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When maths homework ends in a fight every evening, it is tempting to call it laziness. Often the cause is smaller: your child is stuck on one step, the sheet looks endless, or they meet maths at 9 pm after school and tuition. Each change below targets one of those causes.
Why does my child hate maths homework so much?
Many teenagers feel the same. In the OECD's PISA in Focus 48, 33% of 15-year-olds across OECD countries said they get very tense when they have to do maths homework, and 59% said they often worry maths classes will be difficult for them. The same report found that higher maths anxiety went with lower maths scores, though the data cannot show which causes which.
Psychologist Mark Ashcraft's review of maths anxiety research explains part of the reason. Anxiety uses up working memory, the mental space you need to hold the steps of a sum. Anxious students also tend to avoid maths, which wears down their skills over time.
See also what helps when a child says they are bad at maths.
How do I find the exact sticking point?
"I hate maths" is often about one step that keeps breaking. Before you explain anything, ask your child to talk you through one wrong answer, out loud, and stay quiet until they finish.
For example, a Class 6 child gets this question wrong: Riya spent 2/5 of her Rs 500 pocket money; how much is left? Their answer is Rs 200.
Ask: "What did you work out first?" They say: "2/5 of 500 is 200." That step is correct.
Ask: "What does the question want?" They read it again and spot the word "left".
Ask: "So what is left?" They work out 500 - 200 = 300.
The sticking point was not fractions but reading what the question asks. That needs a small habit (underline the question word first), not fraction drills.
When the method itself is the problem, a worked example helps more than a hint. The Fermi Problem Library has a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer, so your child can see where their method went a different way.
Should I mix easy and hard questions?
Yes. Researchers call putting short, easy problems between harder ones interspersal. In a 2002 study by Christopher Skinner and colleagues, 3 of the 4 students they followed, all with emotional or behavioural difficulties, stayed on task more when brief problems came after every third longer one.
The effect is on willingness, not marks. A study of 70 middle-school students found they completed the same number of target problems with the same accuracy when easy ones were added. In a whole-class study of 75 fourth graders, children got more digits correct on the plain worksheets. So use easy questions to get started and keep going, not to teach.
A second kind of mixing does help learning. In a randomised trial across 54 Grade 7 classes, students whose practice mixed different types of problem scored 61% on a delayed test, against 38% for students who practised one type at a time. At home, add two questions from last week's chapter to tonight's set.
How long should a maths homework session be?
Shorter than a tired child expects. Set a timer for 20 minutes (our suggestion, not a research figure) and stop when it rings, even mid-question. Take a five-minute break before any second block. A clear end point makes starting easier. For amounts by age, see what research says about homework by age.
What is the best time of day for maths homework?
Earlier may well be better than later.A PNAS study of Danish school tests by Sievertsen, Gino and Piovesan found that scores fell by 0.9% of a standard deviation for every hour later in the day. A 20- to 30-minute break raised average scores by 1.7% of a standard deviation. Those were school tests, not homework, so treat this as a reason to experiment, not a rule. In practice, do maths first, after a snack and a short break, not in the last half hour before bed.
A one-week plan to try
Day 1: Watch one session without helping. Note where it stalls.
Day 2: Run the talk-through on two wrong answers. Name the one sticking point.
Day 3: Move maths to the first slot after a snack.
Day 4: Use one 20-minute timer and stop when it rings.
Day 5: Start with one easy question, then add an easy one after every two or three hard ones.
Day 6: Add two questions from an older chapter.
Day 7: Ask your child which change helped most, and keep that one.
If the distress continues for weeks, or comes with stomach aches, poor sleep or refusing school, talk to the class teacher and your doctor. Our guide to dyscalculia signs and assessment explains when to ask for an assessment. For worry that feels bigger than homework, India's Tele MANAS helpline is free on 14416 and runs 24x7.
