Not long ago, I would often come back from school tired, knowing that apart from all my co-curricular classes, I also had a major chore that kept piling up, which was non-stop homework. Every day, endless worksheets and notes and what not, would pile up for me to complete. However, at one point I started asking, “Why me? Why should I do this? What will I get from this? How will blindly copy pasting information from the internet to complete my ‘chore’ help me gain knowledge?”
Knowing that there was no way out, I had to do it. I thought of looking at it from a different perspective. After paying closer attention in class, it made me realise something important. Here at TKS , teachers don't just hand out tasks, they tie them to real learning to ensure our ‘chore’ has a purpose. If we treat them as something that is essential for our learning and not merely as a chore, we wouldn't be asking ourselves all these questions.
I don’t feel it is just about mugging up chapters anymore. My teachers actually talk to us about the “why” before they give homework—like how math sums help me think quicker, or how a small science experiment can make me more curious about everyday things etc. This methodology makes homework feel like practice for real life, not just extra work after school. When I sit with my homework now, I don’t feel I’m just completing homework and blankly completing pages; I feel I am slowly becoming more confident and independent regarding my academic goals.
Sometimes, homework feels like too much, especially when exams are around the corner. But when I understand the real reason behind it, I feel less worried. I start thinking, "This work is actually helping me get better," instead of "Why do I have to do this?" My parents also see the change—they say homework now helps us talk more about what I learnt in school, and that makes our family time more fun and meaningful. I personally really enjoy it as well, because from talking just 5-10 mins with my parents about my homework, my day and what all happened at school, it helps increase my awareness and connect a lot better with my parents.
In my view, knowing the "why" makes homework less confusing and scary. When teachers at our school tell us the reason for an assignment—like improving time management or helping us think better—it pushes me to try harder. Last term, in English, we got homework to complete a picture description of a robbery at an intersection. The reason was to help us use our imagination and express our thoughts in our own words, not just write for marks. I did not just finish it quickly; I actually enjoyed writing it because I knew I was not just doing my homework but was also opening my mind to a lot of possibilities.
