers, and textbooks. If your child’s workspace is noisy or uncomfortable, they may have difficulty focusing on their homework, resulting in lower productivity. 

For example, if you live in a small apartment, consider setting up a designated corner with a small desk or table where your child can focus on their work. You can use dividers or screens to create a sense of privacy and minimize distractions.

If the only place to do homework is in the dining room or kitchen, try to establish a routine where the area is cleared and organized before study time. This can help signal to your child that it’s time to concentrate and be productive.

Remember, it’s important to adapt to your specific circumstances and make the best of the available space. The key is to create a dedicated study area that promotes focus and minimizes interruptions regardless of the size or location of your home.

Try Confidence Boosters for Your Child Here!

Step 2: make it fun.

It’s important to make homework fun and engaging for your child. Here are some examples of how you can do it:

• Use games : Incorporate educational games like card games, board games, or puzzles that align with the subject your child is learning. For instance, use Scrabble to practice spelling or Sudoku to enhance problem-solving skills.
• Turn it into a challenge : Create a friendly competition between siblings or friends by setting goals or time limits for completing assignments. Offer small rewards or incentives for accomplishing tasks.
• Make it interactive : Use hands-on activities or experiments to reinforce concepts learned in class. For science or math, conduct simple experiments at home or use manipulatives like blocks or counters to visualize abstract concepts.
• Use technology : Explore online educational platforms or apps that offer interactive learning experiences. There are various educational games, virtual simulations, and videos available that can make homework more enjoyable.
• Incorporate creativity : Encourage your child to express their understanding through art, storytelling, or multimedia presentations. For example, they can create a comic strip to summarize a story or make a short video to explain a concept.

Remember, by making homework enjoyable, you can help your child develop a positive attitude towards learning.

Step 3: Use Rewards

Rewards can be a powerful motivational tool for children. Offering positive reinforcement can encourage them to complete their homework on time and to the best of their ability. 

Here are some examples of rewards our team has used with their children:

• Extra screen time: “I use Apple parental controls to add screen time on their iPad.”
• Access to a favorite toy: “My eight year old has a drum kit, which drives us all up the wall. (Thanks, Grandma!) But when they’ve been doing a lot of school work, we put on headphones and let him go nuts.”
• Praise for a job well done: “Specific, measurable praise is what works best.” 
• Trip to the park: “A trip to the park is good for everyone, especially for the kids to run around with the doggos.”
• Movie night: “I know every word and song lyric in Moana ; we now reserve showings for good behavior.” 
• Stickers or stamps: “Gold stars were such a thing growing up in the 80s; turns out they still work.”
• Stay up a little later: “An extra 30 minutes feels like a whole day for my young ones; use this reward with caution as it can become the expectation!”

So, celebrate your child’s efforts and encourage them to continue doing their best.

Step 4: Break Down Difficult Tasks

When facing daunting homework assignments, follow these step-by-step instructions to break down the tasks into smaller, manageable chunks:

• Understand the requirements and scope of the task.
• Break down the assignment into individual tasks or sub-tasks.  
• Splitting the middle term
• Using formula
• Using Quadratic formula
• Using algebraic identities
• Determine the order in which tasks should be completed based on importance or difficulty. 
• Start with the easiest task. Begin with the task that seems the least challenging or time-consuming.
• Progress to more challenging tasks: Once the easier tasks are completed, move on to more difficult ones.
• Take breaks: Schedule short breaks between tasks to avoid burnout and maintain focus.
• Check completed tasks for accuracy and make any necessary revisions.
• Finish the remaining task(s) with the same approach.
• Celebrate small achievements to boost confidence and keep motivation high.

By following these steps, you can make daunting homework assignments more manageable and less overwhelming for your child.

Step 5: Get Targeted Help

If your child is struggling with homework, it might be worth considering seeking personalized assistance. You have the option to search for professional tutors or explore online tutoring platforms, such as Khan Academy’s AI tutor, Khanmigo .

This AI tutor can offer personalized guidance and support tailored to your child’s specific needs, helping them grasp complex concepts and practice essential skills. Incorporating this approach can effectively complement your child’s learning and enhance their homework performance.

Enhance your child’s learning and boost homework performance!

Homework can be a challenge for both parents and children. But with the right approach, you can help your child overcome difficulties and support their learning. Encourage and understand your child, create a comfortable environment, break down difficult tasks, use rewards, get professional help when needed, and make it fun. With these tips and techniques, you can help your child achieve success, develop a love for learning, and achieve academic excellence. Remember that each child learns differently, so it’s essential to adjust your approach to meet their unique needs.

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A New Kind of Parent-Child Bonding—Homework Help

admin 12.12.15 Teaching Uncategorized

The following essay by NCTE Vice President Jocelyn Chadwick   was originally published on the Parent Toolkit produced by NBC News and sponsored by Pearson:

No one needs to tell parents that helping with homework today in no way resembles how they may have experienced it with their parents. That said, children do want your interest, your perspective, and your help , even high school students, who are my area of expertise. While high school students may appear initially disdainful or dismissive, they do respond, eventually. Actually, homework can provide an unexpected and even meaningful setting for sharing, exploring and learning together. So as parents, we must figure out the how.

As a teacher and a parent, I have found the following tips to be keenly helpful:

Make the time . Remember this special time focuses on your children and you spending time together. Refrain from reminding children how much of your time you are sacrificing or how grateful they should and must be. Also, avoid shifting focus to you or your past memories about homework or a particular subject.

This commitment and focus are particularly effective and supportive for high school aged children but it’s important to begin this practice and commitment as early as pre-K. Sometimes adults assume that as our children mature, they do not require, nor do they want our intervention. Actually, older children long for the support; they simply loathe expressing or asking for it. Plus, the fact that parents volunteer on their own accord displays uncoerced, honest interest.

Make time inviolable. No matter your child’s age , establish your shared homework help time as sacrosanct.   Technology, like smartphones, tablets, computers, iChat, Skype, for example, enable constancy and consistency anywhere, anytime in the world, thereby enabling parents to participate and help, regardless of distance.

Be intrepid. Don’t be afraid to offer help with homework, even if you are uncertain about the subject matter. Remember, help includes listening, asking questions, and simply showing interest.

Children rarely expect parents to inquire earnestly about their homework beyond a few questions. Know which courses your children are studying and familiarize yourself with a few of the topics that they will be learning this year.  You can even prepare  a few questions ahead of time. Taking such time illustrates clear and active attention, often surprising your children. This kind of sharing can provide a fertile environment for parents to learn or hone their own research, computer and reading and critical thinking skills right along with their children.

Practice listening and appearing to listen: your doing so will convince your child, especially those in high school, that you are not simply “going through the motions.” Signs that you are uninterested or not listening include;

– Sitting dutifully but not always attuned – Not providing uninterrupted time – Multitasking on your own work – Email, texting, calls, etc.

In contrast, parents’ asking their children questions, using sentences, such as, “I didn’t know that”; “Well, I have certainly learned something, working with you”; “This has been fun”; “I’m really glad we are doing this; I am learning a few things, too” will go a long way in the relationship that is growing.

