For most school-going children, homework is another task which has to be undertaken and it is done without any great difficulty. Homework is just part of the normal routine, and parents generally support and assist their children while they are doing it. However, for other parents and children it is very different. Homework is problematic and stressful and, from my experience in meeting these parents and children, it appears to cause more grief and distress than any other area of home and school life. The time spent at it is often very trying, as tempers begin to rise; the parent-child relationship frequently comes under severe strain.

This situation can continue right through primary school into secondary school. Many questions can be asked about it and the value of the work that gives rise to it.

Recently, I met a mother of a child who because of his intellectual ability experiences great difficulty with his homework. What she had to say was very revealing.

When I introduced the subject of homework, she immediately said: "We nearly kill each other when he is doing homework. I get so worried and annoyed when he cannot do his work. We are both wrecked after it and I don't know if it is worth it at this stage."

When we talked further about the subject, she told me she would persist in doing the homework because all of the other children were doing it and if he didn't complete it each evening he would fall way behind the class. She told me she thought much of what he was doing - particularly in Irish and maths - was much too difficult for him, but he had to do it or he would be seen as different from the rest of the pupils.

So they battled their way through the homework each evening. In my experience this is not an isolated story. The great majority of parents expect and want homework for their children; the amount of homework covered is often seen as a measure of the pupil's progress. Teachers who do not see the value in giving homework - or at least big amounts of it - may be viewed suspiciously by many of their colleagues, and by parents. The tradition of homework is very strong.

So, what is homework meant to achieve? What is the purpose of teachers giving and pupils doing homework?

In my view, homework is given to ensure that what is taught in school is reinforced and more firmly grasped; in some situations, pupils are expected to extend their knowledge. Homework is another learning tool to help pupils to gain a greater understanding of what they have been taught and thus make them more comfortable with and ready for new learning.

For example, if pupils are learning a new concept in mathematics such as addition of fractions, they will reinforce the concept in their minds through doing further examples at home. In English, questions can be given for homework on a piece of written text which has been worked on in class by the teacher and pupils, to give the pupils a greater understanding of the text and open up other ideas on it.

Parents have a very important part to play in homework. We can encourage and, where necessary, support our children in getting it completed. We can provide a comfortable and suitable "place of work" so that the work can be done without unnecessary interruptions. We can encourage our children to develop a routine each evening for doing their work.

We can, if it's needed, explain and discuss aspects and areas of subjects; listen to them reading; examine work which has to be learned by rote; and offer advice and direction. We can do much to assist and support our children in completing their work, and in ensuring that it is presented appropriately. However, we must not do the homework for our children.

Well planned, well structured and parent-supported homework is designed to ease the child's passage through school and lessen anxiety about learning. Homework is meant to involve the parents in the education of their children and create links between home-learning and school-learning. It is also meant to support the child in developing the motivation and the ability to learn independently.

Properly and carefully planned homework is intended to lead to successful learning for the pupils and help them to develop as people who have an active interest in learning.

IF ALL THESE objectives were achieved there would be no problems with homework. It would be seen as a very positive area of the child's education. This happens for some pupils, but, unfortunately, not for all. We must be concerned and do something about those children who are not benefitting.

If homework is to promote successful learning it must be:

geared towards being done within a time limit - children need time for themselves and their friends;

relevant and interesting for the pupils;

properly structured;

related to school work;

capable of being done - "do-able" by the pupils (not the parents);

capable of providing scope for further opportunities to learn;

capable of actively involving parents;

supported by the parents by their active involvement in it;

acknowledged and corrected by the teacher as soon as this is possible - children need feedback;

something that the pupils can come back to teacher on if they do not understand it and cannot do it.

Can homework be successful for all children? I think it can, if parents and teachers work together.

A new, more realistic approach in designing a homework programme and more realistic expectations and goals on both sides will have to be adopted if homework is be successful and meet the needs of all our children.

If homework is causing problems for your child - and if it is creating difficulties between you, your child and your child's teacher - it is in everybody's interest, particularly your child's, that you do something to change the situation.

The bottom line about homework has to be "Is it of benefit educationally to my child?"