importance of discipline in doing homework

Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Senior Contributing Editor

Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

She can be reached at [email protected] .

Comments & Discussion

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There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

Comments are closed.

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Why is homework important?

Why Is Homework Important: Beyond Class and Embracing Learning

Homework is important for several reasons, as it plays a crucial role in enhancing students' learning and educational experience. Here are some key reasons why homework is valuable:

• Reinforces Learning : Homework helps reinforce what was taught in class, allowing students to practice and apply knowledge, ensuring a deeper understanding and retention of the material.
• Promotes Discipline and Time Management : Regular homework assignments teach students to manage their time effectively, develop self-discipline, and prioritize tasks, which are valuable skills beyond the classroom.
• Encourages Independence and Responsibility : Completing homework independently fosters self-reliance and personal responsibility for one's learning, preparing students for the self-directed learning required in higher education and the workplace.
• Provides Feedback : Homework offers teachers a way to assess students' understanding and progress, allowing them to identify areas where students may need extra help and adjust their teaching strategies accordingly.
• Enhances Critical Thinking and Problem Solving : Homework often involves tasks that require critical thinking and problem-solving, skills that are crucial for academic and life success.
• Engages Parents in Their Child's Education : Homework gives parents insight into what their children are learning in school and the opportunity to engage in their child's education, supporting learning at home.
• Prepares for Upcoming Classes : Homework can be used to introduce new material, preparing students for future lessons and enabling more effective use of classroom time.

Overall, homework is a critical tool in the educational process, supporting learning and personal development in numerous ways.

Ever wondered why teachers seem to love piling on homework? The real reasons why assignments have such an amazing impact on your future might surprise you.

In this article, we’re discovering how homework isn’t just busywork — it’s an essential player when it comes to skyrocketing your comprehension of class material, refining your ability to tackle problems, and establishing a sturdy foundation for academic success. 

By the time we’re done, you’re going to be seeing homework in a different light. So, let's find out why homework is important.

Benefits of Homework

Homework facilitates problem-solving skills, provides students with an additional chance to revisit classroom content, enables parents to understand school teachings, and instills a sense of responsibility in students regarding their education.

If you're asking yourself, "Why is homework good for me?" There are numerous reasons why it can be very beneficial in the long run. Challenging work allows us to grow, after all. Let's look at all its benefits.

Completing Homework Encourages Students To Keep Learning

For some students, learning is not just an obligation but can be enjoyed as well. The acceptance of life-long learning can be fostered by homework, and if the teacher manages to engage their students, they’ve set the stage for the students. Let’s take a look at why homework is important:  

• Improves memory and retention: It increases the potential for students to remember class material since they have to revisit it.
• Increases the potential for practical use of knowledge: By understanding the lesson’s materials in more depth, students might apply what they know with more ease.

Helps Develop Skills and Good Habits

Doing your homework can help you develop the necessary skills and habits needed to do challenging work and to keep progressing and ultimately growing as a person. This is why the importance of homework can't be overlooked. 

• Helps you learn time management: Since homework is usually done outside of school, students will learn how to manage their time and studying time, which will seep into their ability to manage their time in general.
• Helps students become more organized: Organizing what you’ve learned to produce well-thought responses that can also be applied practically will become crucial in your day-to-day life.
• Helps foster discipline and responsibility: If students want to become successful, not just in the eyes of society but for their personal achievements as well, they must be disciplined and have to take on responsibilities.

Connects School and Home

“Why is homework necessary?” you ask. For starters, it bridges school and home life. Parents are the vital link between schools and students becoming college and career-ready. 

And parent engagement is more powerful than any other form of involvement or support at school. It strengthens the vital educational triangle uniting parents, home, and school. 

Prepares High School Students for The Future

You can become more resilient and adaptable to challenges in your life. You’ll most likely feel more prepared when these challenges come. What’s more, you can become a better problem-solver and can improve your analytical and critical thinking skills in the long run. This is why homework is beneficial.

Helps Develop A Growth Mindset and Time Management Skills

If you're still wondering, "Why is homework important?" Then, you should know that it can help you foster a growth mentality. What does this mean? Instead of feeling victimized by challenges, failures, and other difficulties, you'll develop a mindset where you view these things as opportunities to grow. At the end of the day, these difficulties can be your best teachers.

Struggling with your Homework?

Get your assignments done by real pros. Save your precious time and boost your marks with ease.

Homework: Tips and Tricks

Now that we've taken a look at all the reasons why homework is beneficial to your growth and life let's take a look at some tips you can apply to your homework sessions. If you're still having issues, you can always send a " do my homework " request on Studyfy to get expert help. ‍

To effectively tackle homework, consider these strategies: take regular breaks to refresh, collaborate with friends for support, create a conducive homework area, actively engage in homework discussions, minimize distractions, adhere to a homework timetable, form a study group, organize a dedicated study space, prepare all necessary materials in advance, listen to instrumental music to maintain focus, reward yourself for completing tasks, practice efficient time management, and leverage available resources for assistance.

1. Create A Study Space : Moving on from finding out why homework is good, the first tip to make homework sessions easier is to create a dedicated study space. By doing this, you can potentially trick your mind into focusing better in that said space.

2. Establish A Routine : Create a homework schedule and stick to it. By doing this, you're freeing up your time by prioritizing your responsibilities first. It might be hard at first, but it's work sticking by. Moreover, if you're curious, you can take a look at who invented homework and why , and you might get some inspiration from knowing this.

3. Prioritize The Difficult Tasks in Homework Assignments : Continuing why should students have homework and homework tips, another great tip is to tackle difficult homework first. This gives you enough time to complete them, ensuring you meet your deadlines. It also frees up your time and speeds up the process.

4. Make Use of Apps : Apps like Quizlet and Evernote can help streamline your sessions. You can note down reasons on, "How is homework beneficial?" to help you get motivated or simply note down important notes from class and more.

5. Break Tasks Up : For lengthier and more complex tasks, you can simply break them up into smaller and more doable portions. Need more reasons on why is homework good for students so you can learn how to motivate yourself to do homework even more? Keep reading, and you’ll know all there is to know about homework and how to finish it easier.

6. Get Help : How does homework help students when a task is too difficult? Difficulty motivates us to try harder. However, if you feel like you're stuck, don't be afraid to seek out help. You can ask teachers, friends, and your parents for extra guidance.

7. Employ Study Methods : Use study methods like summarizing, memory flashcards, and quizzing yourself. "Why is homework beneficial?" It helps you apply problem-solving skills effectively, just like these 3 methods.

8. Free Yourself From Distractions : One of the reasons why homework is good is it teaches you to focus and to cut off distractions. A habit that applies to anything in life. Free up your study space from all potential distractions, like phones, tablets, and TV.

9. Prioritize Health and Sleep : "Why is homework helpful?" For starters, if you prioritize your work, you are obligated to also take care of your health and get enough sleep. By doing so, you can focus and work better. Good habits produce more good habits.

10. Find Your Purpose : The last tip, but not the least important, is finding out your "Why." Find out why you want to work hard. Instead of summing it up to, "I want to get into a good school" or "I want to make a lot of money as an adult," find a deeper purpose as to why you should be diligent.

Maybe you're doing it for self-improvement, or maybe you want to change the world for the better. You can potentially get to know yourself better, and you realize this is why we should have homework.

Did you like our Homework Post?

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What are the reasons why students should have homework?

As we've already seen, homework helps foster better cognitive abilities, train discipline, and prepare students for what's coming.

If you're still struggling with your homework, you can get physics homework help and help for other subjects, too, on Studyfy. It's alright to have difficulties, if you try to improve, results will surely show up.     

How can parents help with homework?

Homework is important, therefore you should ask your parents for help and further motivation if needed. They can offer help when necessary and let you solve problems on your own to foster independence. They can create a space where learning is easy and there are no disturbances.

Can too much homework be counterproductive?

While the benefits of homework are plenty, too much homework can be counterproductive. If this is the case, you can directly talk to your teachers and negotiate with them. If you have tests you need to study for, it can help to have less homework.

Too much homework creates unnecessary stress, no matter how good your time management skills are. Yes, homework improve academic achievement, but excessive homework, especially for younger students, doesn't reinforce learning.

Do the study tips this article has mentioned help?

Yes, they do. It's become apparent that to memorize large amounts of information, it is better to break them down into parts. As for the rest of the advice, it will improve most students' learning efficiency. You should still try to find out which methods work best for you.                                                                          

If you need more guidance, you can get math homework help and help for other subjects as well on Studyfy. Gain insights and advice from an expert today.

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Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs in

Joyce epstein, co-director of the center on school, family, and community partnerships, discusses why homework is essential, how to maximize its benefit to learners, and what the 'no-homework' approach gets wrong.

By Vicky Hallett

The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein , co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work," Epstein says.

But after decades of researching how to improve schools, the professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education remains certain that homework is essential—as long as the teachers have done their homework, too. The National Network of Partnership Schools , which she founded in 1995 to advise schools and districts on ways to improve comprehensive programs of family engagement, has developed hundreds of improved homework ideas through its Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program. For an English class, a student might interview a parent on popular hairstyles from their youth and write about the differences between then and now. Or for science class, a family could identify forms of matter over the dinner table, labeling foods as liquids or solids. These innovative and interactive assignments not only reinforce concepts from the classroom but also foster creativity, spark discussions, and boost student motivation.

"We're not trying to eliminate homework procedures, but expand and enrich them," says Epstein, who is packing this research into a forthcoming book on the purposes and designs of homework. In the meantime, the Hub couldn't wait to ask her some questions:

What kind of homework training do teachers typically get?

Future teachers and administrators really have little formal training on how to design homework before they assign it. This means that most just repeat what their teachers did, or they follow textbook suggestions at the end of units. For example, future teachers are well prepared to teach reading and literacy skills at each grade level, and they continue to learn to improve their teaching of reading in ongoing in-service education. By contrast, most receive little or no training on the purposes and designs of homework in reading or other subjects. It is really important for future teachers to receive systematic training to understand that they have the power, opportunity, and obligation to design homework with a purpose.

