Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I helped my son and checked his homework throughout his K-12 education.
I tried to instill good study habits as well as short cuts and tricks not taught today.
As he got older I got less and less involved. By 12th grade I only helped when he asked.
Homework is practice, through which students learn the skills being taught - IF they are doing it correctly. It does no good to practice errors and set error patterns, making it harder in the long run to learn the skill correctly, because then time has to be spent unlearning the error. Trial and error is great, but if you're continually doing it wrong, you're learning it wrong. Errors need to be addressed early on. Much research shows that doing something wrong even as few as THREE times in a row makes it difficult to learn correctly.
Parents ARE teachers - and ideally, more effective ones than school teachers. Know what your kid is learning, and monitor their homework to ensure that they're not learning incorrectly through practicing incorrectly (teachers in school should be doing this, too). Don't do your kids' homework, it's depriving them of necessary practice. But don't let them sit and flounder and learn incorrect answers. Make sure they are on the right track, and if they're seriously off, recognize that you (and the teacher) may need to reteach, present in a different way, etc. until they get it. Don't count on the teacher to do the reteaching, either, unless the whole class is needing it.
In general, most parents need to be more actively involved in knowing what's going on with their kids' homework than they think they need to be.
Are we talking younger grades here, or older? I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me here, but I STRONGLY oppose homework in the younger grades (outside of special projects and things like that). Why do kids need to do daily drilling and worksheets (or whatever it is they're doing) at home? Aren't the kids learning -- and practicing -- this stuff DURING the school day? I can understand why special projects can and should be assigned for kids to do at home, and I think parents should be supportive of that (discussing it, finding materials, encouraging further exploration, and overall expressing interest in what's going on), but there's still no reason for the parent to do the work. And at the high school level, well, my math skills are rusty and I sure wouldn't trust myself to teach or correct any advanced algebra or calculus classes, and the other types of classes -- writing of essays, etc. -- I don't think kids would need or want a parent's editing eye.
I help with homework at least 3 times a week, if not every night. I give out vocab words for science and history every week. I say the word and she gives the meaning, sometimes we switch it. She is done with math facts but I did drill her on those every night. Her homework is posted on line every day. I do check to make sure it is all done. I will look at her project or poster board and tell her if I think she should add a little more. I listen to her play the clairnet everynight. I let her know which piece she needs to practice more on. I look over her graded papers she brings home every day. I check her work book pages and I will tell her to look over it again , you missed 2. I will tell her to re write something if it is to sloppy. If I see anything below a 90 I have her study more on it. I have never done her homework. I have never given her the answer. I will show her how to find the answer. I do feel that her education is my responsability. At this point I choose to let the public school take a large role. But if she was in 3rd grade and not reading well I would not think that was the teachers problem, so let the school worry about fixing it. I would ask the teacher what was going on. I would find out what I needed to be doing at home to help. It could be that she just has a crappy teacher and I really need to do a lot of extra work at home. Or she could have a great teacher but my child just isn't getting it.
My son does his own homework. However, I check it, and have him correct any wrong answers. I don't tell him the correct answers, but I do help him understand how to arrive at a correct answer. I also make sure he has written neatly. If he hasn't he has to do it again. He's only in second grade, so there is no way I'm not going to check his homework. Actually I'm not sure when, if ever, I will stop checking his homework. Why shouldn't I be involved? Checking his homework is actually a very easy way to see what he's having trouble with which allows me to help him. It's not the teachers job to teach him everything he'll ever need to know. I feel as a parent I need to take ownership for his education, and be an active participant in his learning. Sure his teacher will teach him a lot, but not everything. Realistically in a class of 17 he's bound to miss something, and I'm here to help him when he does. Of course I also help him correct answers on classwork papers he brings home from school (not required but I feel it helps him). I want to make sure he understands the concepts before the class moves on to more complex ideas.
In the long run this will hurt your child. The teacher needs to see what your child understands and what he doesn't. If you are correcting his homework and telling him how to do the problems, the teacher doesn't know he is struggling with a concept. She can then adjust as needed. Quizzing on spelling tests, proofreading papers, assisting when your child asks for help is how a parent can be involved in the learning process.
In the long run this will hurt your child. The teacher needs to see what your child understands and what he doesn't. If you are correcting his homework and telling him how to do the problems, the teacher doesn't know he is struggling with a concept. She can then adjust as needed. Quizzing on spelling tests, proofreading papers, assisting when your child asks for help is how a parent can be involved in the learning process.
As a teacher I disagree. More parents need to be active in their child's education.