Sustain and maintain. Establish your homework help time during the summer and remain consistent throughout the year. If there is no homework, your listening, showing interest, even asking questions about classes, different assignments, and assigned readings will further illustrate to your children (K-12) your earnest interest and commitment.

Exercise curiosity, not one-correctness. You don’t have to have the correct answer. Students, even high school students, will be appreciative just because you are there–listening, collaborating, being curious, and learning together.

Finally, don’t forget, you are here to help, not change or mold your child’s assignment, comment on the teacher, comment on the politics of education, or even the assignment. You are here to help your child with homework. Parents who have questions about an assignment, or even parents who want to seek teachers’ input about homework help should always feel confident to email or call their child’s teacher. In so many ways, when parents take this kind of initiative with their children and teacher(s), they are actually creating and stimulating a kind of learning community of their own, a community without stress or a targeted issue. One immediate benefit of this kind of approach emerges with parents themselves establishing a proactive learning environment , one that blends both home and school.

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Helping Kids with Homework: 11 Easy & Do-Able Tips for Parents

Tips for Smart Parenting 09/21/2021 11 minute read

Homework is the bane of every student, as it is for the parents.

As a matter of fact, homework is not even necessary in the first place.

Before you react, there are countless studies to validate this claim. But even if we go on a hard-fought, well-thought, debate on whether homework is important or not, homework is here to stay. 

That said, helping kids with their take-home assignments is a duty we have to fulfill. But how exactly do we do it?

Below are actionable parenting tips to help your kids with their homework without doing it for them!

You might be interested:  How to Support Kids Learning Science and Why it Matters?

Parenting Tips on How to Do Homework with Kids

We used to believe that parental availability and support while kids do their assignments is key for their class success. "The more involved parents are, the better off they would be," so to speak. 

But that is a misconception and sometimes may even be counterproductive. As Kathleen Reilly said:

“When parents are overly immersed in homework, they deny kids the chance to become more independent and confident. Worse, it can breed anxiety along the way.” 

Helping kids with homework means that you offer your support but never treat the assignment like it's your responsibility. It's challenging, but kids need to do homework on their own because the assignments deal with lessons already discussed in class. Plus, answering homework by themselves is a good way to teach independent learning .

With that in mind, here are the homework tips for parents:

1. Work Out a Working Routine

Believe it or not, children love routines because they create structure .

This helps children feel more secure because they know what to do and what's expected of them.

Face it, nobody likes homeworks. But make it easier for your kids to do their's by doing routines such as below:

What time should they start? Set a definite time when they should do their homeworks. Will it be right after they arrive from school? Should they play for an hour first? Would they do it after shower time or after dinner?

Where is their homework place? The place they choose is likely the area they feel most comfy working in. That element adds extra help when doing homework. Find a place and stick with it.

If you have multiple kids, distinct routines for each are fine. What matters is that you enforce discipline and commitment to the schedule. Write the details on a sheet of paper and post their routines on the wall!

2. Make a Homework Plan

The routine simply tackles the when and where kids do their assignments. A homework plan focuses on how they do it. 

Doing homework needs to be systematic , both for you and the child. Approach homework from a systematic point of view and you save yourselves time and whine.

The example below is the system I found most suited for my children. You can follow it or fashion your own process, whichever works best. Here's what my kids do:

Read  the directions of the homework, twice.

Determine the goal and the steps needed to achieve it.

Divide the assignment into several chunks (if logically possible).

Set time limits for each portion and mark each as complete when finished.

Helping kids with homework is not about giving them all the answers. It's about  strategizing on how to finish the homework effectively and efficiently.

3. Monitor, Don't Correct

Let's get back to basics .

What is the purpose of homework?

Homework allows teachers to gauge what the students understood in class. That said, mistakes are welcomed.

But since most parents dread the idea of making mistakes, they try to  correct each flaw too often all for a perfect remark.

Word of advice: Teachers are well-aware of how your kids perform in class, so they know the truth.

My point is, remove the notion of absolute perfection from your kids.

It's okay to make mistakes, as long as they learn how to correct them on their own ! There should be no pressure on them to avoid mistakes at all costs. Encourage an atmosphere of growth. But, make it clear to your kids they should resolve their mistakes the next time around, once they understand the correct answer.

Do this instead:

Allow your kids to ask you up to 3 questions on their homework. But, be stingy on answering their questions right away.

When they ask, reply to them something like "I can help you once I finish my chores" or "Read it again, I'll be back in a sec."

You might not realize it, but this is one subtle way to help kids with homework. When you delay your aid, you gently force them to reread the directions and rework the problem on their own.

Monitor and ask them probing questions on the reason behind their homework answers.

4. Set an Example to Imitate

Helping kids how to do homework can also mean modeling the behavior to them. This is a parenting hack that most parents fail to practice.

It can be a good motivating factor for the kids if you do chores like budgeting or computing household expenses at the same time they do their assignments.

This is one indirect way to teach kids how to do homework. Set a good example and you'll find them following your footsteps.

5. Don't Sit Beside Them

Sitting and closely monitoring your kids as they answer homework is not at all helpful.

Behind the scenes, it sends a message to their brains that you might think they can't do the work without direct supervision.

Would you like that? Of course not!

Helping kids with their homework should also tap into the emotional aspect of learning. Show them that you trust their brains by letting them do their assignment on their own. Otherwise, you shatter their self-confidence leading to feelings of inferiority.

Here are my suggestions:

Stay nearby, do chores, balance your checks, wash dishes. Basically, just be there for them, without literally sitting beside them.

6. Establish the No-Nonsense Responsibility

Make the duties of each member in the family clear.

Of course, both you and your partner have work responsibilities, and so do the kids! They're expected to be diligent with their responsibilities:

Attend classes

Work with their teachers

And of course... do their homeworks

Once they agreed to a working routine and a homework plan , then there is no turning back. Tell them to buckle their seats until they finish their tasks. Discipline matters just as much as intellect and system when dealing with homework.

7. Teach Them Time Management 

Time management is the one of the most important tools for productivity.

Once your kids learn the benefits of being in control of their time, they position themselves to a life of success. Time management is not only relevant for homework. Instilling this behavior is a must from the get-go.

One tip is using an old analog wall clock and coloring in the hour when they should do answer their homework. Once the short arm reaches it, teach them to take initiative to do their tasks.

Help them in sorting the time out too, especially, if there are multiple homework in one seating.

8. Positive Reinforcement is a Great Hack

They say the best way to man's heart is through their stomach. Well, the best way to a child's heart is through snacks and treats . (I made that up)

Instead of threatening them to limit their TV watching time or call their teachers, why not compensate their efforts with some good ol' sweets? 

Reinforcing their diligence pushes them more to do it. Scare tactics are not as good as rewards to encourage a behavior. Although, do the positive reinforcement practice sparingly.  

Appreciating their efforts is another way to help kids with homework as this motivates them. You can do this by:

Posting their aced assignments or exams

Displaying their art projects on the fridge

It showcases how much you value their efforts and how proud you are of them.

