Search Results for: blog how much should a parent help with homework

Help Your Child Relax

In a recent study researchers found that over half of 7 to 9 year olds were feeling stressed. Those with divorced parents experience additional stress as they are going between homes and trying to balance all of the other little things in their young lives. As parents we want our children to be happy and enjoy life without getting bogged down by the pressures of everyday life. We need to create an atmosphere in our home that encourages our children to relax and enjoy being little. Don’t overschedule your children. While you want your children to stay busy and be … Continue reading →

How to Set Up a Homework Space

There will be many changes for your child to adjust to once the new school year is underway. The one thing that you can pretty much count on is that your child will end up with homework to do. This means you need to set up a good homework space for him or her to work in. Children who have special needs tend to thrive when they know that there is a routine to follow. They can predict what will happen next, and this can make transitioning from one activity to another a little bit easier. This means that it … Continue reading →

Homework Between Houses

I’ve mentioned before that my parents divorced when I was seven years old. My mother had sole custody and my dad had regular visitation. My brother and sister and I visited Tuesday night and every other weekend. In the beginning, we didn’t have much to worry about with school. I was in second grade and didn’t have much work to do at home yet. As we got a little older the issue of homework began to arise. My dad figured that since we didn’t get to see him very much all of our homework needed to be done before we … Continue reading →

Discipline When You’re The Only Parent

I’ve been a single parent for the past six years. One of the many things I’ve discovered along this path is that discipline is really tough to balance out when you’re the only parent in the household. Most couples will admit that there’s always a good cop/bad cop way of enforcing rules in the family. In my marriage I was the good cop and their father was the bad cop. (He was too bad in various ways, which is why we parted ways.) When I found myself a single parent with five daughters to guide and keep in line when … Continue reading →

How Much Should a Parent Help with Homework?

How much should a parent help with homework? That’s a question most parents face at some stage or another in their child’s education. Unfortunately some parents tend to take over and end up virtually doing the whole job themselves. They think they are helping. In reality they are not. Doing it for them teaches the child nothing. Often we learn best by doing it ourselves. It’s okay to show an interest or to explain if your child is not clear about what to do, but you should never take over the task and do it for them. The other danger … Continue reading →

Should You Force Your Child to Practice?

Practice makes perfect—and when it comes to young children, it is often repetition and practice that makes it possible for a child to learn to read, write, kick a soccer ball and all sorts of other activities and skills. As parents, however, we may find ourselves in the midst of a teary, painful power struggle—trying to force a child to practice writing his alphabet or reading out loud, and wonder if forcing them to practice is really in the best interest of everyone involved? The truth is, we parents are often trying to get our children to do things that … Continue reading →

Why Parents Complete Work for Their Child: Reason 2

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In my past couple of articles, I have discussed parents’ involvement in their children’s homework assignments. While some parents help very little, some parents end up actually completing the work for the child. Some parents do the work for the child because the child is academically incapable of completing it himself. In this article I would like to discuss those parents who complete the work because their children are too tired or busy. In this case, the parents need to revise their priority list. Some parents actually comment that their child does not have time to study or complete assignments … Continue reading →

Why Parents Complete Work for Their Child: Reason 1

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Yesterday, I discussed how many different levels of involvement teachers see when it comes to parents helping children with their assignments. I have seen many assignments that were mainly completed by parents. In yesterday’s article, I gave some possible causes of why parents may complete a child’s work for him. One of those causes was because the work is too hard for the child. Some parents become frustrated when it takes a child a long time to complete what seems to be a simple task (for adults that is). Instead of encouraging the child, the parents complete the work. I … Continue reading →

How Much Should You Help Your Child with Schoolwork?

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How much help should you give your child with schoolwork? It all depends upon the child’s age, abilities, and the type of assignment. While some parents do not help enough, others go overboard. In teaching, I see many different levels of help from parents. However, there are two types that bother the most. Those are the parents that give children no help with schoolwork and the parents that receive basically no help from the child on the work. Periodically, we send home long-term projects for the children to complete. For example, in the winter, we send home a blank snowman … Continue reading →

Eight Homework Helping Tips

In a previous blog, I wrote about how some parents help too much with their kids’ homework-some going so far as to complete science fair projects themselves. In the June 2006 issue of ParentLife, eight tips are offered to help parents become better homework helpers. Help your child with his homework but don’t do it for him. Your role is to offer assistance, if needed, not to supply them with the answers. If your child is struggling, show him how to put on his “thinking cap” and find the solutions on his own. Officially designate a study area, one that … Continue reading →