If not, you’re lucky. Almost a third of parents have admitted helping their children with homework has led to arguments in the family, according to a survey by tuition provider Explore Learning. The number one topic for discord? Maths, apparently, with almost 50% of parents finding the subject difficult compared to the 11% of parents that find English hard to grasp.
Carey Ann Dodah, Head of Curriculum Development at Explore Learning, believes arguments start due to the frustration of parents and their lack of understanding of their children’s homework. “Learning styles have changed over the years and for some parents the way homework is presented can be deemed confusing. Parents frequently get the complaint ‘but that’s not the way we do it at school’ when they try to help their child with their work,” she says.
Interestingly, and rather disappointingly for advocates of gender equality, Explore Learning’s survey indicates that 52% of mums and 32% of dads struggle in understanding maths. Mind you, I suspect it is the other way round with English…
Though private tuition can obviously prove useful to stop homework turning into a constant battle with your kids, 15% of parents have found another solution altogether: they never or rarely help with homework at all….
I’ll let you ponder the last option….
Tell us about your family, do you argue over homework too?
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