Learning Partners

Let's Do Homework!

Homework can help students learn and can help parents be involved in their children's education. When parents show an interest in their child's schoolwork, they teach an important lesson--that learning is fun and worth the effort.

Children who do more homework, on average, do better in school. And, as children move up through the grades, homework becomes even more important to school success.

Teachers assign homework for many reasons. It can help children

1. practice what they have learned in school;
2. get ready for the next day's class;
3. use resources, such as libraries and encyclopedias; and
4. learn things they don't have time to learn in school.

Homework can also help children learn good habits and attitudes. It can teach children to work by themselves and encourage discipline and responsibility.

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A Checklist for Helping Your Child With Homework

Make Sure Your Child Has

1. A quiet place to work with good light.
2. A regular time for homework.
3. Basic supplies, such as paper, pencils, pens, markers, and ruler.
4. Aids to good organization, such as an assignment calendar, book bag, and folders.

Questions To Ask Your Child

1. What is your assignment today?
2. Is the assignment clear? (If not, suggest calling the school's homework hotline or a classmate.)
3. When is it due?
4. Do you need special resources (e.g. a trip to the library or access to a computer)?
5. Do you need special supplies (e.g. graph paper or poster board)?
6. Have you started today's assignment? Finished it?
7. Is it a longterm project (e.g. a term paper or science project)?
8. For a major project, would it be help to write our the steps to make a schedule?
9. Would a practice test by useful?

Other Ways To Help

1. Look over your child's homework, but don't do the work!
2. Meet the teachers early in the year and find out about homework policy.
3. Review teacher comments on homework that has been returned and discuss with your child.
4. Contact the teacher if there's a homework problem you can't resolve.
5. Congratulate your child on a job well done.