In the long run this will hurt your child. The teacher needs to see what your child understands and what he doesn't. If you are correcting his homework and telling him how to do the problems, the teacher doesn't know he is struggling with a concept. She can then adjust as needed. Quizzing on spelling tests, proofreading papers, assisting when your child asks for help is how a parent can be involved in the learning process.
Each of my kid's teachers have either recommended that parents correct their child's homework and allow the kids to redo it, or have thought it was a great thing once told.
Few teachers at the elementary level (in our experience) do more than verify that homework was done - and when it's been redone by a student it's obvious.
As to the poster saying that homework at this age isn't necessary, I'd like to say that at this point, it's supposed to be easy stuff, 15 minutes of practice or so at home, which is supposed to help them develop good study habits.
Children who do not do their homework at the age of 8 (because mom thinks it's "unnecessary") are not going to suddenly develop good study skills at the age of 12 - and their parents aren't suddenly going to become involved or interested in their schoolwork at that age either.
There's a difference in looking to make sure the work is done and going over the homework and correcting the wrong answers. Kids who are used to their parents micro-managing their homework won't know how to do the work for themselves. The elementary teachers that my kids had expected the kids, and not their parents, to do all the work themselves. As golfgal said, that's how the teachers know what is going on.
Whoa... not actively overseeing a child's homework (other than to make sure that the younger kids are, in fact, doing it) does NOT translate into a parent not being actively involved in a child's education!
And as far as homework being necessary to develop study skills: that's not true. I certainly would never advocate that my child not do it if it's assigned, but I follow the Montessori line when it comes to my feelings of whether or not it SHOULD be assigned. My classmates and I all had very little homework until seventh grade, and made the transition to homework without problem, so I don't believe in the "if you don't do homework then you won't learn study skills or how to manage your time" argument.
And the idea that a parent who doesn't believe in homework for elementary students somehow isn't involved with their child's education or isn't interested in it is, frankly, rather offensive. The reason I feel strongly against regular homework for the younger kids is BECAUSE I care so much about education. It's simply a different philosophy; the end goal (a great education) is identical, we just feel there are different paths towards reaching that goal. Same thing goes for the different approaches to how involved or not involved a parent should be in overseeing homework on a regular basis. I happen to agree with those who believe that micromanaging a child's homework does them no favors. That does not mean NO involvement, no interest, or no active learning taking place inside the home.
Last edited by uptown_urbanist; 10-18-2010 at 10:42 PM..
Our kids are in 3rd and 5th grade. We've always handled homework the same way.
First we go over what is expected - ie what type and what amount of homework, reminders to read the instructions, then they go do it. Then we (dh and/or I) check it, and hand it back for them to correct if necessary. If there are multiple errors, then we go over it with them, to figure out what they still need to be taught. Then they work on it, repeating until they've got it complete and completely correct. Homework is PRACTICE - what good is practice if it's not being done or corrected in a timely manner?
For instance, on Mondays our daughter is supposed to take a practice spelling test at home. Any words she misses, she's supposed to write out 3X. How can a child take a practice spelling test WITHOUT help?
JMO - any parent needing an answer key for math or spelling homework for up to 5th grade - well, unless your kids have your same mental limitations, I'm sure they already know not to go to you for help.
With school projects, we go over what they'll need - supplies, time, a place to work, etc and discuss who, what, when, where. Depending on the complexity, we write out a schedule.
No TV/electronics on school nights until after homework is complete.
I need a calculator to check my son's long division HW, rather than sitting and working out each problem, but we don't have any problems with the rest of it. My son has taught us the "new" techniques as he learned them and we had no problems catching on. This was EXCELLENT practice for him.
If you're having trouble, you might want to ask the teacher to send home a book, or just pay for a tutor.
I agree with toobusytoday, that math is taught so differently now, that it is better to not help with math HW.
When my son was learning subtraction in the 2nd grade, he was NOT allowed to carry at first. He was taught another method, and there were never instructions on the worksheets. So it was hard to correct his work without knowing the method he was learning (and having him explain it did not work well). The books did not help, and my son did not need a tutor as he understood the work.
When my other son was working on long multiplication in the 4th grade, I confused him by showing him to write the numbers on top of eachother as he was not taught to do it that way.
My kids are now in 3rd grade and 6th grade. I tried to copy an example of a confusing math problem my 6th grader had on a test the other day, but I was not able to copy the boxes needed. This is his third math program, and each one teaches differently, which is hard on him, and hard on me (and he has a book, I have to really sit down and look at it soon). Also, my husband is strong in math, but I am better at figuring out the new types of math, so I end up being the one that helps, even though he would have been the math HW helper.
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
