All posts tagged: Homework

The 4 Words That Make Homework Battles Worse

The 4 Words That Make Homework Battles Worse

Published by Jenni Sidey

“Just get it done.” You certainly mean that four-word phrase with good intentions. Those four words likely sound harmless to you. After all, you are being direct and looking out for your child’s best interests. So, why can’t you just say those words, and then your child or teen reengages in their homework or whatever assignments are due? Yet in my work with children and families, and in conversations with parents who consult me about their kids shutting down from schoolwork, this phrase marks the moment when things go sideways. Specifically, when kids hear “Just get it done,” they often retreat from taking action. That’s because they feel alone in what feels like impossible demands. So, they lose sight of what they can do and focus on the feelings of what they can’t do. And that often means that they shut down. Why These Words Backfire When a child is already feeling overwhelmed, unsure where to begin, and just plain old worried about making mistakes, “Just get it done” does not imbue motivation. Rather, it …

Some schools consider eliminating homework : NPR

Some schools consider eliminating homework : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Federal data suggests that the amount of math homework assigned to fourth and eighth grade students, in particular, has been steadily declining. Stanislaw Pytel/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Stanislaw Pytel/Getty Images A few days into the new semester this January, the LaSalle Parish school district in rural Louisiana made a pronouncement: No more homework. Since then, none of the 2,500 students in this district — from the youngest learners up through high school seniors — have been required to do schoolwork at home. Parents can request practice problems if they’d like, Superintendent Jonathan Garrett said, but that work won’t be mandatory or graded. Homework assignments, it turned out, were among the biggest sources of complaints Garrett had heard from parents and students over the years. “When there was a negative feeling about school, it usually stemmed from what kids are bringing home, the frustrations they feel completing that, and that parents and guardians feel trying to help them complete it,” he said in an interview. Beyond that, Garrett said the move was driven by …

Your Therapy Homework: Get to the Theater

Your Therapy Homework: Get to the Theater

Published by Jenni Sidey

What if therapists gave clients homework of attending the theater, an art show, a storytelling slam, or an arboretum? Sounds a bit unusual? Recent research has “set the stage” for this consideration, showing that engaging with the arts and theater may actually help prevent diabetes. Not convinced? Let’s walk through some of the recent findings. Theoretical Grounding Behavioral activation is a well-known and effective intervention for a variety of mental health conditions. Therapists collaborate with their clients to create lists of previously enjoyed activities and then make weekly schedules for them. Helping people engage in activities, even if they don’t feel motivated, can be a powerful intervention to increase psychological health. Key themes from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) have also guided the selection of activities. A key principle of this approach is the pursuit of values-based activity. Therapists help clients identify their values and then draw upon them as motivation to approach challenging activities and move toward their best selves. Arts on Prescription Social prescribing is a growing movement in which healthcare providers encourage …

At least half of U.S. teens use chatbots for homework and more

At least half of U.S. teens use chatbots for homework and more

Published by skeptic

“AI is like a helper, like an enhancer,” says Dharunish Y. This high-school junior in Pennsylvania thinks AI-based chatbots, such as ChatGPT or Claude, can help people code, generate ideas and get their work done. Because of artificial intelligence (AI), he says, “I think that the number of innovations that happen in a specific time is just going to increase.” His positive outlook on the future of AI matches that of about one-third of all U.S. teens, according to a new survey. The Pew Research Center asked 1,458 kids — all 13 to 17 years old — about how they use chatbots and how they view the likely impact of this type of AI. Only 15 percent of teens — about one in seven — think AI will negatively impact their own lives. A larger share, 26 percent, think AI will negatively impact society. Abigail V. is one of them. A high-school sophomore, she attends the same school as Dharunish. “I worry that AI is going to be very negative,” she says. With plans to …

How To Get Kids With ADHD To Do Homework After School

How To Get Kids With ADHD To Do Homework After School

Published by Sam Flores

This article features advice from Dr Mukesh Kripalani, a consultant psychiatrist at The ADHD Centre, and Tarryn Poulton, an occupational therapist and founder of Nurture ADHD. If homework battles are a regular occurrence for you and your child with ADHD, it might be the order in which you’re doing things after school that could be setting you up for failure. That’s according to Tarryn Poulton, an occupational therapist and founder of Nurture ADHD, who shared on social media that doing homework first “always backfires” with ADHD kids. Typically, the hour after school is hard for a lot of parents as children can experience something called ‘after-school restraint collapse’ (where they basically become mini emotional volcanoes). But for neurodivergent children and their families, this hour can be even more intense. You might experience meltdowns, refusal, tears and intense explosions of emotion over seemingly nothing. Getting them to do homework then, even if it’s a simple or quick task, can feel nothing short of impossible. Why does this happen? Dr Mukesh Kripalani, a consultant psychiatrist at The …

A Staggering Proportion of High School Kids Are Using AI to Do Their Homework, Which Is Probably Not Going to End Well

