At the French American Academy, homework is an integral part of our curriculum. We view it as a meaningful extension of classroom learning and as an opportunity for students to apply, practice, and strengthen the skills introduced during the school day. In our previous blog posts, we explored how purposeful homework supports learning and shared practical tips for helping your child at home. Together, those ideas lead us to an essential piece of the puzzle: how homework builds independence in children.
One of the reasons we deeply value purposeful homework extends beyond academics alone. We view homework as a powerful tool for building capable, confident, and independent learners, something that cannot be fully developed through in-class instruction or worksheets alone. Independence is a lifelong skill, and we believe it is one of the greatest gifts we can give our students, preparing them for success both inside and beyond the classroom walls.
What Homework Is (And Isn’t)
At the FAA, homework is thoughtfully designed to:
- Practice and reinforce skills that have already been taught in class
- Provide teachers and parents with insight into what each student truly understands
- Strengthen responsibility, problem-solving, and time-management skills
- Encourage autonomy, allowing students to complete their work independently
Homework is not:
- For parents to complete
- A family project
- An optional assignment
- Something that needs to be handed in perfectly accurate
- A reason to email the teacher at the first sign of challenge or difficulty
Overall, homework is meant to reflect your child’s understanding. When parents step in too quickly, it can blur what a child truly understands, making it harder for teachers to provide appropriate support.
What Homework Reveals: Learning and Executive Functioning
When homework is completed independently, it provides valuable information. First, it allows teachers to see what a child understands well and where additional support may be needed. At the same time, it gives parents a genuine window into the skills that may require reinforcement at home or skills their child may find more challenging overall. Over time, this clarity helps both teachers and parents identify patterns of strengths and weaknesses and collaborate effectively when a consistent pattern of struggle emerges in one or both environments.
Additionally, homework is not only about academic skills. A child’s ability to complete and return their homework the next day also reflects important executive functioning skills, including attention, organization, planning, goal setting, and follow-through. Students are responsible for keeping their materials organized, remembering assignments, placing work back in their folders, and turning it in on time. These are learned skills. When parents consistently take on these responsibilities, even with the best intentions, it can unintentionally limit a child’s opportunity to develop their executive functioning skills independently.
For instance, if your child forgets to bring home their folder or leaves an assignment in their backpack, it is okay to let them experience that mistake. These moments serve as powerful learning opportunities and allow children to experience natural consequences that build:
- Accountability and responsibility
- Problem-solving skills
- Organizational strategies (such as using a planner, creating a to-do list, or developing a checklist routine)
Rescuing a child from these consequences may temporarily spare them from losing points or feeling disappointed, but it also robs them of a valuable learning experience and the opportunity to develop essential skills.
The Parent’s Role: Supporting the Process, Not the Product
To ensure that the insight gained from homework remains meaningful, it is important to clearly define the parent’s role in the process. We believe that parents serve as guides, not teachers or problem-solvers. Parents are not expected to correct every mistake, revise assignments, or re-teach lessons, even when a child appears unsure of a concept. When adults step in too quickly or too heavily, it can unintentionally blur the picture of what a student truly understands, making it harder for teachers to accurately assess progress and adjust instruction accordingly. For example, if a parent re-teaches a concept, a child may appear to understand it in the moment. However, that understanding may not yet be solid or transferable. The immediate success can mask the underlying confusion, preventing the teacher from identifying and addressing the true gap in learning. Additionally, it can reinforce a sense of dependence, diminish responsibility, and contribute to feelings of incapability, leading the student to believe they cannot complete their work on their own.
It is also completely normal for children to occasionally feel stuck or unsure at times. True growth often comes from challenge and discomfort, and persevering through these struggles helps build resilience, flexible thinking, adaptability, and strong problem-solving skills. In those moments, the parent’s role is to support the process, not the product.
This means:
- Helping set up a quiet, organized workspace
- Creating a consistent homework routine
- Encouraging effort over perfection
- Supporting time-management skills
- Offering calm, steady encouragement
When your child says, “I don’t know how to do this,” pause before stepping in. Instead of providing the answer, guide them with questions such as:
- “Can you show me how your teacher explained this in class?”
- “What strategy did your teacher teach you to try?”
- “Where could you look for help: your notes, Seesaw, Google Classroom, or Toddle?”
These questions promote reflection and independence.
It is not the parent’s job to:
- Re-teach the lesson
- Email other parents for answers
- Solve the problem or correct every mistake
- Sit beside them for the entire duration of homework
- Re-organize their child’s materials
The teachers are also responsible for ensuring that students complete their agendas fully and that all materials necessary for homework are in their backpacks before going home.
Most importantly, it is not your responsibility to contact the teacher at the first sign of frustration or fatigue. Instead, encourage your child to self-advocate. Teach them to approach their teacher for clarification or extra help when needed. Remind them that not understanding something immediately does not mean they are incapable. Rather, moments of frustration can be powerful teaching opportunities. They allow children to learn that growth and mastery often require time, effort, and persistence.
Of course, if your child demonstrates consistent and repeated difficulty that suggests a deeper gap in understanding, it is appropriate to initiate an open and collaborative conversation with the teachers. The same applies if your child consistently struggles with turning in work, staying organized, or maintaining attention during homework time. Allowing children to complete homework independently helps reveal these patterns clearly, giving both parents and teachers the information needed to identify true deficits and provide meaningful support.
Independence Starts Early, even in PK2
It’s worth highlighting that independence begins at an early age, long before homework becomes part of a daily routine, and its impact extends far beyond the classroom. The habits children build early on shape their confidence, responsibility, executive functioning, and ability to navigate challenges on their own.
Simple, everyday actions at home can meaningfully promote independence, such as:
- Encouraging your child to dress themselves
- Having them pack their own backpack
- Prompting them to request help (for example, asking to open a snack) before stepping in
- Using a morning and afternoon checklist to manage routines, with your child self-monitoring their own progress
- Encouraging them to speak directly to their teacher when they have a question or need clarification
These small opportunities for autonomy lay the foundation for the independence children will need both in school and in life. Both early life habits and, later, the responsibility of completing homework help cultivate independence, which in turn fosters confidence, reduces anxiety, and strengthens resilience (Burch & Ortiz, 2025). This is why the French American Academy values purposeful homework and emphasizes the thoughtful role parents play in supporting the process, allowing children to complete their work independently. When autonomy at school is paired with independent habits at home, children develop into confident problem-solvers, responsible learners, and self-reliant thinkers.
