Homework Help Basics For All Grade Levels

Parents are often unsure how best to help their children with homework, and as a result, many children don't maximize their homework time. Below are some suggestions from the United States Department of Education (USDE), www.ed.gov, that establish general homework and studying guidelines. Tailor these guidelines to match your children's needs, and you'll be on your way to improving their academic experience and performance.

Be Proactive

First, show through your own actions that education and homework are important activities. Put an emphasis on education at home in the following ways:

• Talk to your child. Agree on a regular time each day for homework. Stick to the schedule!
• Provide your child with necessary homework supplies and resources.
• Set a good example by reading and writing, showing that these activities are valuable for other reasons than just school.
• Stay in touch with your child's teachers.

When you are proactive in your children's education, you are helping them cultivate values that are needed to succeed in school and in life.

Keep in Touch

Next, monitor your children's homework assignments. Make a point to ask your children about their daily assignments, and help them schedule an appropriate amount of time to complete each one. Ask your children's teachers how involved you should be in various assignments. Some homework tasks children attempt without help, while others are intended to get the entire family involved. By learning more about assignments and their accompanying due dates, you will be better able to monitor your children's skills and progress.

Be There

While you should not take over your children's homework, you can certainly provide helpful instruction. When providing guidance, learn about and understand your children's learning style. People learn differently and this knowledge affects the type of help your children will need to comprehend new material. Additionally, help them to become more organized. Children can be disorganized and lose assignments. When you show your children how to keep an organized notebook or folder, you enable them to keep track of their homework.

Know When to Find Outside Help

Finally, if your children continue to struggle with their homework, contact a teacher or counselor at school. They will be able to look through your children's work and make recommendations that would help your children with learning. The recommended help may include conventional, online, or peer tutoring. The most important thing for you to do is to keep open the lines of communication with your children and their teachers.