Parent Homework Tips

At this age, parents or a sitter should sit down with the child to review homework and make a plan about how to tackle it.Your child needs to be an active participant in this conversation, which will help them learn how to prioritize without you.Figure out when your child is best able to concentrate — that may be right after school or scheduled activities, or he may need an hour of downtime at home before returning to school work.

Let your child’s age determine how involved you are.

It’s natural for parents to be a bit more involved when young elementary school students are still new to the concept of homework.

Whatever the reason, it’s easy for parents to overstep when it comes to homework.

But completing your child’s homework ultimately doesn’t do them any favors — in fact, there’s evidence that lots of parental involvement with homework can actually backfire.

While making time and space for homework to happen is important, other habits, like sleep as well as a healthy diet, can contribute to a child’s academic success.

Five S Thesis - Parent Homework Tips

According to the National Sleep Foundation, first graders need up to 11 hours of sleep a night, while junior high and high school students need at least 8 hours.For example, if your child is struggling with algebra, try drawing a diagram or a picture to see if a visual representation will clear things up.If a child continues to have trouble with certain subjects, he may have missed a key foundational concept from earlier lessons.Give your child space while she completes her homework.Do your own thing — make dinner or send work emails — but be accessible.If you’re looking for ways to make your child more successful in school (and in life beyond), you’ve come to the right place.Our parent resources are designed to help you navigate your child’s education, and great news, they’re free. The good news is, we’ve got your back with tips and tools for homework help, improving your child’s study skills, getting to know Common Core and more.Over time, without sufficient sleep, kids’ attention spans and abilities to concentrate are likely to decrease. If homework is interfering with your child’s ability to get enough sleep, it may be time to talk to the teacher about whether or not the volume of homework is reasonable. Kids learn in different ways and at different paces.Suggest and try different methods to figure out what type of learning works best for your child.If your child needs to access to the Internet for certain assignments, make sure the computer is in a communal area.Set boundaries around which sites your child can visit, and determine together how much time actually needs to be spent surfing the web.