9. Walk Away Once the Whine Fest Starts

How does walking away help kids on how to do homework? Well, it doesn't. It's more for your benefit than them.

Having a rough day at work is physically and mentally exhausting . Add another layer of whining because kids don't want to do their assignments, and you enter a whole new level of stress .

If they keep on complaining, check their homework progress.

If they are only being grumpy even when they can do it, then try to motivate them. Tell them that the sooner they finish, the more time they'd have to watch their favorite TV shows .

If the homework is indeed truly difficult, then lend them a hand.

Ask their teacher about it, especially if the homework is beyond the kid's level of understanding. Inquire if it's appropriate to give kids complex problems. Their teachers would love to hear feedback from parents, on top of that, to aid the pupils with their homework!

10. Let Them Take the Lead

Their Homework is not only a test of one's learning but also of a kid's sense of responsibility .

Their answers should be theirs and they must own up if they fail to do it. If they left their homework at home, then parents shouldn't bail their kids out by bringing their assignments to class.

Matt Vaccaro, a first-grade teacher, says that he makes students do their assignment during recess if they forget to do it at home.

According to him "Once she starts missing playtime, she gets the message."

This seemingly harsh yet rightful way to deal with their negligence actually motivates the kids to be responsible in the succeeding homework. 

Helping them how to do homework is as necessary as teaching them to be responsible for it.

11. Keep Your Composure and Carry On

Homework meltdowns do occur, so be ready!

These are children's ways of saying they're overwhelmed . And sometimes these kids are indeed struggling so bad. 

Parents, please keep your composure. Breathe and stay calm . You risk compromising their progress if you too burst out in frustration. Remember that homework is an opportunity to cultivate better parent-child relationships .

Here are ways to address homework meltdowns:

A simple hug might do

Speak words of affirmation like "we'll figure it out"

Let them vent out to you while you listen calmly

Sometimes, kids just need to blow off some steam. Catering to these needs are subtle ways of helping kids with homework. See the mood change after they've burst the bubble.

If ever you did lash out (although we hope not). Apologize immediately and tell your child that you both need a timeout for 10 minutes. They can play for within that period and resume working on the homework once the time is up.

Helping kids with homework is a dual purpose. You make homework accomplishment more manageable for them and you make life easier for you. Consider the above homework tips next time your kids have assignments.

The How-to-do-Homework Hack!

Some kids might still see learning as a chore, and that's okay. I mean, who likes to wake up early and be in class when they can play at home all day?

Making the most out of their curiosity helps transform their perception of learning — from a tedious and boring chore to a fun and interactive learning experience. We believe that the way to encourage kids to do their homework is by making them see the fun in learning.

The best way to do this is using educational toys! 

The STEMscope portable microscope is a good tool to cultivate your child's curiosity. This handheld science gadget is an all-around partner for your kid's best learning! 

Once they activate their curiosity, they develop the insatiable desire to learn, after that, they will see homework as fun learning opportunity!

Check out our complete catalog of science toys to find the best toy for your kid!

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The Pathway 2 Success

Solutions for Social Emotional Learning & Executive Functioning

20+ Homework Strategies for Parents

December 13, 2022 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Homework can be a big source of frustration for kids and parents at home. Even more, it can be a challenge that carries over from home to school when the child doesn’t complete the work and is behind in class.

If your child is struggling with homework, read through these strategies and give some a try. As a note, not every single strategy is going to work for every child. To start, pick a few and give them a try. See what works and what doesn’t. Then, move forward together.

If you are an educator looking for strategies for kids, these can help you too. You might even want to pass them along to families to give strategies and support along the way.

Homework Strategies for Home:

Set up a binder organization system. First and foremost, it’s helpful to set your child up with a binder organization system that works for them. This might look different for different learners. One option is having one binder for every class/subject plus a dedicated homework binder. This is ideal for kids who are switching classes and have a good ability to keep track of different binders. In each binder, add a pocket folder and extra paper. In the homework binder, have your child add their homework agenda (read more about that below), a pencil pouch, and a pocket folder just for homework. If this system is too much, consider having one larger binder that contains a homework folder and all classes. You can separate the classes with dividers. While setting up a system most definitely takes time and planning, it helps keep things more orderly in the future.

Use a homework folder. A dedicated homework folder is key to making sure pages get brought home to finish and find their way back to the classroom to be turned in. Using a pocket folder, label one side of the folder “to do” and one side “done.” Explain that assignments that need to be completed, will go on the “to do” side, while pages that are finished will stay in “done.” It’s advisable to purchase a name brand folder to help make sure it lasts a bit longer and stays in the binder. Another tip is to go to the store with your child and let them choose the folder design. There are many different folders with everything from kittens to race cars. Letting the child choose the folder helps them be part of the organization process and might encourage a bit more buy-in. You can use this free homework binder template to get yourself started, or you can make your own!

Teach organization skills on an ongoing basis. Since a big part of completing homework is about organization, it’s important to teach and practice these skills often. Talk about where things should go in the house, take a 5-minute organization break when you need it, and model what organizing materials looks like. If your child struggles significantly with organization, consider reading up more on interventions for organization challenges .

Set up a homework spot. Choose one spot in the house where your child can productively accomplish work on a regular basis. This might be a downstairs office or just the kitchen table. Most importantly, aim to make it consistent and distraction-free.

Have kids use a homework log or agenda. A homework log or agenda is a dedicated place to write homework every day. Often, schools provide homework logs with spots for kids to write work down. If this works, great! Sometimes, though, one isn’t provided or the space might be too small for a child to write in. If that’s the case, you can make your own or use a journal. The key is to set it up so that your child has one spot to write homework down every single day.

Keep the homework area stocked and organized. Keep extra pencils, coloring utensils, and paper ready to go when your child needs it. Having materials organized and stocked will reduce time your child goes looking for it when they need it for an assignment.

Check over the homework log together. Before starting homework, spend a few minutes going over the homework log with your child. Ask them to show you and tell you what assignments they have to do tonight. This is also a great time for positive reinforcement when all homework assignments are clearly outlined, or constructive criticism when they are not. For example, you might say, “I noticed you wrote down ‘study’ under math. What do you think might be more helpful than that for next time?” Then, talk about how you could write down the chapters or topics to study. This homework log check also helps build accountability for your child.

Find alternative ways to check homework. Kids and teens aren’t always perfect about writing their assignments down. Check to see if your child’s teacher has a website where homework is listed. Bookmark the site and have your child use it when they forget to write assignments down. It’s important that it becomes their responsibility to check. If a teacher website isn’t an option, have a homework buddy from class that your child can touch base with. Again, this should be your child’s responsibility when possible. The idea is to teach your child that it is actually easier just to write it down correctly in class the first time!

Be a motivator. It’s no secret that homework isn’t often a favorite activity for kids and teens. Help make it easier by providing encouragement and support in a positive way. You can even start with practicing some positive self-talk and positive affirmations .