Why do students need more interactive homework?

If homework assignments are always the same—10 math problems, six sentences with spelling words—homework can get boring and some kids just stop doing their assignments, especially in the middle and high school years. When we've asked teachers what's the best homework you've ever had or designed, invariably we hear examples of talking with a parent or grandparent or peer to share ideas. To be clear, parents should never be asked to "teach" seventh grade science or any other subject. Rather, teachers set up the homework assignments so that the student is in charge. It's always the student's homework. But a good activity can engage parents in a fun, collaborative way. Our data show that with "good" assignments, more kids finish their work, more kids interact with a family partner, and more parents say, "I learned what's happening in the curriculum." It all works around what the youngsters are learning.

Is family engagement really that important?

At Hopkins, I am part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools , a research center that studies how to improve many aspects of education to help all students do their best in school. One thing my colleagues and I realized was that we needed to look deeply into family and community engagement. There were so few references to this topic when we started that we had to build the field of study. When children go to school, their families "attend" with them whether a teacher can "see" the parents or not. So, family engagement is ever-present in the life of a school.

My daughter's elementary school doesn't assign homework until third grade. What's your take on "no homework" policies?

There are some parents, writers, and commentators who have argued against homework, especially for very young children. They suggest that children should have time to play after school. This, of course is true, but many kindergarten kids are excited to have homework like their older siblings. If they give homework, most teachers of young children make assignments very short—often following an informal rule of 10 minutes per grade level. "No homework" does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive and imaginative play.

Some researchers and critics have consistently misinterpreted research findings. They have argued that homework should be assigned only at the high school level where data point to a strong connection of doing assignments with higher student achievement . However, as we discussed, some students stop doing homework. This leads, statistically, to results showing that doing homework or spending more minutes on homework is linked to higher student achievement. If slow or struggling students are not doing their assignments, they contribute to—or cause—this "result."

Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so.

Did COVID change how schools and parents view homework?

Within 24 hours of the day school doors closed in March 2020, just about every school and district in the country figured out that teachers had to talk to and work with students' parents. This was not the same as homeschooling—teachers were still working hard to provide daily lessons. But if a child was learning at home in the living room, parents were more aware of what they were doing in school. One of the silver linings of COVID was that teachers reported that they gained a better understanding of their students' families. We collected wonderfully creative examples of activities from members of the National Network of Partnership Schools. I'm thinking of one art activity where every child talked with a parent about something that made their family unique. Then they drew their finding on a snowflake and returned it to share in class. In math, students talked with a parent about something the family liked so much that they could represent it 100 times. Conversations about schoolwork at home was the point.

How did you create so many homework activities via the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program?

We had several projects with educators to help them design interactive assignments, not just "do the next three examples on page 38." Teachers worked in teams to create TIPS activities, and then we turned their work into a standard TIPS format in math, reading/language arts, and science for grades K-8. Any teacher can use or adapt our prototypes to match their curricula.

Overall, we know that if future teachers and practicing educators were prepared to design homework assignments to meet specific purposes—including but not limited to interactive activities—more students would benefit from the important experience of doing their homework. And more parents would, indeed, be partners in education.

Posted in Voices+Opinion

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Why Discipline Matters—and 5 Ways to Work On It

If you want to make changes that last, discipline is key. but how do you get it.

Posted January 9, 2023 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

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• You can go a long way in making changes for your life, but they won't stick unless you have discipline.
• Discipline is essential in the change process, because you'll need to keep new behaviors in place even after you've met your initial goals.
• Many people never learned to be disciplined and would say they aren't very good at it; but it's a skill that can be taught and developed.
• There are simple and practical tools you can put in place for becoming a more disciplined and consistent person.

If you’re looking for ways to become more successful, improve your relationships, or feel more satisfied with your life, you won’t have a hard time finding suggestions for how to go about it. Your search for such information will often lead you to tips for making healthier lifestyle choices, forming effective habits, building a better mindset, and sharpening your communication skills. Most of this advice, if you follow it, will probably lead to positive changes within yourself and your life. But how sustainable will those changes be?

The truth is, there’s one essential ingredient in the process of creating change that too often gets overlooked: discipline. Beyond the desire to do something and the motivation to get started, there is a need to put in the work—repeatedly, consistently, and enduringly.

Discipline is what kicks in long after motivation has faded. And if you’ve ever made a new year’s resolution that lasted until mid-January or set an intention on Monday that you strayed from by Friday, you know that motivation has a tendency to fade. Discipline carries you from the moment you start working on making a change, to the moment you celebrate the end result.

But here’s the kicker: Discipline is also what continues to happen well after that celebration.

How Change Happens

One of the most recognized theories behind behavior change, the Stages of Change Model, suggests that people move through 6 specific stages on their way to accomplishing a goal: precontemplation (not even thinking about changing), contemplation (starting to consider it), preparation (getting ready to do something different), action (putting in the work), maintenance (keeping it going), and termination (knowing there’s no going back).

Using this model as a reference point, we can say that discipline is directly involved in the last 3 stages. It takes discipline to commit to action and to do what it takes to make a change. This is the facet of discipline that requires making different choices, sometimes sacrificing the comfort of this moment for the promise of future achievement or fulfillment.

In the maintenance stage, discipline is critical. By this point in the process of change, the original motivation has probably dwindled. Your old familiar ways of thinking and behaving are threatening to override your new intentions. The efforts you made up to this point might be feeling too tiring or too tedious.

The temptation to take the path of least resistance creeps up a lot during the maintenance stage; it’s discipline that keeps you from giving in to it. And it’s discipline that takes you into the termination stage and gives you the confidence that your changes will last.

How You Can Become More Disciplined

For many of you reading this, the fact that discipline is essential to making lasting changes is no surprise. But the real question you might be pondering is: If I’m not good at being disciplined, how do I get better at it? While the answer is that there are many ways to go about it, let’s focus on 5 of them:

• Identify the areas where you struggle most. For some people it’s following through on a task or commitment; for others, it’s finishing what they’ve started. Some people have the hardest time with implementing new behaviors on a consistent basis. Others struggle most with making excuses and talking themselves out of their efforts to change. Take an honest look at your own challenge areas, so you can see where the work is most needed.
• Set yourself up for success. Sometimes, the things that get in the way of being disciplined are things people tend not to consider, like getting enough sleep and maintaining proper nutrition . Paying attention to these lifestyle basics will help you access the energy and mental focus you’ll need to stay disciplined.
• Notice the thoughts and emotions that drain you of discipline . It’s one thing to work towards a goal when you’re motivated; it’s another to keep at it, even when you don’t feel like it. This is what discipline is all about. Your thoughts and feelings, which are constantly changing, can easily keep you from making good on the promises you make to yourself. To keep this from happening, pay attention to the emotions and feeling states that tend to derail you, and be mindful of the kinds of thoughts that keep you from sticking to your commitments.
• Write things down and set reminders. Distraction is a big barrier to discipline. To keep it from taking you off course, organize yourself by writing down your goals/intentions/tasks and keeping them somewhere you’ll be sure to look at on a regular basis. Get a calendar or planner, if you don’t already have one, where you can write things down and keep yourself organized. Set reminders in your phone or use organizational apps and digital tools to keep yourself on track.
• Practice delayed gratification. Our world is wiring us all for instant gratification, and it’s never been easier to take shortcuts and stay on the comfortable path of least resistance. But discipline requires delayed gratification—the ability to sustain effort in the absence of reward. This can be incredibly difficult, especially if you didn’t develop the ability early on in life, but you can train yourself to get better at it. Start with small practices, like not turning on the TV until you’ve completed all the essential tasks on your to-do list; not opening TikTok until you’ve sent those important work emails; or waiting to enjoy your morning coffee until after you’ve finished a 30-minute workout. Eventually, you can build up to setting bigger goals that require discipline and delayed gratification to complete.

If you aren’t a naturally disciplined person, there’s no reason to panic . Work on developing more of it, and you’ll be well on your way to making—and solidifying—the kinds of changes you want to see in yourself, your relationships, and your life.

Denise Fournier, Ph.D. , is a psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, coach, and adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University.

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What’s the point of homework?

Deputy Dean, School of Education, Western Sydney University

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Katina Zammit does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Homework hasn’t changed much in the past few decades. Most children are still sent home with about an hour’s worth of homework each day, mostly practising what they were taught in class.

If we look internationally, homework is assigned in every country that participated in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012.

Across the participating countries, 15-year-old students reported spending almost five hours per week doing homework in 2012. Australian students spent six hours per week on average on homework. Students in Singapore spent seven hours on homework, and in Shanghai, China they did homework for about 14 hours per week on average.

Read more: Aussie students are a year behind students 10 years ago in science, maths and reading

Shanghai and Singapore routinely score higher than Australia in the PISA maths, science and reading tests. But homework could just be one of the factors leading to higher results. In Finland, which also scores higher than Australia, students spent less than three hours on homework per week.

So, what’s the purpose of homework and what does the evidence say about whether it fulfils its purpose?

Why do teachers set homework?

Each school in Australia has its own homework policy developed in consultation with teachers and parents or caregivers, under the guiding principles of state or regional education departments.

For instance, according to the New South Wales homework policy “… tasks should be assigned by teachers with a specific, explicit learning purpose”.

Homework in NSW should also be “purposeful and designed to meet specific learning goals”, and “built on knowledge, skills and understanding developed in class”. But there is limited, if any, guidance on how often homework should be set.

Research based on teacher interviews shows they set homework for a range of reasons. These include to:

establish and improve communication between parents and children about learning

help children be more responsible, confident and disciplined

practise or review material from class

determine children’s understanding of the lesson and/or skills

introduce new material to be presented in class

provide students with opportunities to apply and integrate skills to new situations or interest areas

get students to use their own skills to create work.

So, does homework achieve what teachers intend it to?

Do we know if it ‘works’?

Studies on homework are frequently quite general, and don’t consider specific types of homework tasks. So it isn’t easy to measure how effective homework could be, or to compare studies.

