Do you remember the dreaded homework assigned each night from school? As a teacher, I understand the importance of it when handled in the right manner. Often, parents are so frustrated with their children during homework time that it becomes a struggle. So how are teachers and parents supposed to work together to make homework a meaningful experience?
Before I continue, let me say that the #1 most important homework your child will ever do is read. If I could only give one thing for children to do in the evenings, it would be this. If they say they have no homework, they should at least read. The saying that ‘practice makes perfect’ is true at any level. When children are given the skills and support, they can then practice on their own. Research has shown that children increase their vocabulary and reading levels by practicing reading. Go figure.
A good teacher doesn’t give homework assignments just because it’s seemingly expected. He or she should be giving reasonable homework in order to provide time to practice skills, as well as absorb something of what was taught each day. If a child ponders and experiments with their daily lessons in a quiet, supportive setting, I believe they are more likely to understand concepts.
What’s the best way for parents to support their child’s homework experience? First of all, have an organized, dedicated work space. Make sure it’s well-lighted and stocked with needed supplies and manipulatives for math. It’s a good idea to get poster board, glue sticks, markers, etc., early on in the year so you can avoid last-minute dashes to the store for supplies. Next, children need some ‘down time’ after school, so allow them to play outside, have a snack, etc., prior to starting homework. And finally, set a timer. As a benchmark, most elementary-school students have 30-60 minutes each night, with middle school and high school being 90-120 minutes.
Some parents complain about the time it takes children to do homework, and they are tired of the ’struggle’. My comment and suggestion is this: Usually, when it takes more time than necessary for children to do their homework, they are not staying focused and on task. Again, use a timer, and have some sort of chart or graph to record finishing on time each day with a weekly reward.
Regarding the struggle…get them started if you want, but leave it up to them to complete. Don’t do the work for them. It’s fine to check over it once they’ve worked on it, and fine to offer another way of doing something or another concept, but let the consequence for not completing the work be at school. Let the teacher handle it, and your struggle will be over.
Do, however, help your child set up the routine of placing homework back in the backpack and by the door so it’s not forgotten. Once routines and expectations are in place, things should run smoothly.
Most schools provide ‘homework hotline’ phone numbers for students to use when they need a little help. This also takes away the struggle between parent and child. If you haven’t seen a homework hotline # in your school newsletter, call the school district and ask about it. Usually, teachers are being paid to help students through such a hotline. Take advantage of it!
Now, for television watching and sports: It’s interesting to me that the nights my students tend to not do their homework is on nights when shows like American Idol and America’s Got Talent air! Unfortunately, these are shows that are on later in the evening, so students are not very rested the next day. If you watch shows such as these, please record them and have a time on the weekend to catch up.
Regarding sports, I always hear each year that kids are having practice until 10 pm, which is very inappropriate. I understand the importance of physical activity and the teamwork that is taught when children are involved in sports; however, if practices are going late into the evening, it’s time to talk to the coach and get priorities straight. School-aged kids need their sleep and need time for school work.
Also, there are many parents who push their children too hard with hopes of going ‘pro’ one day, but ponder this: Think about the age of your child. Take a guess on how many children in the US are in the same grade as your child. How many of those children do you think will go ‘pro’? Now, how many of those children will need to be able to read well, write well, speak well, understand math concepts, science and history? I tell my students that they can be anything they desire if they work hard at it…including professional athletes! But even if they are lucky enough to be the very, very small percentage of people who do it, won’t they also need to read well to make sure their contracts are what they think they are? That their managers don’t take advantage of them? If nothing else, most kids will grow up to buy houses, cars, read prescriptions, voter ballots, etc. It’s clear that the focus should be on academics, not sports. I’ve actually had third graders tell me that they don’t need to read and earn good grades because they are going to be a professional basketball/football player. I am well aware that being involved in sports can lead to scholarships for college, and that is a wonderful thing, but there has to be a balance.
Helping your child become organized, disciplined, and responsible with their school work will pay off in the long run and help them become successful adults in any endeavor.
Elementary schools use Base-10 blocks as a more concrete way to aid in understanding place value. These math kits use 1-units, 10-rods, 100-flats, and 1,000-cubes. A fun activity to incorporate into these lessons is to use graham cracker squares to represent 100-flats, pretzel sticks to represent 10-rods, and Rice Krispies cereal pieces to represent 1-units. While not a perfect fit, just about 10 pretzel sticks cover the graham cracker squares, and pretty close to 10 Rice Krispies cereal pieces line up with a pretzel stick. 