Use a timer. A timer can be a valuable tool to help set boundaries and allow breaks. Choose an amount of time that your child should be working, such as 20 minutes. Set the timer and make this a working time. Once the timer goes off, allow a 5 or 10 minute break before heading back to work. A visual timer can be especially helpful in this case because it shows kids and teens just how long they have left until they get their next break. Of course, a simple timer on the oven works, too.

Keep distractions away. We all know that kids and teens love their cell phones. The truth is that these devices are extremely distracting during working times. Make it an expectation that electronics stay away during homework time. Of course, it’s important to mention that this might be incredibly difficult for some kids at first. Work at it to make it a habit for the long-term.

Schedule breaks. It’s healthy to take breaks during long working sessions. Plan to take a break after each course assignment, or after a period of time. Of course, the number of breaks is going to vary greatly depending on your child.

Plan homework times. When it comes to homework, routine is a big part of the puzzle. Plan and schedule daily homework times when possible. Aim for shortly after your child gets home from school if that’s an option. This can allow a short break but still the time to finish the work they need to before dinner and night-time routines. Again, this is going to vary depending on every family situation, since parent work schedules and sports might interfere. If that’s the case, choose any time that works for you. It’s most important to stick with it so that it becomes a routine.

Model focused work. When it’s homework time, model what focused work looks like. While your child is working on assignments, read a book, do crossword puzzles, write in a journal, or complete some work of your own!

Build in choice. Give kids some say when it comes to homework! This will help them feel more empowered and independent. You can let them choose which assignment to start first or how they’d like to start a project. A little bit of choice can go a long way.

Create a homework checklist. Help your child create a daily checklist for homework each day. Encourage them to list out everything they need to accomplish on a piece of paper. Then, prioritize what is most important and start there. Have them check off each assignment on the checklist as they go. This can be done on paper or on a mini whiteboard.

Find a homework buddy. Make sure your child has a friend or classmate they can reach out to when they need homework support. This can be beneficial if they don’t know the assignment or have a question on a specific problem.

Be flexible. If your child wants to do homework a little bit differently than you would recommend, let them try. For example, maybe your child needs to spread out and work on the floor. Perhaps they might really do better while listening to music. These are all recommendations, strategies, and ideas, but remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Be open-minded and find what works for your child.

Recognize when something is taking too long. You know your child best. If he or she spending two hours on a homework assignment, consider taking a look at it together. Provide support and encourage strategies to help them move along. When nothing seems to work, you can also consider adding a note to the back of the page and sending an email to the teacher letting them know the challenges you encountered.

Check homework when finished. Depending on the needs of the child, it may be important to check over and review homework together. Not only it is important to check for completion, but for quality of work. If work isn’t done well, it is worth going back and having your child add or fix what they need to. Eventually, the goal is that they will learn that it’s just easier to do it right the first time!

Plan fun activities after homework. Family game time, watching a favorite show, or heading out for ice cream are all great ways to naturally reward being finished with work.

Develop a home incentive plan. If completing homework is continually a struggle and you suspect motivation is the culprit, consider an incentive or reward plan. Talk with your child about what they would like to earn, such as a movie night with friends or a weekend sleepover. Come up with the terms (such as homework completed every night for a week) and make it happen. The goal with an incentive plan is to develop positive habits and create independence.

Keep in touch with teachers. Remember to stay in contact with your child’s teachers. They are often a source of helpful tips and strategies, but they can’t provide that information if they don’t know your child is struggling. When talking to your child’s teacher about homework challenges, be specific about the difficulties you are seeing an open-minded to trying some strategies. Avoid the blame game. It’s always best when families work with schools on homework issues. If issues continue, do your best to document them and request a face-to-face meeting to discuss further and come up with ideas. Using actual homework samples might also be helpful.

Be a united front with teachers. Even if homework becomes a source of frustration, it’s helpful to remember to act as a united front with your child’s teachers. Certainly, it’s helpful to voice your concerns (and even frustrations) with your child’s teacher privately, but doing it in front of the child can send the wrong message. Again, working together always works best.

Remember to start with just a few strategies, give them a fair shot, and see where they take you. The goal is always that your child can complete the homework independently and feel successful. This may take time, practice, and changing up the strategies along the way, but homework success is possible!

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Is homework robbing your family of joy? You're not alone

Children are not the only ones who dread their homework these days. In a 2019 survey of 1,049 parents with children in elementary, middle, or high school, Office Depot found that parents spend an average of 21 minutes a day helping their children with their homework. Those 21 minutes are often apparently very unpleasant.

Parents reported their children struggle to complete homework. One in five believed their children "always or often feel overwhelmed by homework," and half of them reported their children had cried over homework stress.

Parents are struggling to help. Four out of five parents reported that they have had difficulty understanding their children's homework.

This probably comes as no surprise to any parent who has come up against a third grade math homework sheet with the word "array" printed on it. If you have not yet had the pleasure, for the purposes of Common Core math, an array is defined as a set of objects arranged in rows and columns and used to help kids learn about multiplication. For their parents, though, it's defined as a "What? Come again? Huh?"

It's just as hard on the students. "My high school junior says homework is the most stressful part of high school...maybe that’s why he never does any," said Mandy Burkhart, of Lake Mary, Florida, who is a mother of five children ranging in age from college to preschool.

In fact, Florida high school teacher and mother of three Katie Tomlinson no longer assigns homework in her classroom. "Being a parent absolutely changed the way I assign homework to my students," she told TODAY Parents .

"Excessive homework can quickly change a student’s mind about a subject they previously enjoyed," she noted. "While I agree a check and balance is necessary for students to understand their own ability prior to a test, I believe it can be done in 10 questions versus 30."

But homework is a necessary evil for most students, so what is a parent to do to ensure everyone in the house survives? Parents and professionals weigh in on the essentials:

Understand the true purpose of homework

"Unless otherwise specified, homework is designed to be done by the child independently, and it's most often being used as a form of formative assessment by the teacher to gauge how the kids are applying — independently — what they are learning in class," said Oona Hanson , a Los Angeles-area educator and parent coach.

"If an adult at home is doing the heavy lifting, then the teacher never knows that the child isn't ready to do this work alone, and the cycle continues because the teacher charges ahead thinking they did a great job the day before!" Hanson said. "It's essential that teachers know when their students are struggling for whatever reason."

Hanson noted the anxiety both parents and children have about academic achievement, and she understands the parental impulse to jump in and help, but she suggested resisting that urge. "We can help our kids more in the long run if we can let them know it's OK to struggle a little bit and that they can be honest with their teacher about what they don't understand," she said.

Never miss a parenting story with the TODAY Parenting newsletter! Sign up here.

Help kids develop time management skills

Some children like to finish their homework the minute they get home. Others need time to eat a snack and decompress. Either is a valid approach, but no matter when students decide to tackle their homework, they might need some guidance from parents about how to manage their time .

One tip: "Set the oven timer for age appropriate intervals of work, and then let them take a break for a few minutes," Maura Olvey, an elementary school math specialist in Central Florida, told TODAY Parents. "The oven timer is visible to them — they know when a break is coming — and they are visible to you, so you can encourage focus and perseverance." The stopwatch function on a smartphone would work for this method as well.