But there are several things we can say.

First, it’s better if every student gets the kind of homework task that benefits them personally, such as one that helps them answer questions they had, or understand a problem they couldn’t quite grasp in class. This promotes students’ confidence and control of their own learning.

Read more: Learning from home is testing students' online search skills. Here are 3 ways to improve them

Giving students repetitive tasks may not have much value . For instance, calculating the answer to 120 similar algorithms, such as adding two different numbers 120 times may make the student think maths is irrelevant and boring. In this case, children are not being encouraged to find solutions but simply applying a formula they learnt in school.

In primary schools, homework that aims to improve children’s confidence and learning discipline can be beneficial. For example, children can be asked to practise giving a presentation on a topic of their interest. This could help build their competence in speaking in front of a class.

Homework can also highlight equity issues. It can be particularly burdensome for socioeconomically disadvantaged students who may not have a space, the resources or as much time due to family and work commitments. Their parents may also not feel capable of supporting them or have their own work commitments.

According to the PISA studies mentioned earlier, socioeconomically disadvantaged 15 year olds spend nearly three hours less on homework each week than their advantaged peers.

Read more: 'I was astonished at how quickly they made gains': online tutoring helps struggling students catch up

What kind of homework is best?

Homework can be engaging and contribute to learning if it is more than just a sheet of maths or list of spelling words not linked to class learning. From summarising various studies’ findings, “good” homework should be:

personalised to each child rather than the same for all students in the class. This is more likely to make a difference to a child’s learning and performance

achievable, so the child can complete it independently, building skills in managing their time and behaviour

aligned to the learning in the classroom.

If you aren’t happy with the homework your child is given then approach the school. If your child is having difficulty with doing the homework, the teacher needs to know. It shouldn’t be burdensome for you or your children.

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How important is homework, and how much should parents help?

Please try again

A version of this post was  originally published  by Parenting Translator. Sign up for  the newsletter  and follow Parenting Translator  on Instagram .

In recent years, homework has become a very hot topic . Many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework and questioned how effective it is in enhancing students’ learning. There are also concerns that students may be getting too much homework, which ultimately interferes with quality family time and opportunities for physical activity and play . Research suggests that these concerns may be valid. For example, one study reported that elementary school students, on average, are assigned three times  the recommended amount of homework.

So what does the research say? What are the potential risks and benefits of homework, and how much is too much?

Academic benefits

First, research finds that homework is associated with higher scores on academic standardized tests for middle and high school students, but not elementary school students . A recent experimental study in Romania found some benefit for a small amount of writing homework in elementary students but not math homework. Yet, interestingly, this positive impact only occurred when students were given a moderate amount of homework (about 20 minutes on average).

Non-academic benefits

The goal of homework is not simply to improve academic skills. Research finds that homework may have some non-academic benefits, such as building responsibility , time management skills, and task persistence . Homework may also increase parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling. Yet, too much homework may also have some negative impacts on non-academic skills by reducing opportunities for free play , which is essential for the development of language, cognitive, self-regulation and social-emotional skills. Homework may also interfere with physical activity and too much homework is associated with an increased risk for being overweight . As with the research on academic benefits, this research also suggests that homework may be beneficial when it is minimal.

What is the “right” amount of homework?

Research suggests that homework should not exceed 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night for high school students and no more than one hour per night for middle school students. Homework for elementary school students should be minimal and assigned with the aim of building self-regulation and independent work skills. Any more than this and homework may no longer have a positive impact. 

The National Education Association recommends 10 minutes of homework per grade and there is also some experimental evidence that backs this up.

Overall translation

Research finds that homework provides some academic benefit for middle and high school students but is less beneficial for elementary school students. Research suggests that homework should be none or minimal for elementary students, less than one hour per night for middle school students, and less than 1.5 to 2.5 hours for high school students. 

What can parents do?

Research finds that parental help with homework is beneficial but that it matters more how the parent is helping rather than  how often  the parent is helping.

So how should parents help with homework, according to the research? 

• Focus on providing general monitoring, guidance and encouragement, but allow children to generate answers on their own and complete their homework as independently as possible . Specifically, be present while they are completing homework to help them to understand the directions, be available to answer simple questions, or praise and acknowledge their effort and hard work. Research shows that allowing children more autonomy in completing homework may benefit their academic skills.
• Only provide help when your child asks for it and step away whenever possible. Research finds that too much parental involvement or intrusive and controlling involvement with homework is associated with worse academic performance . 
• Help your children to create structure and develop some routines that help your child to independently complete their homework . Have a regular time and place for homework that is free from distractions and has all of the materials they need within arm’s reach. Help your child to create a checklist for homework tasks. Create rules for homework with your child. Help children to develop strategies for increasing their own self-motivation. For example, developing their own reward system or creating a homework schedule with breaks for fun activities. Research finds that providing this type of structure and responsiveness is related to improved academic skills.
• Set specific rules around homework. Research finds an association between parents setting rules around homework and academic performance. 
• Help your child to view homework as an opportunity to learn and improve skills. Parents who view homework as a learning opportunity (that is, a “mastery orientation”) rather than something that they must get “right” or complete successfully to obtain a higher grade (that is, a “performance orientation”) are more likely to have children with the same attitudes. 
• Encourage your child to persist in challenging assignments and emphasize difficult assignments as opportunities to grow . Research finds that this attitude is associated with student success. Research also indicates that more challenging homework is associated with enhanced academic performance.
• Stay calm and positive during homework. Research shows that mothers showing positive emotions while helping with homework may improve children’s motivation in homework.
• Praise your child’s hard work and effort during homework.   This type of praise is likely to increase motivation. In addition, research finds that putting more effort into homework may be associated with enhanced development of conscientiousness in children.
• Communicate with your child and the teacher about any problems your child has with homework and the teacher’s learning goals. Research finds that open communication about homework is associated with increased academic performance.

Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, a mother of three and the founder of  Parenting Translator , a nonprofit newsletter that turns scientific research into information that is accurate, relevant and useful for parents.

Ages & Stages

Developing good homework habits.

Some children get right down to work without much encouragement. Others need help making the transition from playing to a homework frame of mind. Sometimes providing a ten-minute warning is all it takes to help a child get ready mentally as well as to move to the place she intends to work.

There is no universally right time to do homework. In some families, children do best if they tackle their homework shortly after returning home from school in the mid afternoon; other youngsters may do best if they devote the after-school hours to unwinding and playing, leaving their homework until the evening, when they may feel a renewed sense of vigor. Let your child have some say in the decision making. Homework can often become a source of conflict between parent and child—"Johnny, why can't you just do your homework with­out arguing about it?"—but if you agree on a regular time and place, you can eliminate two of the most frequent causes of homework-related dissension.

Some parents have found that their children respond poorly to a dictated study time (such as four o'clock every afternoon). Instead, youngsters are given guidelines ("No video games until your homework is done"). Find out what works best for both your child and the family as a whole. Once this is de­termined, stick with it.

Some youngsters prefer that a parent sit with them as they do their home­work. You may find this an acceptable request, particularly if you have your own reading or paperwork to complete. However, do not actually do the homework for your child. She may need some assistance getting focused and started and organizing her approach to the assignment. Occasionally, you may need to ex­plain a math problem; in those cases, let your child try a couple of problems first before offering to help. But if she routinely requires your active participation to get her everyday homework done, then talk to her teacher. Your child may need stronger direction in the classroom so that she is able to complete the assign­ments on her own or with less parental involvement. One area where children may need parental help is in organizing how much work will have to be done daily to finish a long assignment, such as a term paper or a science project.

If your child or her teacher asks you to review her homework, you may want to look it over before she takes it to school the next morning. Usually it is best if homework remains the exclusive domain of the child and the teacher. However, your input may vary depending on the teacher's philosophy and the purpose of homework. If the teacher is using homework to check your child's understand­ing of the material—thus giving the teacher an idea of what needs to be empha­sized in subsequent classroom teaching sessions—your suggestions for changes and improvements on your child's paper could prove misleading. On the other hand, if the teacher assigns homework to give your child practice in a particular subject area and to reinforce what has already been taught in class, then your participation can be valuable. Some teachers use homework to help children develop self-discipline and organizational and study skills. Be sure to praise your youngster for her efforts and success in doing her homework well.

In general, support your child in her homework, but do not act as a taskmas­ter. Provide her with a quiet place, supplies, encouragement, and occasional help—but it is her job to do the work. Homework is your youngster's respon­sibility, not yours.

As the weeks pass, keep in touch with your child's teacher regarding home­work assignments. If your youngster is having ongoing problems—difficulty understanding what the assignments are and how to complete them—or if she breezes through them as though they were no challenge at all, let the teacher know. The teacher may adjust the assignments so they are more in sync with your youngster's capabilities.

Whether or not your child has homework on a particular night, consider reading aloud with her after school or at night. This type of shared experience can help interest your child in reading, as well as give you some personal time with her. Also, on days when your child does not have any assigned home­work, this shared reading time will reinforce the habit of a work time each evening.

To further nurture your child's love of reading, set a good example by spend­ing time reading on your own, and by taking your youngster to the library and/or bookstore to select books she would like to read. Some families turn off the TV each night for at least thirty minutes, and everyone spends the time reading. As children get older, one to two hours may be a more desirable length of time each day to set aside for reading and other constructive activities.

As important as it is for your child to develop good study habits, play is also important for healthy social, emotional, and physical growth and develop­ment. While encouraging your child to complete her assignments or do some additional reading, keep in mind that she has already had a lengthy and per haps tiring day of learning at school and needs some free time. Help her find the play activities that best fit her temperament and personality—whether it is organized school sports or music lessons, free-play situations (riding her bike, playing with friends), or a combination of these.

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Three reasons to keep homework in education

• May 17, 2018

There has been some debate in educational circles recently about the importance of homework. Some experts have suggested that homework is unnecessary and it would be much better to take the time that is spent doing homework and concentrate on pursuits such as outdoor activity and family togetherness or that these activities themselves should be considered on the same level as academic homework.

