Parent to Parent Support Project
Parents can assist with homework at all stages
PACESETTER, Fall 2008
Back to school for children also means back to school for parents. Fall is a time when children’s lives focus on school and learning, and parents can help by supporting learning at home. Many researchers have shown the importance of parent involvement in the school life of a child.
Often parents think that parent involvement means spending time at the school building, but what they do to support their child’s education outside of school and at home is also important. Being involved in education means that parents support student learning, whether at school or at home.
Parent involvement includes such at-home activities as: encouraging reading for fun and for information, maintaining high expectations, and helping with homework. Reading together, talking to children about books, and building a habit of reading all help children become better readers and better students.
High but realistic expectations for school become increasingly important as children grow. When students understand their parents’ high expectations, they try harder and work to meet their parents’ expectations.
Parent involvement also means helping with homework. It’s important that parents set a time and a place for their children to do homework and check to see that the assignments are completed and turned in. Some additional tips to help children with homework are:
For all grade levels
- Remember that each child is unique and learns differently. Let your child decide what works best, as long as he or she does the homework.
- Make homework a priority in your child’s schedule. Let your child know you expect it to be completed regularly and turned in on time.
- Watch for signs of frustration or anger when your child is doing homework. Contact the teacher if this happens often.
Elementary school
In general, homework should increase as children grow; 10 minutes of homework for each grade level. A second grader should have approximately 20 minutes of homework, while a fifth grader can expect 50 minutes. These are just guidelines, but speak to your child’s teacher if you see a big difference.
- Ask your child daily if he or she has homework. Check backpacks for assignments or worksheets that may have been forgotten.
- Help your child develop the habit of placing completed homework back into his or her back pack or in a designated spot in your home.
Middle School
- Help your child build responsibility for tracking, completing, and turning in assignments by learning to write them down in a school planner or on a calendar.
- Work with your child to break down larger, long-term assignments into smaller pieces.
- Introduce the idea of studying as homework. Work with your child to review notes and texts daily, even when she doesn’t have any written homework.
High school
- Continue to monitor attendance, homework, quizzes and tests, and connect with the school as soon as you see a problem.
- Help your child to identify his or her own strengths and weaknesses to continue building his academic skills. For example, if your child puts off working on a big project, ask him or her to create a work schedule.
- Help your child build regular review of class notes and texts into daily homework time rather than cramming for hours the night before a test.
PACER's site offers many PDF files for download, which require