A Staggering Proportion of High School Kids Are Using AI to Do Their Homework, Which Is Probably Not Going to End Well

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Who could’ve guessed that when you give millions of kids free access to a homework-writing chatbot, they’d stop writing their own essays? According to new research from the Pew Research Center, the number of kids automating school assignments is now staggering. At this point, 57 percent of kids are using chatbots to search for information, while 54 percent say they use AI for “help with homework” — a euphemism that could mean they’re using it as a tutor that enriches learning, but in many cases probably amounts to the kind of cheating that does nothing to prepare them for higher education or the job market. And who could blame them? They’re being barraged by the message that AI is poised to take over virtually all jobs, and especially any that required intellectual labor that school is attempting to prepare them for — a drumbeat that has bleak psychological effects on adults, and likely similar ones on kids. The …

This AI Tool Doesn’t Help With Homework. It Does It for You

This AI Tool Doesn’t Help With Homework. It Does It for You

Published by skeptic

A new AI tool called Einstein is pushing the boundaries of what automation in education looks like. Created by the startup Companion, Einstein does more than generate answers to homework questions. It logs directly into a student’s Canvas account and completes coursework on the student’s behalf. According to its creators, Einstein operates through its own virtual computer. It can open a browser, navigate class pages, watch lecture videos, read PDFs and essays, write papers, complete quizzes and post replies in discussion boards. Once connected to a student’s account, the system can monitor deadlines and automatically submit assignments. Unlike chatbots that respond when prompted, Einstein functions more like a digital stand-in for a human student. After setup, it can run in the background with little ongoing input. “Students are already using AI. We’re just giving them a better version of it,” Companion CEO Advait Paliwal said in a statement.  Read more: ‘Machines Can’t Think for You.’ How Learning Is Changing in the Age of AI How Einstein works Einstein connects to Canvas, a widely used learning-management system …

New AI Agent Logs Directly Into College Platform Canvas to Do Your Homework for You

New AI Agent Logs Directly Into College Platform Canvas to Do Your Homework for You

Published by José Betancourt

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images Lazy undergrads rejoice. A new AI “homework agent” can supposedly log into your account on the learning management system Canvas and automatically complete your homework and assignments for you — streamlining the laborious, outdated process of having to copy-paste answers from ChatGPT. Called “Einstein,” the AI can even participate in discussions, reply to your peers, write essays, and take notes on recorded lectures on your behalf, its maker Companion.AI claims on its website. “Einstein has a full virtual computer with a browser — anything you can do, he can do,” the site reads, next to the smiling visage of the famed physicist Albert Einstein. “He logs into Canvas every day, watches lectures, reads essays, writes papers, participates in discussions, and submits your homework — automatically.” Companion’s founder, Advait Paliwal, described the Einstein AI tool in a tweet as “OpenClaw as a student,” referring to the viral open source AI agent that “actually does things.” Paliwal also worked on YouLearn AI, an “AI tutor” for students that …

Canadian figure skater Madeline Schizas shares homework woes on social media

Canadian figure skater Madeline Schizas shares homework woes on social media

Published by Sam Flores

Even Olympians have to turn in their homework. Madeline Schizas, a Canadian figure skater and student at McMaster University in Ontario, shared a post on social media revealing that she had to ask her professor for an extension on an assignment. She had a pretty good excuse though — “I was competing in the Olympic Games yesterday.” Follow along for live updates. “I am a student in your Sociology 2FF3 course and am wondering if I could get a short extension on this week’s reflection,” Schizas wrote in an email to her professor. “I was competing in the Olympic Games yesterday and thought the reflection was due on Sunday, not Friday.” Schizas attached a link to a Canadian Olympic Committee press release to prove her participation. She captioned the social media post, “LOLLLL I❤️being a student athlete.” The figure skater, who participated in the 2022 Beijing Games, competed Friday in women’s single skating, earning a score of 64.97. She’ll be competing again Sunday night in the team event. CORRECTION (Feb. 7, 2026, 6:34 p.m. ET): …

Reading Challenges Aren’t Homework: They’re Games

Reading Challenges Aren’t Homework: They’re Games

Published by José Betancourt

Reading challenges give you the chance to expand your reading taste and pick up things you wouldn’t have otherwise—you might just discover a new favourite author or subgenre. They’re reading play. They also give you a sense of accomplishment when you finish a task or the whole challenge, and readers can adjust things to match their reading speed/style. For example, you can use the 2026 Read Harder Challenge bingo board and aim to just get a line instead of a blackout of all the tasks. Number goals seem to attract the most criticism. But when I set my goal for the year, it’s not a competition, homework, or performative. Personally, I read less when I’m stressed out—and since reading is relaxing, that only makes it worse. I like to know when I’m not on track to meet my goal, because that usually means I have fallen out of the habit of reading regularly and need to adjust accordingly. Plus, it’s fun to set manageable goals and meet them. So, consider this your invitation to set …