How much time do you spend helping with homework? (autism, games, activities)
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How much time do you spend helping your children with homework? What ages/grades?
I have a child that will be entering kindergarten next year and wondering how much time I might need to spend helping them with their homework, and for how long this parental time commitment lasts. I would like them to do well in school but generally feel homework is their responsibility and not mine.
As they get older, it is their responsibility. However, you can't just sit a 5 year old at a table and tell them to do it. They need guidance. In K it might only be 15-20 minutes. It should increase a little every year. For things like silent reading, they might do it on their own, or they might not. It really depends on the kid. You may need to at least be in the same room to make sure they are actually working. If you are worried about this now, before your child even starts, you've got a long 13 years ahead of you.
As they get older, it is their responsibility. However, you can't just sit a 5 year old at a table and tell them to do it. They need guidance. In K it might only be 15-20 minutes. It should increase a little every year. For things like silent reading, they might do it on their own, or they might not. It really depends on the kid. You may need to at least be in the same room to make sure they are actually working. If you are worried about this now, before your child even starts, you've got a long 13 years ahead of you.
Which is probably why 5 year olds shouldn't be getting homework! When I was in school homework wasn't given in primary school, it only started in secondary school, and now they start giving it from the very start of school (which is only 4 years old in the UK). I'm not entirely sure what the homework situation is like in the schools where I am now as my kid hasn't started yet but I can't imagine there will be any homework for preschool which she starts this autumn and by the time she starts proper school she'll be 7.5 which is old enough to manage homework by herself I should think, with reminders to get started etc.
I don't help with the two older kids unless they specifically ask for assistance, which is not often.
My kindergartner has simple homework Monday-Thursday that does require parental involvement, as he can't really read yet (just starting with simple Level 1 books) so he needs the instructions read to him. I stay nearby when he does his homework, so he can ask if he has questions beyond the instructions. He brings home a leveled reading book once per week, that we review together - he can usually read maybe 2/3 of the words, and I help him figure out rest through context clues or sounding it out. By the end of the week, he can read it smoothly. I'd say my total involvement, four times per week, is maybe 15 minutes per night.
Helping? Not really. Supervising. Being there, making sure it was done, checking it for errors. Praising good work ethic, going to parent teacher conferences, that sort of thing.
Children with disinterested parents tend to not do well in school and once a child falls behind it is very difficult for him to catch up and it instills a sense of being a failure.
My son is in Kindergarten and gets homework 2 days a week. That will be a worksheet for math and sometimes another sheet that will involve using scissors and then coloring and ordering the things that were cut out. No more than 10 or 15 minutes. They need your help in K and it's as much so you can see what they're doing and what they know as it is for them to practice. They hope that you're reading to your kids every day. And you should be.
In 1-3rd grade, I spent more time assisting especially with math skills. Those have improved and she also knows to ask for help if she doesn't understand.
Now in 5th grade, I have taken a more hands-off approach. She still will ask about things she doesn't understand but I don't check homework every single night. I check it at random for quality/errors.
Every child is different so I would tailor what I do based on the child.
There are quite a few studies and articles lately that suggest that homework in elementary school is counterproductive. I agree.
Children need unstructured free play more than anything.
about 90 mins plus reading time with my first grader.
I would talk to the teacher about that. That's ridiculous.
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