But one size does not fit all when it comes to managing homework, said Cleveland, Ohio, clinical psychologist Dr. Sarah Cain Spannagel . "If their child has accommodations as a learner, parents know they need them at home as well as at school: quiet space, extended time, audio books, etcetera," she said. "Think through long assignments, and put those in planners in advance so the kid knows it is expected to take some time."

Know when to walk away

"I always want my parents to know when to call it a night," said Amanda Feroglia, a central Florida elementary teacher and mother of two. "The children's day at school is so rigorous; some nights it’s not going to all get done, and that’s OK! It’s not worth the meltdown or the fight if they are tired or you are frustrated...or both!"

Parents also need to accept their own limits. Don't be afraid to find support from YouTube videos, websites like Khan Academy, or even tutors. And in the end, said Spannagel, "If you find yourself yelling or frustrated, just walk away!" It's fine just to let a teacher know your child attempted but did not understand the homework and leave it at that.

Ideally, teachers will understand when parents don't know how to help with Common Core math, and they will assign an appropriate amount of homework that will not leave both children and their parents at wits' ends. If worst comes to worst, a few parents offered an alternative tip for their fellow homework warriors.

"If Brittany leaves Boston for New York at 3:00 pm traveling by train at 80 MPH, and Taylor leaves Boston for New York at 1:00 pm traveling by car at 65 MPH, and Brittany makes two half hour stops, and Taylor makes one that is ten minutes longer, how many glasses of wine does mommy need?" quipped one mom of two.

Also recommended: "Chocolate, in copious amounts."

Allison Slater Tate is a freelance writer and editor in Florida specializing in parenting and college admissions. She is a proud Gen Xer, ENFP, Leo, Diet Coke enthusiast, and champion of the Oxford Comma. She mortifies her four children by knowing all the trending songs on TikTok. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram .

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How to help your kids with homework (without doing it for them)

Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Monash University

Lecturer, Monash University

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Parents are a child’s first and most important teachers . Parent involvement in their child’s learning can help improve how well they do in school. However, when it comes to helping kids with homework, it’s not so simple.

While it’s important to show support and model learning behaviour, there is a limit to how much help you can give without robbing your child of the opportunity to learn for themselves.

Be involved and interested

An analysis of more than 400 research studies found parent involvement, both at school and at home, could improve students’ academic achievement, engagement and motivation.

School involvement includes parents participating in events such as parent-teacher conferences and volunteering in the classroom. Home involvement includes parents talking with children about school, providing encouragement, creating stimulating environments for learning and finally – helping them with homework.

Read more: What to do at home so your kids do well at school

The paper found overall, it was consistently beneficial for parents to be involved in their child’s education, regardless of the child’s age or socioeconomic status. However, this same analysis also suggested parents should be cautious with how they approach helping with homework.

Parents helping kids with homework was linked to higher levels of motivation and engagement, but lower levels of academic achievement. This suggests too much help may take away from the child’s responsibility for their own learning.

Help them take responsibility

Most children don’t like homework. Many parents agonise over helping their children with homework. Not surprisingly, this creates a negative emotional atmosphere that often results in questioning the value of homework.

Homework has often been linked to student achievement, promoting the idea children who complete it will do better in school. The most comprehensive analysis on homework and achievement to date suggests it can influence academic achievement (like test scores), particularly for children in years seven to 12.

But more research is needed to find out about how much homework is appropriate for particular ages and what types are best to maximise home learning.

Read more: Too much help with homework can hinder your child's learning progress

When it comes to parent involvement, research suggests parents should help their child see their homework as an opportunity to learn rather than perform. For example, if a child needs to create a poster, it is more valuable the child notes the skills they develop while creating the poster rather than making the best looking poster in the class.

Instead of ensuring their child completes their homework, it’s more effective for parents to support their child to increase confidence in completing homework tasks on their own.

Here are four ways they can do this.

1. Praise and encourage your child

Your positivity will make a difference to your child’s approach to homework and learning in general. Simply, your presence and support creates a positive learning environment.

Our study involved working with recently arrived Afghani mothers who were uncertain how to help their children with school. This was because they said they could not understand the Australian education system or speak or write in English.

However, they committed to sit next to their children as they completed their homework tasks in English, asking them questions and encouraging them to discuss what they were learning in their first language.

In this way, the parents still played a role in supporting their child even without understanding the content and the children were actively engaged in their learning.

2. Model learning behaviour

Many teachers model what they would like their students to do. So, if a child has a problem they can’t work out, you can sit down and model how you would do it, then complete the next one together and then have the child do it on their own.

3. Create a homework plan

When your child becomes overly frustrated with their homework, do not force them. Instead, together create a plan to best tackle it:

read and understand the homework task

break the homework task into smaller logical chunks

discuss how much time is required to complete each chunk

work backwards from the deadline and create a timeline

put the timeline where the child can see it

encourage your child to mark completed chunks to see the progress made on the task

4. Make space for homework

Life is busy. Parents can create positive study habits by allocating family time for this. This could mean carving out one hour after dinner for your child to do homework while you engage in a study activity such as reading, rather than watching television and relaxing. You can also create a comfortable and inviting reading space for the child to learn in.

Parents’ ability to support their child’s learning goes beyond homework. Parents can engage their child in discussions, read with them, and provide them with other ongoing learning opportunities (such as going to a museum, watching a documentary or spending time online together).

Manager, Regional Training Hub

Head of Evidence to Action

Supply Chain - Assistant/Associate Professor (Tenure-Track)

OzGrav Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Casual Facilitator: GERRIC Student Programs - Arts, Design and Architecture

• February 12, 2020

52 Out-of-the-Box Family Bonding Activities

It’s easy to forget to have fun with your kids. Rules, responsibilities, schoolwork… and the day-to-day grind can prevent us from enjoying life as a family. That’s where intentionality comes in. You can stop and choose to take a moment to laugh and enjoy your family, but it may require planning. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 52 family bonding activities, all to inject a little joy and connection into your day.

Parents often want to know how to prevent problem behaviors, or make sure their kids don’t make poor choices. As we’ve interacted with countless families over the decades, we’ve noticed some patterns. One of the best, proactive, ways parents can protect their kids’ hearts is to build an identity of, “Our family knows how to have fun together!”  

No matter what, all kids will experience some struggles. However, families that laugh and have fun together seem to work through difficulties more easily. They come back to solid, caring relationships over time. It is our observation that joyful connection is the super glue of families.

Some of these family bonding activities will take you a few minutes. Others are all day outings. But all of them share a single goal: laugh, have fun, and empower your kids to act like children who know they are loved and secure .

So pick the bonding activities that fit with your family, and enjoy! If there are activities that your family enjoys, we’d love to hear from you. Share them in the comments below.

Note: A big thanks to the Connected Families Insider’s Team for helping us come up with this list of family bonding activities!

