The Homework Episode for Overwhelmed Parents

Ellen Braaten (0:00)

There are a lot of effects of homework that are really negative, and a lot of them lead to a decrease in motivation.

So the reason why I think homework is such a big thing is because schools want their students to be the best, and the best ACT scores and SAT scores. Parents want their kids to be successful. And so we kind of feel like more of whatever is always better. And when it comes to homework, that's actually not true.

Aliza Pressman (0:30)

If you have struggles with homework, or just concerns about homework, or you're feeling like, why in the world is there so much homework, and how can I keep this from being totally fraught in my household? Dr. Ellen Braaten is so helpful, like just concretely helpful. She's a founding director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program at Mass General, and she's an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. Part of the conversation we're having is about the kids who are doing homework, but they're maybe taking longer than they should, or maybe they're not prioritizing properly. Some of this is about the kids who have no motivation or haven't really thought, what is the point of this?

So, helping figure out how to support kids who are having a difficult time with homework or overdoing homework or have slow processing. There's so much with homework. I'm Dr. Aliza Pressman, developmental psychologist, New York Times bestselling author, associate clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine, and the host of Raising Good Humans podcast. I am so glad you're here.

So, we're talking about homework today. And the reason we're talking about homework, I mean, obviously we'll get into how best to support our kids who are struggling with homework because I don't think we need to talk about the kids who just come home and do their homework. But first, I kind of want to ask you why you think homework is such a point of tension in households.

Ellen Braaten (2:16)

So, I think there are a few reasons why homework is difficult. One is that it's often too much of it. Another reason is because kids can't do it. They don't have the skills to do what they're being asked to do.

Another reason is because it's often very boring, which is not what the purpose of homework is supposed to be.

And the other, for kids who actually do homework really well, the ones who get home, they do it and they're up till three in the morning, those kids are stressed out. So there are a lot of effects of homework that are really negative. And a lot of them lead to a decrease in motivation. So the reason why I think homework is such a big thing is because schools want their students to be the best, and the best ACT scores and SAT scores. Parents want their kids to be successful. And so we kind of feel like more of whatever is always better. And when it comes to homework, that's actually not true.

Aliza Pressman (3:15)

Kind of along the developmental continuum, when is homework even reasonable? Because you think about parents, I remember this when my oldest daughter was in kindergarten at a very rigorous school, rigorous for a kindergarten.

The parents were complaining that there was not homework. Like somehow the kids were missing out on learning. So I want to address sort of developmentally, when do we actually, if ever, need homework? And what are the harms and benefits of homework?

Ellen Braaten (3:46)

So I love your example about not doing enough homework. That's one reason why homework is such a point of contention, is because some parents want more of it. Of course, others are really struggling with it. The studies are kind of mixed on homework, and a lot of studies show that there's very little effect in homework, and some of them show that there's some good effects on homework. But really, in terms of development, you don't really need it until about second grade.

Then the rule of thumb, and actually the data is okay on this, but it's not fabulous on this, is that 10 minutes of homework for each year. So that in second grade, you have 20 minutes of homework, first grade you have 10 minutes of homework, and that by middle school you've got 90, and in high school you've got about two hours of homework per night. Now the data does show that after about two hours of homework, there really is no significant effect of more homework. And think about how many high school students are home doing way more than two hours of homework per night.