General Homework Tips | Reading Tips for Parents | Math Tips for Parents
Make sure your child has a quiet,
well-lit place to do homework. Avoid having your child do homework
with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as
people coming and going.
Make sure the materials your child
needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available. Ask
your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and
get them in advance.
Help your child with time management.
Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don't let your child
leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend
morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the
project involves getting together with classmates.
Be positive about homework. Tell your
child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework
will be the attitude your child acquires.
When your child does homework, you do
homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are
related to things you do as an adult. If your child is reading, you
read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.
When your child asks for help, provide
guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn
the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going
gets rough, someone will do the work for him.
When the teacher asks that you play a
role in homework, do it. Cooperate with the teacher. It shows your
child that the school and home are a team. Follow the directions given
by the teacher.
If homework is meant to be done by your
child alone, stay away. Too much parent involvement can prevent
homework from having some positive effects. Homework is a great way
for kids to develop independent, lifelong learning skills.
Stay informed. Talk with your child's
teacher. Make sure you know the purpose of homework and what your
child's class rules are.
Help your child figure out what is hard
homework and what is easy homework. Have your child do the hard work
first. This will mean he will be most alert when facing the biggest
challenges. Easy material will seem to go fast when fatigue begins to
set in.
Watch your child for signs of failure
and frustration. Let your child take a short break if she is having
trouble keeping their mind on an assignment.
Reward progress in homework. If your child has been successful in homework completion and is working hard, celebrate that success with a special event (e.g., pizza, a walk, a trip to the park) to reinforce the positive effort.
Have your child read aloud to you every
night.
Choose a quiet place, free from
distractions, for your child to do his nightly reading assignments.
As your child reads, point out spelling
and sound patterns such as cat, pat, hat.
When your child reads aloud to you and
makes a mistake, point out the words she has missed and help her to
read the word correctly.
After your child has stopped to correct
a word he has read, have him go back and reread the entire sentence
from the beginning to make sure he understands what the sentence is
saying.
Ask your child to tell you in her own
words what happened in a story.
To check your child's understanding of
what he is reading, occasionally pause and ask your child questions
about the characters and events in the story.
Ask your child why she thinks a
character acted in a certain way and ask your child to support her
answer with information from the story.
Before getting to the end of a story, ask your child what he thinks will happen next and why.
Encourage your child to use a daily math
assignment book.
It is really important to understand the
progress your child is making in math. Check with your child daily
about his homework.
If you don't understand your child's
math assignments, engage in frequent communication with her teacher.
If your child is experiencing problems
in math, contact the teacher to learn whether he is working at grade
level and what can be done at home to help improve academic progress.
Request that your child's teacher
schedule after-school math tutoring sessions if your child really
needs help.
Encourage the principal to use
research-based peer tutoring programs for math. These tutoring
programs have proven results, and students really enjoy them.
Use household chores as opportunities
for reinforcing math learning such as cooking and repair activities.
Try to be aware of how your child is
being taught math, and don't teach strategies and shortcuts that
conflict with the approach the teacher is using. Check in with the
teacher and ask what you can do to help. Ask the teacher about online
resources that you can use with your child at home.
At the beginning of the year, ask your child's teacher for a list of suggestions that will enable you to help your child with math homework.
Source: The White House Homework Tips for Parents
For more "Homework Tips" please click here.
