Homework and Relaxation…What Is the Connection?

When your child comes home from school and tells you they are stressed out about having a TON of homework, how can you tell them to relax – that you know they can finish their homework?

So many times your child comes home with too many things to do and they feel they do NOT have enough time. They might have soccer, baseball, basketball, swim-team, football, or track practice. They need to eat, and help out with the dishes too. And, to top it off, they have a project due plus regular homework. Does this sound familiar to you? And that is just for one child. Multiply that out when you have several children.

This is a recipe for disaster rather that success. The stress level in your home is not one that is conducive to a quality family evening.

Studies show that relaxed learners actually retain more information than learners who are in a stressed state. Gary Small, M. D., Professor of Psychiatry & Bio-behavioral Sciences at UCLA states (2001), “Relaxation techniques will improve concentration, learning, and overall memory ability.”

So, what in heavens name do you do to create a relaxed environment at home with everything that is going on? Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to immediately create a more relaxed environment.

1. One of the easiest and most productive things you can do is to play background music that is at 60 beats per minute during homework time. Playing classical music or any other that is 60 beats per minute will place everyone’s heart beat in a relaxed state which frees the mind to be able to concentrate more efficiently.

2. Create a mindset for whatever the assignment is that your child has. By this I mean before actually starting the assignment, think about it. How does this assignment relate to other assignments they’ve done in the past, or maybe it will be assignments they will do in the future. When students have a connection with former learning and with learning they will be doing in the future they have a reason why they should be doing the assignment. Having a reason why helps them to ‘buy into’ and ends up leading them to doing a better job on the assignment.

3. Learning is all about connections, so when a meltdown occurs, it may be due to NOT being able to make a connection with the material. It just seems too hard; it’s overwhelming. Again, take some time, which may only end up being 5 minutes. Take a few deep breaths with your child. This will get more oxygen to each of your brains and help you to help your child to see/make connections with the material. The more you help your child make connections the easier it will be for him to make them on his own. The assignment will more often than not be done with greater ease.
Hope this is helpful.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

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