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It’s
8:30 on a school night, a time when most elementary children are settling down
for bed. But somehow you and your third-grader find yourselves wandering the
aisles at Staples in search of a display board, some turquoise paper and glitter
pens for a project on sea life that is due —GASP — tomorrow morning! You ask
yourself how things went so awry as you dash back home, sure that you and your
child are going to be burning the midnight oil in an attempt to make magic
happen with dolphins and seals.
Finding the
balance between helping and doing
Everyone agrees
that homework is not something parents should be completing for their children.
Despite what are often well-meaning attempts to "rescue" your children
when they wait until the last minute to do an assignment or "help" by
filling in the blanks when they seem stumped, doing homework for your children
won’t enable them to become independent learners.
Though it can be
hard for parents to let children work through problems alone and learn from
their mistakes, it truly is the best way to ensure that they will learn what
they need to know and become confident in their own abilities to tackle
difficult subjects with success.
So just how do you
support your children’s efforts without actually doing their work for them?
One of the best ways is to set the proper study tone at home as soon as your
children begin receiving homework. Following are some suggestions from the U.S.
Department of Education:
Help your
children get organized. This
should include: putting up a calendar where your children will see it often to
keep track of assignments and extracurricular activities (you can record
assignments until they can do it for themselves); making a space in your home
where children can do their homework; keeping all of the supplies together in
one location your children will need to complete assignments (markers, pencils,
scissors, glue sticks, tape and a variety of papers).
Involve your
children in developing a study routine. Together,
agree on a set time for your children to work on school assignments. For some
students who lack motivation for homework, a "work first/play later"
rule can be a good incentive. This will also ensure that students are not
cramming all of their work into the half hour before bedtime. This kind of a
race-to-the-finish approach to homework virtually guarantees that parents will
need to become much more involved than they should be. If your children go
somewhere else for after-school care, make sure your caregiver supports your
family rules on homework and can provide help if necessary.
Teach your
children about time management.
Help your children set aside enough time to complete assignments or prepare for
tests. For example, if your fourth-grader has a research report due in two
weeks, discuss all the steps needed (such as picking a topic, doing the
research, taking notes, drafting an outline, writing a rough draft and revising
and completing the final draft) and the time each will take. Learning to set
aside ample time will allow your children to complete a project on their own.
Figure out how
your children learn best.
Watch your children when they are learning something new. Do they work better
alone or with someone else? Do they understand some things best when they can
handle or move them? If you understand your children’s learning styles and
make sure that their homework setting supports their individual needs (for
example, blocks or counting sticks are available for children who need to
manipulate objects when learning to add and subtract), it will be easier for
your children to tackle homework independently.
Talk about
their assignments.
Talking can help your children think through an assignment and break it down
into small, workable parts. Taken in pieces, a project can seem much easier for
children to handle independently. Here are some steps to take:
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Have your
children read the instructions (or read them to your children) and then tell
you what they think the assignment is. If they don’t understand the
instructions, re-read them together and talk about the assignment.
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Ask your
children what steps they need to take to do their work.
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Make sure that
your children have any special supplies or reference materials needed to
complete an assignment.
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Help your
children check over their work. Encourage them to think about whether or not
their answers make sense. If the answer to a math problem doesn’t seem
logical or the meaning of a paragraph is unclear, encourage them to re-check
or revise their work.
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Help them
troubleshoot. If your children seem to be having difficulty once they have
started an assignment, help them figure out what the problem is. If they
need to learn more and you understand the subject yourself, you may want to
work through some examples together. But let them do the assignment on their
own. If you don’t feel qualified to teach about a subject, ask the teacher
to explain the information to your children again.
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Praise your
children’s efforts. Encouragement ("I’m really proud of all of the
hard work you’ve done" or "Good first draft of your
report!") can go a long way toward motivating your children to complete
assignments independently. Children also need to know when they haven’t
done their best work. Constructive criticism can help guide them without
breaking their confidence in their own abilities. Rather than "You
aren’t going to hand in that mess, are you?" try, "Your teacher
will understand your ideas better if you use your best handwriting."
Remember to praise the revised version.
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Let your
children’s work stand. If you know that your children have put forth their
best effort and are satisfied that their work is complete, leave well enough
alone. Correcting spelling, punctuation or adding a flourish to a completed
science project will only reflect your efforts, not your children’s.
Teachers use homework as a way of gauging how well students are retaining
and applying information. They can then decide whether students need
additional help or are ready to move on in their studies.
Kid-friendly
search engines
Here are some
family-friendly search engines and websites geared toward providing homework
help:
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Yahooligans at
http://www.yahooligans.com/School_Bell.
Besides providing reference materials and answers to homework questions,
this website includes links to other sites that provide homework help (type
the words "Homework Help" at the search prompt).
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Ask Jeeves
Kids at http://www.ajkids.com.
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Family
Education Network Infoplease at http://www.infoplease.com/homework
This website provides links to such reference tools as an almanac,
dictionary, encyclopedia and biography database. It includes a searchable
index organized by subject areas and has information on homework skills such
as writing essays, studying for tests and how to conduct an interview.
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National
Geographic Homework Help at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/homework.
Need to know how much hippos eat, what explorers Lewis and Clark packed in
their first-aid kit or how fireworks work? This website includes facts and
features, perfect for reports, presentations, homework or for curiosity.
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A complete
directory of family-friendly search engines can be found at http://searchenginewatch.com/links/Kids_Search_Engines
>
Back
For
permission to reprint this article, please contact the
Capital Region BOCES Communications Service at (518)
464-3960.
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