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Family Involvement Articles

These articles are written especially for parents by our Buddy Project staff.

 

Avoiding Homework MELTDOWN!

Utter boredom. Utter frustration. Utter meltdown. These are the catastrophic results of the homework battles that happen daily throughout the country. Homework struggles can create an ugly scene: begging, pleading, bargaining, demanding…and that’s just us parents!

Avoiding homework struggles has much to do with your family’s attitudes and routines. Does your attitude convey that learning is vitally important and can be exciting? Do you set aside adequate time for homework in your child’s schedule? Does homework come before extra-curricular activities and couch potato time?

Set your expectations, then dig in and be prepared to stand your ground. It may take time, A LOT of consistency, and not a few battle wounds. If you’ve tried all the tips and are still fighting your child over homework, don’t hesitate to request a student evaluation from your school.

Homework Battle Plans

Basic Training: Setting Up the Homework Routine

Discuss expectations about a homework routine with your child. Together, reach an agreement, including any rewards or consequences. Write it down, sign it, and post this contract so that you may refer to it if a battle threatens. Elements in this contract may include:

• Setting up a regular time and place for homework.
• Turning off the TV, turning down the music, and restricting phone calls.
• Insisting your child puts finished homework away immediately in their backpack.
• Going through the homework folder together each day.
• Asking questions about what your child enjoys learning about at school.

In the Trenches: Offering Support for your Student

Support is the key word here. Do NOT start doing your child’s homework, unless you want to keep doing their homework until they graduate! If you do it for them, they will never have the confidence to do it on their own. To support your child during homework time, you could:

• Help review what homework needs to be completed each day.
• Persuade your child to get the tough tasks out of the way first!
• Check your child’s work as they begin; make sure they understand the assignment.
• Avoid giving away the answer. Ask questions to help your child begin to think through the problem. “Tell me what the directions say again?”
• Encourage your child to take a break if the going gets tough. Eat a cookie, put on some music, or shoot a few baskets. Then after15 minutes, try again.
• Make positive suggestions, but don’t nick-pick! If a child is really struggling with writing good sentences, don’t pick on their handwriting efforts.
• Keep praising good work habits such as perseverance, diligence, and effort. Comments could include: “I’m proud of how you’re not giving up.” Or “You’ve been working so hard on this paper!”

Away From the Front Lines: Guiding Independent Workers

• When it’s impossible to sit next to your child during homework time, it’s even more important to set up an agreement ahead of time about homework routines.
• If your child is with a babysitter or in an after-school program, be sure to discuss together your child’s academic strengths and weaknesses. Put a piece of paper in their homework folder that allows for notes back and forth from their caretaker about your child’s work habits and struggles.
• If your child is old enough to be home alone, you may want to use a phone call to jumpstart the homework time. Ask what tasks they need to get done and how long they think they will take. Then, call back after that time period to see if they’ve finished. If phone calls are impossible, set out a written reminder along with an after-school snack.
• Either way, be sure that you go through their homework folder with them later in the evening or the next morning.

The Last Stand: Following Through

• Check finished homework. Look for accuracy, completeness, and neatness.
• Ask to see graded and returned homework papers. Discuss mistakes and check for understanding.
• Make contact with the teacher if your child is making consistent errors in one subject area. Also voice concerns if homework becomes a ongoing struggle.
• And most importantly, display papers that your child is proud of in your home. (Not just perfect papers!)

Click on the links below for more Homework Supports!

• Homework Contract
• Help Your Child Ace His Next Spelling Test
• Help Your Child Ace Her Next Multiplication Quiz
• Homework Center