I disagree with this point of view and in my experience as a student and an educator I believe that homework is absolutely essential to a student being successful in their education.

These are many reasons why, for me, the benefits of homework are compelling. For the purposes of this blog today I will only list the top three.

• Homework reinforces skills, concepts and information learned in class. This point does not require much elaboration. This is why studying for a test works better than just hope! It has also been found that when revision occurs the night after the learning in class, concepts are better consolidated. To maximise the benefit the concepts then need to be revisited periodically.

• Homework teaches students to work independently and develop self-discipline. The habit of self-discipline and the ability to delay self-gratification in the pursuit of something greater is the main predictor of a student’s success in later life after school. This virtue is above achievement grades and talent.
• Homework allows parents to have an active role in their child’s education and helps them to evaluate their child’s progress. As mentioned in the second point, self discipline is the main predictor of success after school. However, it is the extent to which parents demonstrate how much they value education that is the main predictor of student success within school.

Children of all ages need to see a clear demonstration that education is highly valued in the home for students to do well. Sending your children to a College like ours is a good start because this is already a powerful demonstration of how much you value education so congratulations for making that decision. Unfortunately, it is not enough. When parents insist on a consistent routine for homework every evening amongst all the busyness of family life it is a powerful demonstrator that education has a high priority in the family. This is particularly true when the TV and music are switched off. You are showing your children that homework is more valuable than TV and music.

Homework is important for all school children of all ages, whether it be home readers, spelling lists and times tables in the younger year levels or essays, assignments and revision tasks in the older years.

It’s not always easy helping your child with homework so next I will be addressing that challenge.

Open Day is here!

I’m really looking forward to this year’s Open Day and hope to see you there. It is a valuable opportunity to see your child’s classroom/s, find out what they have been learning and explore all the prospects open to them at Glasshouse Christian College.

This year we have more performances than ever before and you will be amazed at the quality of the items. It’s going to be a beautiful sunny day so the band and dance performances will be on the lawn outside the library. Inside the library there will be English monologues and story telling and in the OLA N Block you’ll find our primary singing groups and French Club. All the details are in the Official Open Day Program.

Musical – ‘The Little Mermaid’

Tickets can only be purchased online through the Events Centre here: https://theeventscentre.com.au/product/glasshouse-christian-college-the-little-mermaid/

I would encourage you to book as soon as possible as there is a good chance that all three performances will be sold out.

Mike Curtis, Principal

20 Reasons Why Homework Is Good for Students

Homework has long been a topic of debate in the educational sphere, with arguments both for and against its effectiveness. While some may argue that homework adds unnecessary stress to students’ lives, there are numerous benefits that often go unnoticed. In this blog, we will explore 20 reasons why homework is good, shedding light on its positive impact on students’ academic development and overall well-being.

Why Do Students Hate Homework?

Students’ dislike for homework is a complex issue influenced by various factors. Some common reasons why students may express a dislike for homework include:

• Overwhelming Workload: Excessive amounts of homework can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed. When students have multiple assignments from different classes, it can become challenging to manage their time effectively.
• Lack of Relevance: Students may resist homework if they perceive it as irrelevant or disconnected from their interests and real-world applications. When they don’t see the purpose behind the tasks, motivation can diminish.
• Insufficient Understanding: If students struggle to grasp the concepts taught in class, homework can become a source of frustration. Feeling ill-equipped to complete assignments can lead to a negative attitude towards homework.
• Limited Free Time: With busy schedules filled with extracurricular activities, family commitments, and social engagements, students may perceive homework as an infringement on their limited free time.
• Repetition of Tasks: When homework assignments merely replicate what was covered in class without offering additional challenges or opportunities for creativity, students may find them monotonous and uninspiring.
• Family Dynamics: Students from homes with limited resources or unsupportive environments may find it difficult to complete homework. Factors such as a lack of quiet space, parental involvement, or access to necessary materials can contribute to negative perceptions.
• Teacher-Student Relationship: A strained relationship between students and teachers can impact how students perceive homework. A lack of clarity in expectations, communication issues, or an unsupportive atmosphere can contribute to a negative attitude.
• Learning Differences: Students with learning differences may find certain types of homework more challenging. When assignments don’t accommodate diverse learning styles, it can lead to frustration and a dislike for the tasks.
• Burnout: Continuous academic pressure, including homework, can contribute to burnout. If students feel constantly overwhelmed, it can result in a negative perception of all academic tasks, including homework.
• Lack of Autonomy: Students may resist homework when they feel they have little autonomy in the learning process. Assignments that allow for creativity, choice, and personalization can be more engaging.
• Development of Skills
• Improving Time Management Skills: Homework assignments necessitate careful planning and time allocation. Students learn to manage their time effectively, a skill that proves invaluable in various aspects of life.
• Enhancing Organizational Skills: Juggling multiple assignments and deadlines teaches students to organize their work, fostering habits that will benefit them beyond the classroom.
• Fostering Responsibility and Accountability: Homework instills a sense of responsibility in students, as they become accountable for completing tasks and meeting deadlines, preparing them for future challenges.
• Reinforcement of Classroom Learning
• Providing Additional Practice: Homework offers students extra practice on concepts learned in class, reinforcing their understanding and ensuring a more comprehensive grasp of the material.
• Reinforcing Important Skills and Knowledge: Regular homework assignments help consolidate crucial skills and knowledge, preventing gaps in understanding and promoting a strong foundation for further learning.
• Helping Solidify Understanding Through Repetition: Repetition is a key component of learning. Homework provides the necessary repetition to help students master new concepts and skills.
• Preparation for Tests and Exams
• Valuable Preparation for Assessments: Homework serves as a preparation ground for tests and exams, allowing students to review and apply what they have learned in a controlled setting.
• Identifying Areas of Weakness: Through homework, students can identify areas of weakness and seek additional help, ensuring they enter exams with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
• Development of Critical Thinking
• Encouraging Independent Problem-Solving: Homework often requires students to think critically and solve problems independently, promoting the development of analytical skills.
• Promoting Analytical Thinking and Reasoning: Critical thinking and reasoning are essential skills in any field. Homework assignments encourage students to think beyond the surface and analyze information more deeply.
• Deepening Understanding of Subjects: Engaging with homework allows students to delve deeper into subjects, fostering a more profound understanding that goes beyond what is covered in class.
• Cultivation of a Strong Work Ethic
• Instilling the Value of Hard Work and Dedication: Completing homework assignments teaches students the value of hard work and dedication, essential qualities for success in academics and life.
• Preparing for Higher Education and the Workforce: The work ethic developed through homework prepares students for the demands of higher education and future careers, where discipline and commitment are key to success.
• Parental Involvement and Awareness
• Facilitating Communication Between Parents and Teachers: Homework serves as a bridge between parents and teachers, providing insights into a student’s progress and facilitating open communication about their academic journey.
• Active Parental Participation in Learning: Parents can actively participate in their child’s learning process by assisting with homework, creating a supportive learning environment at home.
• Bridging Gaps in Understanding
• Revisiting and Clarifying Class Material: Homework assignments offer an opportunity for students to revisit and clarify class material, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of the curriculum.
• Seeking Clarification on Challenging Concepts: Students can use homework as a platform to seek clarification on concepts they find challenging, promoting a proactive approach to their education.
• Encouragement of Lifelong Learning
• Instilling a Love for Learning Beyond the Classroom: Homework fosters a love for learning that extends beyond the classroom, encouraging students to explore topics independently and pursue knowledge throughout their lives.
• Promoting a Mindset of Continuous Improvement: The habit of engaging with homework instills a mindset of continuous improvement, encouraging students to seek ways to enhance their skills and knowledge.
• Development of Research Skills
• Involvement in Research Assignments: Many homework assignments involve research, providing students with an opportunity to develop and refine their research skills, a valuable asset in academia and beyond.
• Promotion of Creativity
• Allowing for Creative Expression: Certain homework assignments, such as projects and essays, provide students with the chance to express their creativity, fostering innovation and out-of-the-box thinking.
• Fostering Innovation and Out-of-the-Box Thinking: By encouraging creative expression, homework helps students develop the ability to approach problems with innovative solutions, a skill highly sought after in today’s dynamic world.
• Preparation for Real-world Responsibilities
• Teaching the Importance of Meeting Deadlines: Completing homework assignments teaches students the importance of meeting deadlines, a crucial skill that prepares them for the responsibilities of the real world.
• Developing Skills Essential for Professional Life: Homework instills skills such as time management, organization, and responsibility, all of which are essential for success in professional life.
• Individualized Learning Opportunities
• Personalized Practice Based on Individual Needs: Homework allows for personalized practice, catering to individual learning styles and addressing specific needs, promoting a more tailored educational experience.
• Catering to Diverse Learning Styles and Paces: Recognizing that each student learns differently, homework provides opportunities for educators to tailor assignments to cater to diverse learning styles and paces.
• Building a Strong Foundation for Future Learning
• Laying the Groundwork for Advanced Topics: Homework assignments play a crucial role in laying the groundwork for more advanced topics, ensuring students have a solid foundation for future learning.
• Contributing to a Comprehensive Education: A balanced approach to homework contributes to a comprehensive education, offering students a well-rounded understanding of various subjects.
• Improvement of Communication Skills
• Involvement in Written and Oral Communication Assignments: Some homework assignments involve written or oral communication, honing students’ communication skills and enhancing their ability to express ideas clearly.
• Enhancing the Ability to Express Ideas Clearly: Through regular communication-focused assignments, students improve their ability to express ideas clearly and articulate their thoughts effectively.
• Encouragement of Discipline
• Requiring Discipline and Commitment: The completion of homework assignments requires discipline and commitment, instilling habits that contribute to academic success and personal growth.
• Building Habits for Academic Success: The discipline developed through homework builds habits that contribute to academic success, fostering a mindset of excellence and achievement.
• Assessment of Progress
• Providing a Measurable Way to Track Progress: Homework offers a measurable way to track academic progress, allowing both students and educators to assess performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Identifying Areas for Improvement: By reviewing completed homework assignments, students can identify areas for improvement and take proactive steps to enhance their understanding of specific topics.
• Promotion of Self-directed Learning
• Encouraging Initiative in Education: Homework encourages students to take initiative in their education, promoting a sense of ownership and self-directed learning.
• Developing a Sense of Autonomy and Self-reliance: Through self-directed learning, students develop a sense of autonomy and self-reliance, skills that serve them well in academia and beyond.
• Integration of Technology Skills
• Involvement in Technology-focused Assignments: Some homework assignments involve the use of technology, fostering digital literacy and preparing students for the demands of the modern world.
• Fostering Digital Literacy: Engaging with technology in the context of homework assignments enhances students’ digital literacy, a crucial skill in today’s technology-driven society.
• Encouragement of Peer Collaboration

Homework assignments often involve collaborative elements, encouraging students to work together to solve problems or complete projects. 

