How much homework should a tutor set?

For most school-age students, 20 to 40 minutes between weekly sessions is realistic. More than that tends not to get done. Ask the tutor to keep it short and specific, and to tell you what it is for.

Should I help my child with their tutor's homework?

Help with the routine, not the answers. Make sure the task is understood, the space is quiet and the time is protected. If your child is stuck, ask questions that prompt them, then note the problem for the tutor.

What if my child says they don't understand the homework?

Ask them to show you the first thing they got stuck on and to explain what the question is asking. If it is still unclear after about ten minutes, stop and write down where they got stuck so the tutor can cover it next session.

What if my child does not do the homework at all?

Tell the tutor early and without blame. They can shorten tasks, change the format or build a short check at the start of the lesson. Skipping homework regularly usually means the task is too long, too hard or too unclear.

How to support your child's homework between online tutoring sessions

To support homework between tutoring sessions, agree a fixed time and quiet place, ask the tutor exactly what is to be done before the next lesson, let your child try each task alone first, and help by asking questions rather than giving answers. Keep a note of anything your child got stuck on and send it to the tutor before the next session.

A weekly tutoring session is one hour. The other 167 hours decide whether the learning sticks. Most of the improvement parents hope to see comes from what happens between lessons: a short, focused piece of practice, done regularly, with the lesson’s content still fresh.

You do not need to know the subject to help. What your child needs from you is structure, calm and a link back to the tutor. This guide shows how.

Start by asking the tutor three questions

At the end of a session or by message, find out:

What exactly is the task? “Do some practice” is not a task. “Questions 4 to 10 on page 52, and write the method for each” is.
How long should it take? A realistic estimate lets you plan. If your child needs twice as long, tell the tutor.
What should my child do if they get stuck? Agree this in advance, for example: try for ten minutes, then mark the question and move on.

If the tutor does not set homework regularly, ask whether a short task would help. Even 15 minutes of practice makes the next lesson more productive.

Build a simple routine

Routines remove the daily argument about when to start.

Pick a fixed slot. For example, Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00pm for 20 minutes, with the lesson on Friday. Spread short sessions across the week rather than one long block the night before.
Choose the same place. A table, away from the television, with the phone out of reach. For the setup, how to prepare your child for online lessons covers the practical basics.
Gather materials first. Pen, paper, calculator, tablet and the tutor’s notes should be ready before the timer starts.
Use a visible timer. Twenty minutes feels manageable. Agree that when it ends, they can stop.

Avoid starting when your child is hungry or has just come home from school; a ten-minute break and a snack first helps focus. For concentration tips, see how to help your child focus in online lessons, which applies to homework as well.

Help without doing the work

It is tempting to jump in. The trouble is that a solved problem teaches your child how to watch someone solve it. Try these questions instead:

“What is the question asking you to do?”
“What did your tutor do in the example last time?”
“Can you try the first step and show me?”
“What would you try if you had to guess?”
“Where exactly does it stop making sense?”

Let a little struggle happen. A child who has worked at a problem for five minutes and asked their tutor about it learns more than one who was given the answer in thirty seconds.

Be clear about what you will not do: you will not write their answers, and you will not complete work for them to hand in. If your child’s teacher sets school homework as well, tell the tutor so lessons do not compete with it.

When your child is stuck

Use a simple rule: ten minutes, then park it.

Ask your child to point to the exact line or step where they got stuck.
Ask them to explain what they do know about it.
If it is still stuck after about ten minutes, stop. Write one line: “Q7: could not start, don’t know which formula to use”.
Send the note to the tutor before the next session, or put it in a shared notebook.

That note is valuable. It shows the tutor a gap that might not have appeared in the lesson itself. Tutors often say that a parent’s note describing a specific difficulty is the most useful information they receive between sessions.

Keep the work visible

Without turning into an inspector, keep a light eye on the work:

Ask your child to show you one thing they did. Praise effort and method, not just correct answers.
Keep homework in one folder or notebook, rather than loose sheets, so the tutor can see it.
Photograph pages and send them to the tutor if the platform allows it, or ask your child to share their screen at the start of the lesson.
For longer pieces, such as an essay, ask the tutor if they would like to see the draft a day before.

For a view of overall progress rather than individual tasks, read how to track your child’s progress with a tutor.

Make homework feel achievable

Short and finished beats long and abandoned.

Make the first task easy. Starting with a question they can answer builds momentum.
Use a checklist. Ticking off three items is satisfying and shows progress.
Offer a small reward after, not during. A walk, a game or screen time once the work is done works better than bargaining halfway through.
Talk about the next lesson. “What will you tell your tutor about this week?” connects the work to a purpose.

If your child resists consistently, do not turn it into a battle. Raise it with the tutor. The task may be wrongly pitched, or your child may be anxious about showing mistakes. A tutor can change the format, for example by setting five quality questions instead of fifteen.

A sample week

For a child with a Friday session:

Friday 5pm: Lesson. Tutor sets 3 tasks of about 15 minutes each, and says what to do if stuck.
Saturday: Rest, no homework.
Monday 5pm: Task 1, 15 minutes. Parent checks that it has been started and finished.
Wednesday 5pm: Task 2, 15 minutes.
Thursday 5pm: Task 3, then a note to the tutor with anything that was hard.
Friday: Lesson begins with a review of the stuck points.

This takes under an hour in total, and every short session reinforces the last.

What to tell the tutor

A short message before each lesson is enough:

“Mia did tasks 1 and 2 and found them fine. She got stuck on question 8 (fractions of a quantity) and did not do task 3 because she had a football match. She is feeling more confident this week.”

That gives the tutor specific points to address. If something is wrong, such as exhaustion, stress or a poor school day, a sentence of context helps them adjust. See how to know if your child needs a tutor if you are still weighing how much support is right.

When to ask for changes

Speak to the tutor if:

Homework regularly takes much longer than estimated.
Your child can do homework with you but not without.
The tasks feel unrelated to what is happening in lessons or at school.
Your child dreads the work and the dread is spreading to lessons.

Good tutors welcome this feedback. Between-lesson practice is a partnership, and a few honest sentences from you can make it far more effective.