“Doing homework is very important especially for youngsters,” says Mrs Khalda Athar, a senior teacher at Muslim High School. “It gives them a chance not only to revise the subject matter, but also helps them comprehend and retain in their minds what has been taught to them in class”, she explained and added: “If children do their homework regularly without the help of a private tutor, they may develop their creative talents.”
As in our society most fathers are out all day long, doing a job or two, mothers can play a significant role regarding their children’s homework. It is also a fact that there are many mothers in our country who have never gone to school in their lives. Although they are unable to help or check the homework, they can at least make the kids do their homework in time, supervise them, and occasionally ask them what they are studying. By doing this, even the uneducated mothers will learn something. Mothers with some education will also certainly increase their knowledge if they take interest and supervise the youngsters while they are doing their homework.
I met several mothers and asked them how far they assisted their children in the homework. The following is the summary of their answers.
Mrs Surraiya Moin, who lives in Dastagir and has a son and two daughters, says: “My husband goes to office early in the morning, works all day and, by the time he gets home late in the evening, he’s too tired to do anything. So, it is I who assist our kids in doing and writing their assignments. By the grace of God, I had passed my intermediate examination before my marriage.”
“How do you help your kids?” I asked.
“Well,” she said, “unlike most people, I have a different method of helping my children. I don’t directly tell them the correct answer or solution to a problem. I just guide them, and they have to reach the destination on their own. For instance, instead of telling them that the longest river in Pakistan is the River Indus, I suggest them to study the maps and charts of Pakistan and find out the right answer. I just say ‘yes’ to the right and ‘no’ to the wrong answer.
“The other day my little daughter was doing her maths’ homework. She asked me: “Mom, twenty-five minus six is equal to what?
“I asked her to bring me twenty-five of the bangles that I had bought the previous day. Then I told her to pick six of them and count the rest. And she found out the correct answer. In this way, children get into a habit of solving problems for themselves without the help of others.”
Mrs Ghazala Hamid, who has only one six-year-old daughter and lives in Gharibabad, says: “Unfortunately, I don’t have any school education to help my daughter in her studies. I just sit down with her and watch with interest when she does her homework. I occasionally ask her how many questions she has done or if she has any difficulty. It makes her feel important. When my husband comes home in the evening, he checks her work and helps her.”
“Doing homework is quite essential,” says Mrs Robina Qureshi, a lower secondary school teacher and a mother of two sons. She lives in North Nazimabad. “In my free time I make my kids sit down in the study and do their homework. Let me tell you that they don’t study at the same school where I teach.”
But Mrs Qureshi raised a very important point about the children’s homework. She said: “Most teachers in our schools give too much homework to their students, without even thinking that whether they would be able to do it or not. Children get frustrated to have a lot of work to do and, sometimes, they lose interest in their studies and try to find ways to escape the homework. Several children are forced to get their homework done either by their private tutor, their parents or anybody else.”
She said that teachers should keep in mind the capacity of children before giving assignments.
“Doing homework is very important especially for youngsters,” says Mrs Khalda Athar, a senior teacher at Muslim High School. “It gives them a chance not only to revise the subject matter, but also helps them comprehend and retain in their minds what has been taught to them in class”, she explained and added: “If children do their homework regularly without the help of a private tutor, they may develop their creative talents.”