This fosters a sense of teamwork, enhances communication skills, and exposes students to diverse perspectives, preparing them for collaborative endeavors in their future academic and professional lives.

• Promotion of a Growth Mindset 

Engaging with challenging homework tasks promotes a growth mindset, where students view difficulties as opportunities for learning and improvement rather than insurmountable obstacles. 

This mindset not only enhances resilience but also contributes to a positive attitude towards academic challenges throughout their educational journey.

In conclusion, homework, when approached with a balanced perspective, offers a myriad of benefits (and 20 reasons why homework is good) that contribute significantly to students’ academic success and personal development. 

From the development of essential skills to the promotion of creativity and the preparation for real-world responsibilities, homework plays a crucial role in shaping well-rounded, capable individuals ready to face the challenges of the future. 

It is essential to recognize and appreciate the positive aspects of homework as an integral part of the educational journey.  As educators, parents, and students collaborate to create a supportive learning environment, the potential for harnessing the benefits of homework becomes even more profound, ultimately paving the way for a brighter and more successful academic future.

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15 Surprising Benefits of Homework for Students

• The importance of homework for students
• 3 Helpful tips to do your homework effectively
• 15 benefits of homework

Homework is an important component of the learning and growing process. It is a common practice for students to develop their skills and learn new information.

Homework is simply a general term that we use to describe work that you have to do at home. Typically, it’s assigned by the teacher during school hours and meant to be completed after school in the evenings or weekends.

Homework is loved and hated by many, but it is an integral part of education. It is not just a boring part of the learning process. It has a lot to offer!

The Importance of Homework for Students

So, why should students have homework? According to research conducted by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper , there was a positive relation between homework and student achievement. He found out that homework can help students perform better in school.

This shows the importance of homework in a student’s life. Homework is not always popular with students because it takes away their free time at home.

However, there are many benefits associated with homework.  Homework helps students understand the material in greater depth. Moreover, it allows teachers to assess how much the student has learned.

Tips for Doing Your Homework Faster

It is important to have a homework routine. A routine will help you know what to expect at the end of the day, and it will give you time to digest what you learned.

In addition, a routine will help you to be stress-free because you won’t be worrying about when to start your homework or whether you’re going to finish it on time.

So, here are some tips on how to set up a good homework routine:

• Find a place in the house where you can study without interruption.
• Set a timer for how long each assignment should take.
• Make sure your table is neat and that you have all of your materials ready before starting.

These tips will surely make your student life easier and put you on the right track towards higher grades!

The Benefits of Homework for Students

There are numerous reasons why homework is given in schools and colleges. Students can reap the benefits even in their professional lives.

But what exactly are the benefits of homework and how can it help students? Let us take a look at some of them:

1. Students Learn the Importance of Time Management

They will learn to balance play and work. Students will also learn to complete assignments within deadlines by learning to prioritize their time.

It helps them understand the importance of time management skills . When they are assigned a project or a test, they will know when it is due, how much time they have to complete it, and what they need to do.

This also helps them in their future careers. Employees must be able to manage their time efficiently in order to be successful.

If a project is due soon, employees should take effective steps to get it done on time. Homeworks in the schooling years teaches this practice of time management.

2. Promotes Self-Learning

Students get more time to review the content and this promotes self-learning . This is a big advantage of homework.

It also promotes continuous learning as students can revise their syllabus on their own. Homework gives them an opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities.

3. Helps Teachers Assess a Student’s Learning

Homeworks help teachers track how well the students are grasping the content . They can modify their teaching methods based on the responses they receive from their students.

4. Teaches Students to Be Responsible

Students learn to become independent learners as they do their homework without any help from the teacher.

Studying at home also motivates students to study harder in order to achieve better results. This encourages them to take up more responsibilities at home too.

5. Boosts Memory Retention

Homework provides practice time to recall concepts discussed in class, thereby enabling students to memorize facts and figures taught at school.

One of the advantages of homework is that it sharpens memory power and concentration.

6. Enables Parents to Track a Student’s Performance

Parents can assess how well their children are doing with regard to academic performance by checking their homework assignments.

This gives parents a chance to discuss with teachers about improving their child’s performance at school .

7. Allows Students to Revise Content

Revising together with other students can also help with understanding  information because it gives you another perspective, as well as an opportunity to ask questions and engage with others.

8. Practice Makes Perfect

Doing homework has numerous benefits for students. One of them is that it helps students learn the concepts in depth.

Homework teaches them how to apply the concepts to solve a problem. It gives them experience on how to solve problems using different techniques.

9. Develops Persistence

When students do their homework, they have to work hard to find all the possible solutions to a problem.

They have to try out different methods until they reach a solution that works. This teaches them perseverance and helps them develop their determination and grit to keep working hard.

10. Helps Them to Learn New Skills

Homework is important because it helps students to learn new and advanced skills. It promotes self-study, research and time management skills within students.

It also builds their confidence in tackling problems independently without constant help from teachers and parents.

11. Helps in Building a Positive Attitude Towards Learning

12. Students Can Explore Their Areas of Interest

Homework helps in building curiosity about a subject that excites them. Homework gives students an opportunity to immerse themselves in a subject matter.

When they become curious, they themselves take the initiative to learn more about it.

13. Encourages In-Depth Understanding of The Concepts

Homeworks allow students to learn the subject in a more detailed manner. It gives students the chance to recall and go over the content.

This will lead to better understanding and they will be able to remember the information for a long time.

14. Minimizes Screen Time:

Homework is not only a great way to get students to do their work themselves, but it can also encourage them to reduce screen time.

Homework gives students a good reason to stay off their computers and phones. Homework promotes the productive use of time .

15. Helps Develop Good Study Habits

The more they do their homework, the better they will get it. They will learn to manage their time in a more effective way and be able to do their work at a faster rate.

Moreover, they will be able to develop a good work ethic, which will help them in their future careers.

We all know that too much of anything can be bad. Homework is no different. If the workload of the students is too much, then it can lead to unnecessary stress .

Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to be mindful of the workload of students. That way, students will be able to enjoy their free time and actually enjoy doing homework instead of seeing it as a burden.

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The Importance Of Homework

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Home » The Importance of Homework in Learning

The Importance of Homework in Learning

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Cognitive - Articles

The last thing that children would want to do after a long day at school is homework. It is difficult to make them do their homework because they are often too tired from school and other co-curricular activities. They are also distracted by the games and other forms of entertainment at home. This is a real challenge for parents because it often starts dispute between them and their children especially when their children refuse to do their homework. However, it is important to know that while doing homework merely feels like completing a task just because it was assigned by the school, homework does play an important role in the learning process of children.

• Homework teaches children to be independent, to take initiative and responsibility for completing a task, and it helps children to develop a sense of self-discipline. Doing school work at home helps the children to practice working alone without asking for help from their classmates and teachers.
• Homework teaches children to be resourceful. As they must do things on their own, they have to learn how to use available sources of information at home such as the internet and books. This boost their confidence in independent problem-solving and in handling situations alone in the future. This also improves their research skills and exposes them to wider range of learning through the usage of additional materials.
• Homework gives an opportunity for parents to monitor their children’s academic progress. Throughout the years, research studies have consistently shown that parental involvement in a child’s learning is an important factor in determining a child’s achievement in school. Homework allows parents to have an active role in their child’s education and helps them to evaluate and monitor their child’s progress. Moreover, the process of doing homework also provides an extra venue for parents to interact and bond with their child.
• Homework allows children recap on the skills, concepts and information that they have learned in class. They get to practice on what they have learned and apply it in their homework. This continuous process of recap and application would provide a stronger reinforcement regarding the information and would allow for a stronger retention of information in their minds and make learning more efficient.

However, as much as doing homework contributes to the learning process of children, it must also be noted that too much homework can cause them stress and exhaustion. Too much pressure can lead to debilitating effects on the child’s health and mental psyche. A child’s health should not be compromised just for the sake of doing homework. As the saying goes “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” Allowing them a 15-minute break in between each task makes a vast difference in the child’s concentration and attention levels towards the tasks.

It must also be noted that homework that are out of their depth will cause the child to lose interest and confidence in the subject. They will feel that no one provide help for them and no matter how hard they try, they are just going to get the questions wrong. So, it is advisable that whenever your child is learning something new in school, take time to sit with them and go through the homework first before allowing them to complete the rest of the homework independently. Don’t forget to also check in on their homework progress every once in a while and help them out. There might be a few things that they have forgotten, or they don’t feel confident enough to attempt independently so it will be good to let the child know that you are always ready to help them and that they are not alone.

Homework Support Program (Please click here to contact us about this service from Cognitive)

Homework Support Program is a service provided to assist children in their homework. The service includes giving additional activities and learning materials for children to help them fully understand the various skills and concepts that they have learnt in school. It also provides a platform for constant revision to take place and allows the child to constantly revise and reinforce on the information that they have learnt before. This program is ideal for families whereby both parents are working. It also provides parents with more opportunities to build and maintain a harmonious relationship with their child because parents will be free from the worries and frustrations regarding their child’s homework issues, thus lessening the probability for arguments to take place.

