The commonest question about primary study is "how much should we make them do?". But what actually makes the difference is not the total time but the order in which that time is used. Change the order within the same 30 minutes and what remains afterwards is different.

Most children start with homework — that is the problem

Home from school, the child opens the homework first. Parents also check the homework is done before anything else. It looks like the natural order, but it spends the highest-energy time on the most mechanical task.

Homework is largely about confirming what is already known. Going back over a wrong answer, by contrast, is the work of turning not-known into known, and demands far more concentration. Change the order and more remains from the same amount of time.

The order we suggest

1. Rework wrong answers (10 minutes)

Redo just two or three of the questions that were wrong yesterday or in the last test. There is no need to do many. What matters is not memorising the answer but being able to say why it was wrong.

If the child cannot answer "why did you get this wrong?", they have not yet moved past it. The key here is for the parent to resist the urge to explain and let the child do the explaining.

2. Review what was taught today (10 minutes)

Open the textbook and have the child say what today's lesson covered. There is no need to do problems. If they cannot summarise it out loud, it has not been understood, and that is the point at which tomorrow's lesson will stick.

These 10 minutes are often more efficient than an hour at an academy, because they happen closest to the lesson itself.

3. Homework (10 minutes or more)

Homework comes last. After the first two steps it often finishes far more quickly, because things have already been sorted out.

Where to step back, year by year

A parent's role in primary study should be on a shrinking path. Without deciding in advance, you end up sitting next to them until Year 6.

• Years 1–2 — sit alongside and do it together, but ask questions rather than giving answers. "What do you need to do next?"
• Years 3–4 — be there only for the start and the finish: deciding what to do, and checking afterwards. Leave the middle alone.
• Years 5–6 — plan together but hand over the doing. Reduce checking to once or twice a week.

When you move up a step, always tell the child in advance. Saying "you are in Year 3 now, so let us try the middle part on your own" makes it feel like a promotion rather than being abandoned.

Things better left undone

• Adding more workbooks — repeating the same question type adds time and leaves the thinking where it was.
• Timing them — timing at the concept stage sends a child back to memorising procedure.
• A different plan every day — the order has to be fixed for it to become a habit. Changing the plan often means starting from scratch each time.

How to narrow down which unit a child is stuck on is set out in the maths article in Elementary School.

In summary

Before increasing the volume, try changing the order: corrections, then review, then homework. And each time the year goes up, decide in advance where the parent steps back. Those two things alone change what 30 minutes a day produces.