Jim and Lynne’s top 10 family bonding activities:

• Mud sliding!
• Pranking : Do an affectionate prank together. 
• After dinner, scrub the table clean or cover with a plastic sheet. Then pile with scoops of ice cream and toppings.
• No plates or bowls allowed. Just spoons! 
• You will need a ball of string or yarn.
• Hold the starting end of the string, toss it to another family member and then say something encouraging about that person. Repeat until the yarn is gone or kids are losing interest. 
• Hide-and-Seek (or Sardines if running is out of the question)
• Plan a special dinner with fancy dishes and sparkling juice for the kids.
• Use instrumental music, flowers, and candles to create ambiance.
• If your kids are game, consider making it a black-and-white affair.
• Make the focus on what you are thankful for.
• Put on a 50’s playlist and start dancing.
• Or t each your kids the polka or Macarena. (Why do we have to wait for a wedding dance to have that kind of inter-generational fun?!)
• Designate one plate as the special “affirmation” plate at dinner.
• Have it rotate around the family and come out at random, unexpected times.
• This helps kids learn that it’s okay, and even fun, when someone else is on the receiving end of encouragement. 
• N ewspaper ball fights
• S nowball forts and fight
• Whatever you do, include plenty of whooping, hollering and dramatic “injuries” when your kids score a hit.
• Make silly t-shirts and wear them someplace really fun! 

More family bondng activities from our community

• From Chris in Colorado: “With the rest of the family as an audience (there are 6 kids in the family) we use the fact that getting attention is something everyone likes. So we set up fun improv games (can easily find lists for these online). Or instead of just reading Bible stories we give the kids roles while Mom or Dad narrates. The kids get to act things out or say their lines, sometimes using simple props. Sometimes we’ll add in sound effects (YouTube has some great ones!) or lighting to show day and night, storms, etc. These require VERY little prep and are free!”
• From Caroline in Indiana: Playing the National Park board game called “Trekking” together. 
• From Katie in Tennessee: “My husband started a monthly dinner at a “sit-down” restaurant with our boys as they approached adolescence. They would learn and utilize the appropriate social manners and the agenda would include a discussion of each person’s highs and lows and a prepared joke. They named it M.E.D. Club (Maniacs Eating Dinner) and my husband takes minutes in a special notebook to remember each meeting. It is a planned intentional time to build relationships while modeling that male relationships can include both nurturing and fun.”
• Each person creates their own house.
• Together you create s tores and places to go.
• Go “off-the-grid” with all electronics put away, including TV.
• Plan fun activities (use any on this page or think of some others—we’d love to hear about them!)
• Get in the car and at each corner let kids take turns telling the driver which way to turn.
• See if you can be a blessing to someone along the way. 
• Look through pictures and photo albums.
• Go to the public library together: reading areas, free activities, etc.
• Have a tea party
• Let the kids plan and execute a meal as they are able.
• Serve a meal at a homeless shelter .
• Go bowling as a family.
• Have a family movie night —at home or at the theaters.
• Go to a water park and participate WITH your kids.
• Explore a museum together.
• Try fun taste tests or eating/cooking challenges.
• Engage your kids on how to surprise them best.
• You could make signs to plaster all over their yard that say things like, “You’re the best!”, “We like you!”, or “We’re thinking of how cool you are!”
• You could wake them up to a concert and dance performed by your family.
• You could anonymously buy groceries, ring the doorbell, and disappear.
• Help your kids experience that it feels good to love others.
• Have breakfast for dinner!
• This could be with furniture and blankets, or with sticks and wood.
• Go camping together—even if just in your living room!
• Turn off the lights and tell stories to each other. Whoever is holding the flashlight tells the next story!
• Wear crazy, mismatching clothes
• Take pictures wherever you go. If you’re feeling shy, just go out into nature.
• This could mean having a video game day, or something else related to screens. Let them relish this unusual twist.
• Make a list of things in your neighborhood or community for your kids to find.
• If you need to drive, try letting them decide where to go next in the search for the items on the list. Have them practice deciding where to turn left or right.
• Get wet and dance in the middle of a downpour (assuming no lightning).
• Enjoy the things that they come up with.
• Would not be safe
• Are not within the budget you gave them
• Might unfairly disadvantage one sibling

Tips to maximize the impact of your family bonding experience:

• Look for opportunities to affirm any kindness or honoring attitudes you see.  
• Take, print, and display pictures of your fun to refresh kids’ memories. Invite them to tell a relative or friend all about it. 
• Bring the presence and love of God into your time together. “How do you think Jesus feels when we have fun together?” or even, “Jesus is here with us now. What do you think He might be thinking?” The Bible tells us that God loves to bless those who love Him by filling their mouths laughter and their lips with shouts of joy (Job 8:21).

Related Posts

One-on-one parent-child bonding ideas:

• From Heather in Minnesota: “ My 4-year-old and I made homemade playdough together (easy!) and then opened a pretend restaurant.”
• From Jennifer in Illinois: “Having carpet picnics with my child by putting down a towel on the carpet and having a meal while watching a movie.”
• From Chris in Colorado: “I took my 8-year-old son to my grandparents’ former house in town; we knocked on the door and met the people who lived there now, and got to talk with them about the house and neighborhood, and my memories spending time there as a kid. Before we started my son thought it was going to be boring and wanted to do something “entertaining” instead, but in the end he really enjoyed it and it has become a special memory for him.”
• Read books together (even as they get older!)
• Outdoor fun (skating, sledding, surfing, hiking, exploring, etc.)
• One-on-one dinner date s
• Bird watching and nature photography
• Knitting or sewing classes together
• Board games and card games (Stratego, Dutch Blitz)
• Painting or coloring together
• Craft projects
• Keep a collection together (coins, stamps, feathers, rocks, etc.)
• Making and sending cards to others, such as children in the hospital or elderly in nursing homes
• Planning a menu and cooking together
• Taking walks or going for runs together

Will the effort even make a difference in your parenting?

To answer this question, here’s a video about a doctor who prescribed more connection time to a child. Take a look at how it went.

When you’re struggling with family bonding

Super glue for families can come in many forms. Don’t underestimate the value of quick “fly-by” connections .

However, it’s also important to intermittently do those more in-depth family bonding activities. Here’s a little rule to keep in mind: The more out-of-the-box and engaging a connection activity is, the more kids will remember it.

These out-of-the-box activities also send the message: “I love you and delight in you, and that’s FUN for me.”

Don’t let the “taskmaster” rob your family of the laughter and joy that Jesus wants for you! Ask God to guide you in strengthening your relationships with playful affection and joy as you seek to lead your family with grace.

What are your parenting strengths?

You’ve got them. Knowing your strengths will help you become the best parent you can be. Knowing your parenting challenges is useful information too. Take our FREE ASSESSMENT .

Jim and Lynne Jackson

Try therapy >

September 17, 2023

10 Family Therapy Activities For Building Relationships

by Jessica Samora

• Pressures from everyday interactions may cause unhelpful behaviors and conflicts within families.

• Through family therapy, members can learn to express themselves better and listen more effectively.