Bibliography

Atkinson, J. (n.d.). Why Homework is Important . Retrieved from scholastic.com: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/homework-why-it-important/

e-skool. (2010, October 27). E-skool . Retrieved from Top 14 Reason Why Homework is Important: http://blog.eskool.ca/parenting/why-homework-is-important/

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Home » Blog » The Importance of Homework in Students Life

The Importance of Homework in Students Life

Students dread the word “homework” because they don’t need any more school work during their valuable weekends after spending hours in class. Even though it’s well recognized that homework is a requirement of traditional education , the subject has grown to be somewhat contentious. While some people believe that homework is an essential part of education, others believe the time could be better spent elsewhere. Do pupils need to do homework? Take a closer look at both sides’ arguments about the Importance of homework to make your own decision.

A Closer Look at the   Advantages and Disadvantages of Homework

Potential of promoting classroom learning, develops crucial study skills, it encourages the discipline of practice, homework builds communication bridges, takes away from leisure time, causes unnecessary stress, not always effective, final thoughts.

Students perform best when their homework reinforces what they’ve learned in class. Homework assignments that review lessons from the previous day increase pupils’ retention of important material. When the students have completed homework , they can use their newly acquired skills to apply to other topics and real-life scenarios.

Another importance of homework is that students develop various necessary skills that they will carry with them throughout their academic and professional life, from time management and organisation to self-motivation and independent learning.

While doing the same issues again might be tedious and challenging, it also strengthens the disciplined practice. It’s common to need repetition to get better at a skill. Each repetition makes you more proficient. When homework is finished each night, especially for a challenging subject, the principles are easier to comprehend. This gives the student a benefit while looking for vocational employment later on in life.

The relationship between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents are forged by homework. Everyone can get to know one another better, and parents can identify where their kids are having difficulty. In a similar vein, parents may observe what areas their kids are doing particularly well.

Children can relax and explore the world during free time; for example, learning to ride a bike, reading a book , or socialising with friends and family teaches kids valuable skills that cannot be acquired when sitting at a computer. Getting enough exercise, which can improve cognitive function , might be hampered by sedentary activities like doing schoolwork.

The mere mention of “homework” can make students feel dreadful. Homework makes pupils feel worried, agitated, and unmotivated when the workload is excessive, and the tasks get harder.

As well as causing behavioural problems and sleep deprivation , this can make schoolwork a burdensome part of school life.

Numerous research has attempted to evaluate the importance of homework and how it enhances academic performance. According to research by John Hattie, a professor of education at the University of Melbourne, homework in elementary school has a negligible impact since pupils are working on independent, unconnected projects rather than consolidating previously learned material.

According to Hattie’s research, homework at the elementary and secondary levels only works when it requires pupils to review previously taught material.

The advantages and disadvantages of homework are both genuine, and it appears that the topic of whether or not students should have homework is not an easy one to answer. It is often observed that parents and teachers are at odds while the students are left out in the middle.

It’s crucial to weigh both viewpoints to reach a middle ground. The achievement of the learner is ultimately everyone’s goal. To help achieve this goal even more easily, 21K School has designed curriculums that will minimise the workload on students and help them have a better learning experience.

Read our latest education blogs here. We are pioneers in proffering personalised, affordable and high-quality lessons using an advanced learning platform.

Why is homework good for students?

Homework can benefit students because it reinforces learning, helps develop responsibility and time management skills, and provides opportunities for independent practice and self-reflection.

Is daily homework necessary for students?

The necessity of daily homework for students can depend on various factors such as the student’s age, grade level, learning style, and the goals of the curriculum. Daily homework may not be necessary for younger students as they may require more hands-on and play-based learning experiences. However, as students get older, daily homework can become more critical as it helps reinforce learning and develop time management and study skills.

How is homework good for your brain?

Homework can be good for your brain in several ways:

Memory retention: Homework can help you better retain and recall information by providing opportunities for repetition and practice.

Critical thinking: Homework can help you develop critical thinking skills by challenging you to analyse and apply information in new and creative ways.

Time management: Completing homework requires discipline and time management skills, which can help improve executive functioning in the brain.

Self-reflection: Homework can provide opportunities for self-reflection and self-assessment, which can help you identify areas where you need to improve and develop a growth mindset.

Overall, regular homework assignments can help keep your brain active and engaged outside of the classroom, which can have long-term benefits for learning and academic success.

Does homework have a positive effect?

Yes, homework can have a positive effect. It can help students develop organisational and time management skills, reinforce what has been learned in class, and prepare for upcoming tests and assignments. Homework also encourages independent learning, which is critical to success in school and beyond. As students get older, homework increasingly allows them to take responsibility.

Why is homework beneficial for students?

Homework is beneficial to students in a variety of ways. It allows students to practice and reinforce the material they are learning. This repetition helps them develop better understanding and mastery of the subject matter, which can result in improved performance on tests and assignments. Homework also helps teach students responsibility, as they are expected to complete the assigned tasks. Additionally, it gives students an opportunity to work independently and develop problem solving skills that will be useful throughout their academic careers.

How does homework help students in the future?

Homework can help students in the future by reinforcing the concepts and skills taught in class, improving time management and study skills, and preparing students for future academic and career responsibilities.

How to give homework to students?

When giving homework to students, it is essential to provide clear instructions and expectations, assign tasks that align with class objectives, and provide opportunities for students to seek clarification or additional help.

How to motivate students to do their homework?

To motivate students to do their homework, teachers can provide incentives, offer choices, make the assignments relevant and engaging, and provide timely feedback and recognition for completed work.

Why do you think teachers give homework to students?

Teachers give homework to students for several reasons, including reinforcing learning, assessing understanding, providing additional practice, developing study habits and time management skills, and preparing students for future academic and career responsibilities.

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Why Discipline Is Important (Answered)

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on Published: May 3, 2022  - Last updated: May 4, 2022

Categories Self Improvement , Productivity

Discipline is one of those things that people seem to either love or hate. Some people feel that it’s an important life skill and a good habit, while others view it as a burden. But no matter which side of the fence you’re on, there’s no denying that discipline is an important part of life. Whether we’re talking about personal discipline or discipline in the workplace, it plays a crucial role in our success and happiness. In this post, we’ll take a look at why discipline is so important and some tips for developing a strong sense of self-discipline.

What Discipline Is and Why It’s Important

Discipline is a learned behavior, which means you can become more disciplined over time. It’s the result of training and instruction and helps you focus on your goals, no matter what they’re.

Everyone could use more discipline in their lives because it helps them become better people and succeed with ease.

For example, think about students who’ve difficulty studying for exams. These students may feel that they cannot concentrate on their books or reading material long enough to get good grades and pass their exams. However, if they could develop a higher level of good discipline, they’d be able to focus on reading their textbooks and ignore distractions such as television or video games.

Disciplining Yourself Is Something That You Have to Do in the End

One of the most important things you need to understand is that proper discipline is something you can only do yourself. No one else can force you to be disciplined. You’ve to make the decision and make the effort yourself.

This may sound like a daunting task, but once you start doing it, it becomes easier to stick with it until it becomes a habit that you don’t have to think about or put much effort into.

The most important thing to remember is that discipline requires self-control and willpower, which are limited resources. So you can’t expect them to last forever and need time to recharge them.

The best thing you can do after successfully achieving your self-discipline goals is to do something fun or relaxing. That way, you’ll have incentive and motivation to achieve your goals, and you can replenish your willpower reserves so they’ll be ready when you need them again later.

Discipline Helps You Avoid Distractions

You can create a distraction-free environment. Turn off all electronic devices. Don’t look at your cell phone every few minutes or respond to text messages without finishing your work.

Let others know you’re working on something important and ask them not to bother you unless it’s an emergency.

It’s impossible to do everything at once, so don’t try to multitask. It’s better to focus on one task and do it well than to juggle many tasks and think you’re being productive when in reality you’re just wasting time. Reduce the number of distractions in your life so it’s easier for you to focus on the important things.

When writing, I personally use ambient music as a way to help me write without distractions (e.g. music without lyrics). For reading, I use noise-canceling headphones to block out any sounds or conversations around me and focus on reading without any distractions.

Discipline Can Help You Stick With a Task Until It Is Accomplished

Discipline can help you stick with a task until it’s done.

If you aren’t disciplined, you’ll just give up at the first sign of adversity. If you want to accomplish something, no matter what, you need to be able to stick it out until the end.

To achieve something great in life, you need to set goals and work towards them every day. Do you want to start your acting career? Then you need to start taking classes, reading books and going to auditions, even if you don’t get hired for every role.

If your child wants to improve their grades in school, they need discipline! A student needs to start working hard and not give up when things get difficult or boring (like with math homework). Also, they should do their best in all classes, not just the ones that interest them!

Whether it’s getting good grades in school or becoming an actor; whether it’s losing weight or quitting smoking; whether it’s paying off credit card debt or starting their own business – if there’s something that’s so important that they’ll sacrifice other things for it (like going out with friends) in order to not fail … then it’s probably worth doing that thing now rather than later!

Discipline Helps You Think Before Acting

Below you’ll find some examples of how a disciplined person thinks and acts differently than someone who’s not disciplined:

• They think before they act . We often have to make split-second decisions that can sometimes get us into trouble. The ability to take a step back and think things through helps us make better decisions instead of acting too impulsively.
• You focus on the task at hand. Have you ever tried working in an environment where there are so many distractions that it’s hard to focus? You probably have, because most people these days work together in an open-plan office with little privacy. A disciplined person is able to tune out the background noise and focus on the task at hand, even when there are many distractions around them.
• They avoid making impulsive decisions . Impulsiveness always has consequences, and often those consequences are detrimental. A disciplined person avoids impulsive decisions by first thinking about what might happen as a consequence of their actions!
• They usually make the right decision because they think about what’s best for them AND others around them before making a decision. This keeps them from bad habits like gossiping or using drugs!
• They’ve patience with both themselves and others because they don’t get upset over little things, but look at things from all sides before deciding how to act in a situation.

