Homework Helpers

Homework shouldn’t be done by mom and dad, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help out It’s hard to say who dreads homework more, the students who bring it home or their parents.

Most families have faced homework battles, whether it’s simply getting it done on time or struggling to find common ground on which a problem can be solved.

While teachers have different homework policies, there is some agreement on what parents can – and should – do to help their children, regardless of the grade level.

Most important: communication.

“My biggest hope is that parents will recognize that homework is one way to communicate about what we’ve been doing at school,” said Krista Juul, a fourth-grade teacher at Balboa Elementary. “It reinforces what is taking place in the classroom.”

But the communication goes beyond just keeping everyone in the loop about what’s being taught. Teachers say parents need to feel comfortable checking in with their child’s teacher about homework, especially if a child is struggling.

“Certainly they are a partner in all of this,” said Elaine Fotland, a language arts teacher at Central Valley High School. Phone calls and e-mails are simple ways parents can stay in touch with teachers, she said. “With technology it’s easier than it has been before.

“Sometimes we can solve a plethora of problems with just a little piece of communication,” Fotland said.

Many teachers outline their homework policies at open houses and in letters sent home at the beginning of the school year, and parents should use those as guidelines for what to expect in terms of how much homework is given and when it is due. Some, including Juul, ask parents to sign a homework log throughout the year so they know that parents are in the loop.

But beyond signing logs and knowing a teacher’s homework expectations, teachers say parents play a critical supporting role when it comes to actually getting the homework done.

Motivation and organization

“Parents biggest involvement comes in the form of motivation,” said Rene Bettinson, a fourth-grade teacher at Balboa.

Teachers acknowledge that getting kids to sit down and do their homework is half the battle for many families.

Most education experts say parents should establish a homework routine that works for their family. For some that might mean kids do their homework right after school and before anything else. For others it might take place at the dining room table while dinner is being prepared.

Consistency is the key, Juul said. When there is an established routine that is followed, students can’t manipulate the situation, and that keeps them from doing their homework “on the run,” she said.

At many high schools, students are given planners to help them organize their assignments.

“One thing parents can do is say, ‘Let’s open our planner and see what’s due today and see what’s due in the coming weeks’,” Fotland said. Helping students set a timeline for long-term projects and helping them stay focused on the plan is one way parents can prevent last-minute scrambling to get it done.

Doris Liebert, professor emeritus of education from Whitworth College, said parents also can help students set goals and time limits for getting their work done.

Getting it done

Bettinson believes that by fourth grade, students should be pretty independent when it comes to actually doing the homework. Most of what comes home, she said, is something that’s been covered in class, and is designed for additional practice.

“If a kid is clueless about homework when he gets home, it might be a sign that something else is going on,” she said, explaining that the student might not be paying close enough attention in school.

Bettinson recommends that parents be nearby but not sitting right next to their child when homework is being done.

With the Washington Assessment of Student Learning testing beginning in fourth grade, Bettinson said students must learn to follow directions.

“So much of it is being able to read directions and understand them,” she said. “If the parents are right there always explaining directions to the students, they are not going to learn themselves.”

If a parent sees their child struggling with a problem or going in the wrong direction, it’s OK for them to suggest that the student reread the question, she said. But don’t jump in and solve it for them at the first sign of frustration.

“As parents we want to swoop in a save our babies,” Bettinson said. But unless students are completely overwhelmed, there is value in letting them try to work through the problem for themselves.

“In the teaching world, we call it disequilibrium. It’s not a bad thing,” Bettinson said, explaining that that’s when learning is taking place.

Adding depth and making connections

While teachers insist that it’s important for students to do the work themselves, they say parents can add valuable depth to a lesson and help their children make connections with what they’re learning.

If a homework assignment involves reading a short story or an essay, for example, parents can help by talking with their child about the story, Fotland said.

Asking questions such as “Do you understand what you just read?” “What did you learn from reading this?” and “Does this story ring a bell with something you read in eighth grade?” can help the student gain more insight, Fotland said.

Parents can help their child see connections between math or science assignments and real-world problems. For a child struggling with fractions, for example, parents can offer visuals, such as an apple cut into eighths, to help a child see the problem.

When reading over something a student has written, parents can ask questions such as “Where is the evidence to support this?” Or, if they see a run-on sentence, they might suggest the child count the words in the sentence, Fotland said.

Sometimes this is where the battles set in. Children often don’t want to hear their parents suggestions, no matter how constructive they may be.

“If a son or daughter doesn’t believe mom and dad’s wisdom, I suggest they make some notes and come to school early or stay after and ask the teacher,” Fotland said. “I would hope that as parents and teachers give the same kind of feedback, the parents’ credibility would increase.”

Just be careful not to “nitpick” a child’s work, Juul said.

“I wouldn’t want a parent to go through saying, ‘This one is wrong. This one is wrong,” she said. “Keep it positive.”

In fact, parents should try to have a positive attitude overall about homework, Liebert said.

Too often, for parents, it’s “Let’s get this done. Let’s get this over with,” Liebert said. But if parents have a good attitude about homework and learning in general, chances are their children will, too.

“Every child benefits from his mom or dad saying, ‘What did you learn in school today?’ ” Fotland said.