The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Half of Canadian parents (51 per cent) spend less than 10 minutes a day helping their children with homework, a new survey has found. The survey, conducted by Ipsos-Reid for Kumon Math and Reading Centres, also found that half of all children (50 per cent) are doing homework in a noisy environment because either people are talking, the TV is on, music is on, or pets are making noise. In addition, the survey found that the favourite room for doing homework is the kitchen (45 per cent), followed by the dining room (22 per cent) and the bedroom (16 per cent). Almost all children (91 per cent) are doing their homework at a desk or table, but more children in the higher grades (7 to 9) are doing it on the couch, floor and bed. "It's understandable that most children do homework in the kitchen. This is often the hub of the house, where busy parents can monitor and support their children while running their household," says Dr. Donna McGhie-Richmond, Educational Specialist with Kumon Math and Reading Centres. "But the kitchen can be noisy so parents need to minimize distractions so their children can concentrate. Parents can help focus their children by providing a well-lit, clutter-free work area with the tools they need to complete their homework." At the same time, the survey found that most parents (94 per cent) are confident that they can provide homework support to their children. "There is no set amount of time for parent's homework support - it depends on each child's ability, motivation, independence, as well as the nature of the assignment. Ten minutes may be enough for some children; others may require more," says McGhie-Richmond. Other significant findings about homework study include that half of all children (51 per cent) are doing homework immediately after school, and another third (36 per cent) are doing homework after dinner. Only four per cent are doing homework just before bedtime, and only one per cent in the morning before school. Interestingly, more boys have a parent present beside them while doing homework (37 per cent), compared with girls (28 per cent). Favourite and least favourite subjects The Kumon/Ipsos-Reid survey found that children do best in the subjects they enjoy most, or enjoy most the subjects they do best in. The survey also found that the same thing applies to the subjects they dislike or do worst in. Surprisingly, math tops the list for both. Among the findings: - Math is the most enjoyed (34 per cent) and least enjoyed (27 per cent) subject, followed by Language Arts (English/French). - Interestingly, Math is also the subject that many children do best in (41 per cent) and worst in (23 per cent), along with Language Arts, which they also do poorly in. - More boys enjoy Math, Science and Physical Education than girls, while more girls enjoy Language Arts, Arts and Music than boys. "While it can be expected that children will focus on their best subjects, and procrastinate with their least favourite ones, parents can help their children develop more positive attitudes towards all their work by relating the concepts and skills to their child's experiences, thereby making it meaningful," says McGhie-Richmond. Early learning One of the biggest questions for parents today is when to start teaching their children. The Kumon/Ipsos-Reid survey found: - Only a quarter of parents (27 per cent) consider it appropriate to start home-based learning activities with their children before they turn one, and surprisingly, 20 per cent consider it appropriate only after the child turns four. These findings are consistent with what parents actually did with their children at these ages. - On average, parents consider it appropriate to start home-based learning activities with their children at three years old. - Parents with less education (high school or less) actually engaged their children in home-based learning activities later (3.4 years old) than parents with a college education (2.8 years old) and university education (2.5 years old). - The most popular learning activity that parents did with their children before they started school was reading (63 per cent), followed by using reading/writing activity books (42 per cent) and math/mazes activity books (39 per cent). "Parents recognize the importance of reading to their children, but may not recognize its significance to learning. They should start reading to their children from birth. Reading sets the foundation for all other learning," says McGhie-Richmond. See 'Education' P.# Con't from P.# Parent's goals for their children's education - More than one-third of Canadian parents (36 per cent) say that their top goal for their children's education is to get a college/university education, followed by being happy in life/school (27 per cent), getting a good job (23 per cent) and becoming a valuable member of society (21 per cent). - Interestingly, only 16 per cent of Canadian parents say achieving good grades is a primary goal for their children's education. - In ranking goals for their children's education, parents say that developing good reading/literacy skills is more important (26 per cent) than achieving good grades (10 per cent) or developing good math/numeracy skills (4 per cent ). After school activities - The majority of children (86 per cent) will be involved in at least one after school activity this school year. On average, children will participate in two activities. - Sports is the most popular after school activity, with team sports for more than half (57 per cent) and individual sports for another 43 per cent, followed by music (31 per cent), school clubs (15 per cent) and dance (12 per cent). - More boys participate in team sports, while more girls attend music, school clubs, dance and theatre. - On average, children will spend 4.6 hours a week doing after school activities. These are the findings of a Kumon/Ipsos-Reid survey that was conducted nationally in Canada among 1,040 Canadians who have children 6 to 14 years of age that attend public schools and do not have learning disabilities or special education needs.