Discipline Develops Self-Respect and Respect for Others

• Respect for yourself is critical to self-discipline, which helps you expand your vision and achieve things beyond the scope of your current abilities. Self-discipline teaches you to ignore the little voice in your head that says, “I can’t,” and instead focus on what you want to accomplish.
• Respect for others is a fundamental principle. If you’re able to control yourself in relation to others, you’ll have a healthy relationship with everyone around you.
• One of the most important lessons we can learn is to respect the opinions of others, even if we don’t agree with them. This means that we must learn to take advice without being offended and to listen without necessarily changing or accepting what we hear.

Discipline Allows You to Accomplish Goals

When you set a goal to accomplish something, discipline helps you follow through with that plan. It helps you stay focused and avoid distractions. It helps you stay motivated and committed when things get tough.

For example, if you have a hard time getting up early in the morning, discipline gives you the strength to get up and stay active, even if your body is telling you it’s better to stay in bed.

Another great benefit of discipline is that it reduces procrastination. You can use it as a tool – setting rules for yourself – to overcome procrastination so you don’t put things off until later, you get them done now.

If your goal has to do with your health, such as losing weight, becoming a vegan, or quitting smoking, discipline makes it much easier to stick with your program and not give in to temptations along the way.

You Can Motivate Yourself Without Being Mean to Yourself

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably tried to motivate yourself by berating or yelling at yourself when you don’t do something you set out to do. But that approach doesn’t work.

When we make ourselves feel guilty, we only end up feeling worse and want to escape through procrastination and laziness. Temptation is everywhere!

To be successful in life and work, it’s important to understand that motivation isn’t really about other people; it’s about being clear about what we want and why we want it, so we can achieve our goals while making a positive impact on the world around us. And if your motivation comes from compassion for others and not from fear of failure or criticism from authority figures (e.g., parents), then there’s no reason to be mean!

To stay motivated, you can try these tips:

• Find ways to do things that feel good instead of punishing them.
• Set realistic goals and celebrate small successes along the way.
• Practice gratitude every day – even if you only notice one thing each morning, it can make all the difference!

How to Develop a Disciplined Mindset

• Define the problem . When you say you want to be more disciplined in your life, ask yourself what that means. In what way are you undisciplined? What’re you struggling with? What specific changes will make a difference for you?
• Set goals . Once you’re clear about your problem areas, you can set goals for how you’ll address them. Be ambitious but realistic when setting goals. For example, if your fitness routine is in complete disarray, set a goal to go to the gym four times a week starting next Monday and then continue every weekday until three months from now (in other words, 20 work weeks). It’s also not effective to say, “I’m going to start working out every day,” without knowing exactly what the workout is going to look like specifically.
• Make two lists : one with reasons why your goals are worthwhile and important to you, and another with reasons why achieving them might be difficult or challenging for you – for example, because you’ll have to change habits or sacrifice free time to do so. Keeping these lists in mind can help you stay motivated during difficult moments or doubts (and there will always be difficult moments or doubts).

Tips for Staying on Track With Your Goals

• Create a plan.
• Work on your goals every day.
• Recognize when you need a break.
• Take care of yourself.
• Don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake or don’t reach a milestone, and don’t let small setbacks keep you from your big goals. Finally, whatever happens, don’t give up!

The Importance of Accountability Partners

Accountability partners are great for keeping you on track with your goals. Just knowing that you’ve someone to report to and who expects you to meet certain expectations is a great way to stay motivated.

Accountability partners can also help you develop a better work ethic. They know what’s important to you and can help you stay focused on the task at hand.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of accountability partners: They’re simply friends or family members who form a partnership to achieve certain goals together.

They’re often used as an alternative to hiring personal coaches, and consultants because they’re less expensive, but also because they can help people/businesses/organizations/etc. work toward their personal goals.

The idea behind an Accountability Partner is that each person sets up regular meetings or calls throughout the week to talk about how well (or not so well) they’ve achieved their own goals, and to give each other feedback on how to improve if necessary.

How to Overcome Obstacles That Stand in the Way of Discipline

Discipline is about achieving goals. Sometimes it’s about achieving the big goals, and sometimes it’s simply about getting yourself to do your homework or put on a shirt.

Of course, discipline has more facets: it’s not just about doing the tasks you’re supposed to do, but also about being kind and helpful to yourself when you’re doing difficult things, like learning a new skill or breaking up with a bad boyfriend or girlfriend.

Discipline is about trying new things, even if you’re afraid of making mistakes or failing. It’s about setting goals for yourself so you break old habits and build new ones instead of just making the same mistakes over and over again.

All of these things are important because without discipline we’d never accomplish anything we set out to do – very little work gets done.

Discipline Allows Power and Control Over One’s Life

Discipline is important in every aspect of life to be successful and free, and it allows one to have power and control in life. A disciplined person also has good behavior, and that leads to a better society.

Discipline helps you not to deviate from your goals. It helps you keep your promises, do the right thing, and follow good habits that help you succeed in your life.

We can’t expect to be successful overnight, so we’ve to discipline ourselves daily, hour by hour and minute by minute until we make it to the top. We must also remember that discipline isn’t an event, but a process, which means it takes time to learn how to apply it when needed.

Developing Discipline Takes Time

Developing discipline takes time, hard work, energy, and self-control. It helps you resist temptations, stay focused, and achieve your goals. You can develop new disciplines for yourself or strengthen the ones you already have by taking small steps each day.

Discipline allows you to keep going even when you don’t feel like it. It’s about staying focused on your goals, even if that means giving up some pleasures right now.

I know what you’re thinking… “Self-discipline sounds like a drag! I don’t want to work that hard!” It may sound a bit tedious and limiting, but the truth is that self-discipline is empowering. It gives you the freedom to make your choices.

Imagine if you could resist the urge to eat junk food or get up early every day to go for a run. What if you could resist the urge to put something off or stay in bed all day? These are good examples of how self-discipline can enrich your life in many ways.

If you’ve it, nothing will stand in the way of achieving your goals and succeeding in all areas of life that are important to you.

Discipline Increases Productivity

Discipline increases productivity because it enables you to work smarter instead of harder. When you focus on your goals, you can avoid wasting time and energy on tasks that don’t align with those goals or improve your results in any way.

Discipline Matters for a Healthy Society

Discipline is important for a healthy society; if people don’t follow certain laws and guidelines, chaos will reign. For example, if everyone pays their taxes, the government receives the money it needs for services such as education, transportation, etc.

In a free society, we’re subject to the law, but we’re free to choose our own ways within the framework of that law. We need the discipline to be free.

It’s important for us as citizens of a democracy to be disciplined. It’ll help us to live together in peace and harmony.

Importance of Discipline in Student’s Life

Table of Contents

Jan 11, 2021

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Introduction

Discipline is one of the most important personality traits in everyone's life. It refers to a set of rules and regulations which are to be followed while undergoing any task or activity. It is a way of being honest, hard-working, motivated, and encouraged while doing any task. It is a character trait that helps the individuals to complete the tasks in a given fixed deadline.

The role of discipline in our life is to set orderliness, efficiency, punctuality, organization, and focus on our tasks. “Life without discipline is just like a ship without radar.” Therefore the importance of discipline in life just cannot be ignored.

In this article, we will lay down certain points that will help us to explain what is the importance of discipline in life. Why and how it helps us to improve our social stature. And finally, why it is regarded as a systematic training for achieving our goal in life.

Importance of Discipline

Here is a PDF that consists of the Best quotes and sayings about Discipline. Click on the download button to know more.

Why is discipline important?

Discipline is a concept which everyone is aware of, but very few truly understand the true meaning of it. It is very important for us to be disciplined on a daily basis.

Discipline is the attribute that resists our urge to give in to negative behaviors and helps us to focus on all of the positive attributes. The following are the 10 most important points which explain the role of discipline in our life.

Importance of Discipline in Life

Time management

A disciplined person always has the time to complete all the tasks within given deadlines. This is because they are focused and they know how to schedule the time properly.

They don't believe in wasting time on unnecessary things. They understand the value of time and they know that time once has gone never comes back.

Therefore, they set a proper timetable and do things according to it. This also helps them to stay motivated and concentrated. This prevents them from procrastination thereby helping them to develop mental peace and health. Being disciplined is one of the main factors in staying happy.

All great leaders are not born. Most of them follow a very tight schedule and maintain discipline in their life to become good leaders.

Good discipline generates a positive attitude towards society. It creates confidence and eagerness to do something great.

Discipline helps people to build an attitude that becomes the key to becoming successful. They are able to set a great example for others in society.

Decision Making

It is because everything gets finished within the given deadlines, disciplined people always have time to revise their work and improve their decisions.

People who are disciplined are more focused both mentally and physically. They are better able to align their body and mind with their ideas and goals. Finally, everything is regulated in order and increases their productivity in all the activities they undergo.

Achievements

Disciplined people are more motivated and concentrated. Therefore, they achieve more when compared to a person who is not disciplined with the activities he/she undertakes. As per a study, 92% of people are able to achieve their goals in life because of the sole reason of being disciplined.

Stability and Structure

With discipline, comes stability in all the tasks. It helps to schedule and organize the activities and tasks in a proper structure. If a person is focused and regularly follows this particular structure, he/she is sure to succeed in their life.

Responsibility and Control

With great discipline comes great responsibility. Only by making schedules and timetables a person cannot become successful. It is very important to regularly follow and fulfill the responsibilities which are mentioned in the schedule. This will help them to develop self-control and also build good relations with others.

A disciplined person is always respected by society. He/She is looked upon as role models and mentors. Through discipline, they worked hard and achieved their goals which made them a respectful figure in the eyes of others.

Improves mental health

Modern society suffers a lot from anxiety and depression. We cannot blame them for their condition. Just by maintaining a little discipline in their life, they can easily improve it. Discipline will help them to reduce stress and take control of their tasks. They would be able to overcome their fears and also control their emotions.

Maintain peace in society

Disciplined people are like assets to society. If there is no law and order, there would be too many bad activities. Discipline is required to prevent such things in society. By setting the required rules and regulations, it becomes easier to live in a society that is full of peace and harmony.