• Engaging in activities such as open communication sessions and art therapy allows for emotional expression and bonding.

The outside world is tough

Pressure from workplaces, social interaction, or other outside influences can sometimes weigh heavily on family relationships, leading to inexplicable conflicts between family members. Getting frustrated and stuck in a cycle of unhelpful thoughts and behaviors related to negative family dynamics is easy. Will family therapy activities restore your relationships?

So, how do you establish or bring back happy family dynamics? How do you help your children, spouse, and other family members rediscover the joy in being together? How do you help them cope with the pressures of living in today's world? How do you encourage someone to be present with the family and see beyond their phone screen?

Could family therapy activities be the answer?

Family therapy is a smart step toward building relationships and restoring familial bonds. It involves activities designed to help the members express their emotions, understand each other better, and break down barriers, allowing families to function better together as one unit.

You can attend family therapy in person or from the comfort of your home, online via Teleheath .

Family therapy activities enhance overall connections within the family and encourage a healthier environment for everyone, young or old.

Understanding the Importance of Family Therapy

Family therapy empowers each family member to understand their roles within the family. It also helps build empathy and understanding of one another's feelings in a safe, trusting, and non-judgmental environment. More specifically, they learn and form healthy identities and create an atmosphere of collaboration and support within the family unit, while teaching families how to better manage their relationships.

In short, they help families gain a greater sense of well-being and operate in ways that are more open, empathetic, and curious in everyday life.

In this piece, we will explore the most common and effective family therapy activities for building relationships that can help you foster an environment of trust, love, and understanding within your family.

1. Open Communication Sessions

One of the fundamental aspects of any healthy relationship is open and honest communication. Family therapy often starts with dedicated sessions where each family member can express their thoughts, feelings, and concerns in a safe and non-judgmental environment.

These sessions are facilitated by an experienced family therapist who ensures everyone can speak and be heard.

During these sessions, family members learn to actively listen to each other without interrupting. The therapist may introduce communication exercises like "active listening," where one person speaks, and the others listen without offering immediate feedback.

This practice promotes a deeper understanding of each other's perspectives and encourages empathy.

2. Role-Playing Exercises

Role-playing can be a powerful tool in family therapy. It allows family members to step into each other's shoes and better understand the challenges and perspectives of others within the family. For example, a child may role-play as a parent and vice versa. This exercise helps family members see situations from different angles and can lead to increased empathy and compassion.

Role-playing is also a great way to practice new behaviors and skills. For example, if one family member often has difficulty expressing their emotions, they can practice this in a safe environment with the therapist's guidance.

3. Art and Creative Therapy

For families who find it challenging to express themselves verbally, art therapy can be incredibly beneficial. Individuals can convey their emotions and thoughts nonverbally through painting, drawing, or other creative mediums. This can be especially helpful for children struggling to articulate their feelings. Art therapy provides an outlet for self-expression and can uncover underlying emotions that are difficult to put into words.

4. Chinese Whispers

Chinese whispers, also known as the Telephone Game, is a fun and educational activity highlighting the importance of clear communication. Family members sit in a circle, and one person whispers a message to the next person, who then passes it along to the next. The message continues until it reaches the last person, who shares it with the entire group. Often, the final message is quite different from the original, illustrating how miscommunication can occur within families. This activity emphasizes the need for clear and direct communication to avoid misunderstandings.

5. The Miracle Question

The miracle question is a thought-provoking exercise that encourages family members to envision a future where their problems are miraculously solved. The therapist asks each family member to describe what their life would be like if, overnight, their issues disappeared. This exercise helps family members articulate their goals and desires, providing a positive vision to work towards. It also opens up discussions about the steps needed to move closer to that ideal future.

6. Emotions Ball

The activity works well to express emotions, especially in teenagers or children who might not be comfortable articulating their feelings through words. The activity only requires a pen and a ball (preferably a beach ball) because it is big enough to write various emotions, and passing it around is more manageable.

On each colored section of the ball, write down different emotions, such as joy, happiness, sadness, etc.

Gather the family members in a circle and have them pass the ball back and forth.

When a family member catches the ball, encourage them to share a personal experience or moment when they felt the specific emotion written on the section they caught.

This exercise is meant to facilitate open discussions about various emotions within your family while practicing active listening and expressing your feelings.

7. Mirroring Activity

The mirroring activity is designed to improve non-verbal communication and enhance empathy within the family. Family members pair up and take turns mirroring each other's movements and facial expressions. They mimic the other person's movements while avoiding physical contact. Those involved become more in tune with each other's gestures and expressions, helping them develop a stronger bond of understanding.

This exercise encourages family members to be attentive to non-verbal cues, which are often essential in understanding each other's emotions. Mirroring can help family members connect on a deeper level and develop a heightened awareness of each other's non-verbal signals.

8. Lily Pad Swamp Crossing

The lily pad swamp crossing is a problem-solving activity that promotes teamwork and cooperation within the family. It involves creating a "swamp" on the floor using cushions or pieces of paper as a "lily pad." Family members, now frogs, must work together to cross the swamp without falling into the "water." This activity teaches important lessons about trust, communication, and collaboration.

The therapist listens and observes how the family interacts as they complete the activity. It provides insight into how family members work together, and they can use this insight to identify communication patterns or problem-solving strategies that can be improved. They learn to support each other through challenges, fostering a sense of unity and shared achievement.

9. Family Genogram

Creating a family genogram is like constructing a family tree but with a deeper emotional dimension. It helps family members understand their history, connections, and the patterns that may be affecting their relationships. In a family therapy session, a therapist guides the family in creating a visual representation of their family structure, including relationships, roles, and significant life events. This tool can reveal patterns of behavior and relationship dynamics that contribute to current challenges. It also helps family members see how their family history influences their present relationships.

10. The Magic Key

The magic key activity is a metaphorical exercise that encourages family members to collaboratively explore solutions to their problems. In this exercise, family members imagine they have a "magic key" that can unlock solutions to their challenges. They take turns sharing about one thing they believe money can never buy that they want to unlock in the family. This exercise aims for family members to identify their common values and develop a shared vision. It can help them recognize their similarities instead of focusing on their differences, thereby strengthening relationships within the family.

Building Trust and Empathy

Trust-Building Exercises:

Trust is the bedrock of any healthy relationship. Family therapy often includes trust-building activities that allow family members to work on regaining trust or establishing it for the first time. These exercises create a safe space where family members can express vulnerabilities and fears without judgment.

Trust-building activities may include sharing personal stories, setting boundaries, and gradually rebuilding trust through consistent actions and open communication. The therapist guides these activities and ensures each family member feels heard and supported.

Empathy-Building Games:

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Various games and exercises in family therapy are designed to enhance empathy among family members, promoting a more compassionate atmosphere. One common exercise involves family members taking turns sharing their feelings while the others practice active listening and reflecting on what they've heard. This practice helps family members connect on a deeper emotional level and fosters empathy, which is essential for resolving conflicts and building stronger bonds.

