What Parents can do to help with Homework.

P.O.S.T

Provide Place
Provide Order
Provide Support
Provide Time

Your kids need a place to do their homework. You do not need a second mortgage home makeover to accomplish this. If your child has their own bedroom with a clean desk and lamp, that’s great, but a cleared table in any well lit room will do just as well. Make sure the TV is off and the siblings should be quiet or playing in another room.

Wherever homework is taking place, distractions should be limited. A lot of kids have their study place in their bedroom. This is fine if the bedroom is a quiet place free of electronic distractions. I wish I had a dollar for every parent teacher interview where I suggested “ unplugging every thing in their room.” Perhaps a better idea would be to establish a common homework space for all the children allowing them to keep their stuff in their rooms.
The main thing is to provide a reasonably quiet space for your children to work. Keep the toddlers at bay and the televisions and stereos off. The mp3 players can take a rest as well, and by the way I guarantee they will never need them for class.

Relax they don’t need a new computer. If you can read this blog your computer is good enough for high school. I’m not a believer in computer technology in the K-6 world but that will have to be another posting. I think the support kids need at homework time is more low tech. Plenty of sharpened pencils and blank paper and maybe some coloured leads is usually more than enough. When they reach junior high take out the colouring leads and replace it with a basic calculator. (so they can CHECK their work, not to DO their work) Read their notes from school, if the school or teacher sends home a calendar post it up in a central location, possibly where you get their lunches ready.

Sometimes things aren’t going so well in school and Mom or Dad don’t feel able or comfortable helping with some subjects. Well support is on the way! Did you know that your child can speak to an expert on each and every subject on a nearly daily basis? That’s right and it’s a free service paid for by you tax dollars! Are you kidding me? That’s right; Teachers. We still stay after school plenty (waiting for a crack at the photocopier usually).
Make an appointment and get some help. Another line I wish I had a dollar for is “why spend money on a tutor when you’re already paying me?” Before you hire a tutor, check with the teacher, they may refer you to the Guidance Counselor, but if help is available from the teacher then my advice is to take it. Sometimes however sometimes more support is necessary and a tutor is required. If a guidance counselor suggests tutoring listen to their advice. My thoughts on tutors are if you have the option find a retired teacher to tutor your child.

Ideally homework is done, at the same time every day. Chances are your life just won’t allow this, but it is a goal to strive for. Leaving it for later is not a great idea, homework struggles can be magnified by tiredness.
You shouldn’t try to squeeze it in either, when you sit down with the kids for homework time you should have enough time to finish the homework.
One strategy we have used with some success is to leave larger projects until the weekend. Whenever possible we would leave the week’s spelling work for Saturday mornings in order to provide enough time to complete the assignment.


Remember P.O.S.T

Place
Order
Support
Time