1. Doing the homework in a group

Making your children work in a group. Working in a group enables them to examine tactics from the perspectives of others. When they are required to discuss a homework and negotiate how to address it, they are forced to listen to other people’s ideas. Other people's ideas will then influence other kids own thinking and broaden their horizons.

The point of doing the homework in a group is that being social significantly enhances learning. Not only do one kid have to hear others’ perspectives, but also have to compare, contrast and integrate their perspectives into own thinking. Perhaps someone else’s perspective will change another one's mind or show weaknesses in others' own ideas. Only through engaging with others can a child perspectives change.

The point here is not to simply change your perspective, but also to sharpen it. People in the group are not opponents whose minds you want to change. They are collaborators on a project in which you are collectively trying to develop a shared understanding of the homework in which the group’s final, shared, perspective is sharper, richer and more dynamic as a result of the collaboration.

So, the next time you work in a group remember this: listen to others’ perspectives and see how their views can sharpen your own. Remember your view is malleable and should change as a result of the interaction. By the end of the group process, you’ll be smarter and more insightful than you were at the start.