Stay Active

Disciplined people have time to do every activity in the schedule. They plan their schedule in such a way that improves both their academic/institutional performance and also their physical health. They know what is good and bad for them and thereby have good eating habits, exercising habits, sleeping and waking up patterns, etc.

For students too, discipline is very important in their life. Here are a few points to help you understand why discipline is important in the life of students, especially for practical subjects like mathematics.

Discipline helps a student to maintain regularity which is very important in subjects that require constant practice, like mathematics.

It helps the student to remain calm and composed. This helps him/her to maintain the focus and to keep moving on with the problems.

Discipline helps the student to maintain a proper schedule for everything which includes time for all his/her subjects.

Discipline helps them to prioritize their work as per its importance.

It improves their concentration and focuses which is very important in subjects like mathematics.

Students often find mathematics to be difficult and fear the subject. Discipline helps them to build a positive attitude towards everything. This helps them to improve their performance slowly and steadily.

Finally, discipline helps students to build a healthy mind which is very important to develop a healthy body.

Discipline is very important, as seen, at both levels: individually and collectively for the society. It helps people to showcase their attitude and represent their character and thinking. Both the body and the mind are honed by discipline. Discipline helps to address individual problems and develop a society that is both peaceful and respectful. Therefore, it would be right to say that without discipline there is no life at all.

Why should have self discipline in life?

• Self-discipline means self-control, the ability to avoid unhealthy excess of anything that could lead to negative consequences.
• It is the ability to reject instant gratification and pleasure, in favor of some greater gain, which requires spending effort and time to get it.
• It means perseverance and not giving up.
• It is the strength not to give in to negative feelings.
• It means overcoming one’s weaknesses.
• It is the ability to pursue one plan despite temptations to abandon them.
• Delayed gratification in favor of accomplishing long term goals.

About Cuemath

Cuemath, a student-friendly mathematics platform, conducts regular  Online Classes  for academics and skill-development, and their Mental Math App, on both  iOS  and  Android , is a one-stop solution for kids to develop multiple skills. Understand the Cuemath Fee structure and sign up for a free trial.

Frequently Asked Questions on discipline

 what is another name for discipline.

Some common synonyms of discipline are castigated, chasten, chastise, correct, and punish.

What is a good discipline?

The AAP recommends positive discipline strategies that effectively teach children to manage their behavior and keep them from harm while promoting healthy development. These include: Show and tell. Teach children right from wrong with calm words and actions. Model behaviors you would like to see in your children.

Is discipline a skill?

The truth is, self-discipline is a learned skill, not an innate characteristic. ... Instead, the only way to improve your self-discipline is through intentional and dedicated practice. As with all types of self-improvement, change is difficult and it takes time.

External References

To know more please click on the link below:

• TOP 10 BENEFITS OF DISCIPLINE
• The 11 Long-Term Benefits of Discipline for Kids

Friend of Mars / DigitalVision via Getty Images

Nope, Motivation and Discipline Aren't the Same Thing. Experts Break Down the Differences (and Why They Matter)

Experts explain how these two principles can help you reach your wellness and fitness goals.

By Brigitt Earley • March 27, 2024

What Is Motivation? Arrow

What Is Discipline? Arrow

Motivation vs. Discipline: How Are They Alike and Different? Arrow

Is Discipline or Motivation More Important? Arrow

Tips for Boosting Discipline and Motivation Arrow

The Takeaway Arrow

When you work toward a wellness or fitness goal, you’ll probably hear a lot about the importance of discipline and motivation. While the terms may sound similar, they’re two distinct qualities that can help you stay committed. But what, exactly, is the difference between motivation vs. discipline? 

We spoke with fitness and mental health experts to learn everything you need to know about motivation and discipline—including how each principle uniquely helps you reach your exercise and wellness goals. Read on for everything you need to know.

What Is Motivation?

Motivation is the general desire or willingness to do something, explains Peloton instructor Alex Touissant —essentially, the reason you act or behave in a certain way. It’s the drive that inspires you to commit to exercise, meditation, or other fitness or mental health routines .

There are two main types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic, according to Rachel Goldberg, a licensed therapist and founder of Rachel Goldberg Therapy in Los Angeles. 

Intrinsic motivation is all about the joy, excitement, and satisfaction you get from a certain activity. For example, maybe you’re motivated to take morning yoga classes because it makes you feel good and puts you in a positive mindset at the start of the day. It’s this feeling you get—not some future goal—that motivates you to wake up early each morning.

Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is all about outside forces. When people are extrinsically motivated, they’re seeking out some sort of reward, approval, or reinforcement. It may even come from a fear of disapproval. For example, maybe you’re motivated to go to the gym because you signed up for a personal trainer and don’t want to forfeit your money. Or perhaps you take a workout class to socialize with your friends or fellow participants. It could also mean treating yourself to something special when you reach a milestone, such as completing a month-long program.

What Is Discipline?

Discipline is the quality of being able to behave and work in a controlled way, Alex says. “Discipline involves setting personal expectations and adhering to them consistently,” Goldberg explains. “It means establishing rules for yourself that remain unaffected by your emotional state.” 

For instance, committing to five workouts per week is a form of discipline—you’ve committed to the practice, despite how motivated ( or not ) you feel when it’s time to follow through. “While there may be flexibility in the choice of days and types of exercise, the commitment to exercise five times a week remains constant, regardless of external circumstances or emotional upheavals,” Goldberg says.

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Motivation vs. Discipline: How Are They Alike and Different?

So how do discipline vs. motivation play together in helping us achieve our fitness goals ? “Both discipline and motivation are essential for beginning and sustaining a fitness routine,” Goldberg says, noting they support one another in important ways. 

You can think of it this way: Motivation gets us started, and discipline makes it happen. For example, “I can be motivated to compete in a powerlifting meet, but discipline is going to be what keeps me showing up to the workouts day in and day out to get there,” explains Audrey Schoen , a licensed therapist and the founder of Balanced Private Practice in Granite Bay, California. 

Is Discipline or Motivation More Important?

Because discipline and motivation support one another, the experts we spoke to say it’s difficult to determine which quality is more vital for sticking to your fitness routine—but ultimately, they say the scales tip towards discipline. “Discipline will carry you when motivation won’t,” Alex says. 

Goldberg agrees: “Discipline tends to be a long-term, stable behavior, while motivation is more variable and can fluctuate in intensity,” she says. We can feel motivated to improve our health,  Schoen says, but it requires discipline to get on that bike every day when we would rather be in bed an extra 30 minutes. “Even those who enjoy fitness know that there is discomfort, and our body and brain are motivated to avoid discomfort,” she explains. “Discipline is what helps us break free from our brain’s default mode of reserving energy and seeking pleasure.” 

Another way to think about motivation vs. discipline: While you might normally feel motivated to exercise every day, if something interrupts that motivation—say, work gets hectic—you might not have the discipline to follow through with your workout. But if you have the discipline, you’ll find a way to put in the work, even when motivation is (understandably) lacking. 

Tips for Boosting Discipline and Motivation

Sometimes we need a little help digging deep to find motivation and discipline. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to make it easier: 

1. Make a Plan

“Clearly define your workout routine and incorporate it into your schedule,” Goldberg says. Rather than setting an ambiguous goal, lay out your plan in clear terms. For instance, instead of thinking, “I want to work out a few times each week,” think, “I’m going to take three Pilates classes each week for a month.”

2. Find Your Passion

If you hate your workout, you’ll probably be less likely to stick with it—so find an activity you actually find fun and challenging. (Psst: There are 16 different fitness modalities and thousands of classes you can explore on the Peloton App to find your new favorites!)

Find Your Passion on the Peloton App

30 min HIIT Ride

Alex Toussaint · Cycling

20 min Yoga Flow

Anna Greenberg · Yoga

20 min Pop Pilates

Aditi Shah · Strength

10 min Dance Cardio

Cody Rigsby · Cardio

3. Be Realistic

No matter how much you may love cycling , rowing , or another form of exercise, don’t try to do too much too soon—especially if you’re just beginning any sort of exercise regimen . Start with something smaller and more attainable, such as working out two or three times a week for 15–20 minutes. 

4. Try New Things

Similarly, while you may be comfortable knocking out four or five running workouts each week, know that doing the same thing over and over again can be monotonous, Goldberg says. Keep things interesting by trying your hand at something new —or mixing things up with a once or twice per week with a cross-training session.

5. Don’t Solely Depend on Motivation

There will be days you just don’t want to show up, and that’s normal, Schoen says. Instead, try to dig deeper and find the discipline to commit to your routine. (Of course, remember that discipline does not mean pushing yourself too far. Always listen to your body and make time for rest and recovery , too). 

6. Make Showing up Easier

It’s easier to find the time for exercise when it’s planned out in advance. “Schedule it on your calendar, set a reminder, find an accountability partner , or sign up for a class,” Schoen says. 

The Peloton App makes it easy with the ability to stack and schedule workouts, take live classes with friends, and join different programs and collections.

7. Celebrate Small Wins

Acknowledging your progress can be a huge motivator, Goldberg says. Celebrating your successes, no matter how small they may be, can help you maintain momentum and help you find joy (motivation!) in your fitness routine. 

8. Focus on What You’re Gaining

“Pay attention to the benefits your regimen brings, from improved health markers to enhanced mental clarity,” Goldberg says. When you focus on the positive impact your workouts have on your overall well-being, you may find even more motivation to keep going.

The Takeaway

When thinking about the difference between motivation vs. discipline, know that motivation is what helps you get started and discipline is what keeps you going (even when motivation runs low). 

Making time for movement isn’t easy, but remember that it’s worth it for the mental and physical benefits. When you’re motivated and feel that desire to act, jump at it. And on those days when you don’t have the energy or the desire, lean on your discipline to see you through.

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute individualized advice. It is not intended to replace professional medical evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment. Seek the advice of your physician for questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. If you are having a medical emergency, call your physician or 911 immediately.

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