Conflict Resolution Strategies

Active Listening Techniques:

One of the keys to resolving conflicts is active listening. Family members are taught how to listen attentively and without interruption, fostering a deeper understanding of each other's perspectives. Active listening involves not only hearing words but also paying attention to non-verbal cues and emotions. This skill is invaluable in family therapy and everyday family life, as it promotes effective communication and reduces misunderstandings.

Negotiation and Compromise Activities:

Learning how to negotiate and compromise is crucial in any relationship. Family therapy often includes exercises that teach these skills, enabling family members to find mutually beneficial solutions. These activities may involve role-playing scenarios where family members practice negotiation techniques or work together to find compromises in real-life situations.

Strengthening Bonds

Group Activities:

Participating in group activities as a family can be incredibly bonding. These could include outings, games, or even volunteering together, fostering a sense of unity and shared experiences.

Group activities provide opportunities for family members to create positive memories, strengthen their connections, and enjoy each other's company outside of the therapy setting.

Family Meetings:

Regular family meetings can provide a structured and safe space for discussing important issues, setting goals, and celebrating achievements. Family members can use these meetings to check in with each other, share their thoughts and feelings, and collaboratively make decisions. These meetings help establish a sense of routine and structure within the family and ensure that everyone's voice is heard.

Final thoughts...

Family therapy activities play a pivotal role in strengthening and nurturing familial bonds. The dynamics within a family can be complex, and challenges can arise for various reasons.

These activities, conducted under the guidance of a family therapist, offer effective strategies for addressing these challenges and improving family relationships.

They help family members build trust, increase empathy, resolve conflicts, and strengthen their connections. Family therapy activities create a safe environment for positive changes to occur, enabling families to move forward with healthier dynamics and more meaningful bonds.

Commonly Asked Questions

1. When is the best time to schedule family therapy activities?

Timing plays a crucial role when considering the ideal time to conduct these activities because it can really make a big difference in how your family processes and implements. Consider these activities when:

Dealing with a significant life event, such as a chronic illness, mental health condition, or substance abuse.

During transitions, for example, remarriage, a new sibling, or a new school.

Post-trauma or crisis, such as divorce, loss, abuse, or other traumatic experiences.

Addressing persistent or recurring issues, like communication breakdowns, arguments, and power struggles.

Resolving underlying issues that keep the family from functioning optimally.

2. How long does family therapy typically last?

Family therapy can vary in duration, but it often spans several weeks to several months, depending on the specific issues being addressed. The therapist will work with the family to determine the appropriate length of therapy based on their goals and progress.

3. Is family therapy only for families facing severe problems?

No, family therapy can be beneficial for families dealing with a wide range of issues, from minor conflicts to more significant challenges. It can help improve communication, resolve conflicts, and strengthen relationships at any stage.

4. How can I find a qualified family therapist?

You can search for family therapists through professional associations, online directories, or by asking for referrals from people you know, your primary care physician or other professionals.

You can also find qualified family therapists at Healing Collective Therapy Group. We offer free consultations so you can get a feeling if the therapist you speak to is the right one for you.

It's important to choose a therapist who has experience in family therapy and with the specific issues your family is facing. Look for the therapists family therapy experience on our website.

5. Are family therapy activities suitable for children?

Many family therapy activities are designed to be inclusive of children and can help them understand and navigate family dynamics better. Therapists adapt activities to suit each family member's age and developmental level.

6. Can family therapy be done virtually?

With the advancement of technology, many family therapy sessions can now be conducted online, making it more accessible and convenient for families. Virtual therapy sessions can be just as effective as in-person sessions when conducted by a qualified therapist.

Try therapy — it's available at a low-cost to everyone in California. Learn new skills to help you grow.

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• The law, expected to be enacted by the end of the year, grants same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, including adoption and inheritance.

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• In the wake of a tragedy, leaders must communicate effectively, balancing professionalism with empathy.

• Providing access to mental health resources and flexible working options can support employees in their recovery.

• Continuous open communication, respecting confidentiality, helps build trust and supports the emotional health of the workforce.

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• Recognize signs of anxiety to understand the condition better

• Offer understanding and validation, as well as resources for professional help

• Encourage coping mechanisms and lifestyle adjustments for long-term anxiety management

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• Mothers and daughters can improve their relationship by engaging in shared activities and making time for each other.

• Developing a best friend mentality with trust and open communication can deepen the bond.

• Handling conflicts wisely and fostering forgiveness are crucial for a resilient connection.

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• Spend time apart to gain perspective and heal.

• Focus on self-care and personal growth after the relationship.

• Seek support from friends or a therapist to process your feelings.

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• Family therapy models vary greatly, making it essential to choose one that aligns with your family's dynamics.

• Techniques such as narrative therapy and systemic therapy help families understand and resolve their issues.

• Engaging in the right type of family therapy can enhance communication and problem-solving within the family.

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• In any close relationship, trust is crucial and must be actively developed and tested over time.

• Signs of a lack of trust include a partner's failure to admit errors, inconsistency in keeping promises, and a closed-off demeanor.

• Relationships thrive on safety and security, which are fostered by honest communication and mutual respect.

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• Schedule an appointment individually or with your partner.

• Expect introductory questions about your relationship history.

• Be ready to discuss what you both hope to achieve through therapy.

• Relationship communication quotes highlight the power of conversation in building genuine connections.

• Humor, trust, and common goals are essential elements in maintaining a successful relationship.

• Effective communication involves understanding nonverbal cues and avoiding one-sided conversations.

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• Engaging in therapy is an essential step for personal growth, yet many struggle with opening up about sensitive topics.

• Over 80% of people report some level of dishonesty in sessions, affecting the positive outcomes of therapy.

• People benefit from writing their thoughts, choosing a relaxing time to meet, and gradually discussing deeper issues.

• Essential elements of the first email to a therapist, such as self-introduction and stating the reason for reaching out.

• Advice on researching therapy types before contacting a therapist to ensure a suitable match.

• Procedures on how to ask about therapist's availability, fees, and possible referrals.

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• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) helps couples rebuild trust and secure attachment after infidelity.

• EFT techniques include identifying emotional response patterns, embracing discomfort, and stopping past projections.

• If EFT is unsuccessful, it may be healthier to consider letting go of the relationship.

• Emotional invalidation, such as telling someone they are overreacting, can undermine self-confidence and relationship security.

• Validating emotions with empathy builds relationships and supports emotional well-being.

• Practical methods for validation include making eye contact, actively listening, and consensual physical touch.

• Many people suffer from a lack of self-compassion, influenced by negative feedback during childhood. • Self-criticism and shame are often reinforced by negative societal and cultural norms. • Mindfulness and daily practice can help shift from self-criticism to self-compassion.

• Self-criticism is often a response to feeling threatened, with the brain activating fight or flight, as if facing real danger.

• Self-compassion can deactivate stress responses, fostering calm and a more self-love.

• Exercises in self-compassion include rephrasing internal dialogue and practicing kindness and understanding toward oneself.

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• Start with weekly therapy for effective support

• Recognize when anxiety disrupts your life

• Individual treatment plans depend on personal progress

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