Parents need to strike a balance in the management of their children's homework. This means offering support and assistance but not taking over. This enables children to learn and think on their own and to learn from mistakes. It is important that parents monitor whether homework is done and how well it is done but guard against doing the homework for their children.

WHY IS HOMEWORK SO IMPORTANT?

Helps children learn and practise basic skills.
Help children learn, remember and understand facts.
Gives children experience in research techniques.
Helps children develop time management and organizational skills.
Helps children develop a positive attitude towards life-long learning.
Helps children take responsibility, show initiative and be creative.
Enables parents to see their children's progress.
Strengthens the ties between home and school, particularly when parents can help in some way with assignments.

"A study by University of Illinois scholars ... discovered that the simple act of doing homework tests out as being more important to a kid's success at school than race, class or the parents' educational background."
The Globe and Mail, Fifth Column, November 3, 1995.

TYPES OF HOMEWORK

• Pleasure reading
• Completion of in-class assignments
• Research/supplementary reading or assignments
• Homework should include pleasant activities such as reading and discussing, watching the news and discussing the newspaper.

• Be consistent yet flexible. Agree on a study schedule and a homework plan at the beginning of each school year, allowing for the fact that some nights more time will be needed than others. Each child needs a homework routine that fits individual age, health, temperament, and study skills and weaknesses.
• Discourage phone calls from friends during scheduled homework time.
• Establish a quiet, well lit study area with the proper tools for school work. This can be a desk in a bedroom or the kitchen table.
• Ensure that children are not tired, hungry or short of time.
• Be sure that children understand what they're to do and why. Help children get ready to do their homework - for instance, by guiding them to first read the introduction to the chapter they have been assigned, or to look over the last work they did on the subject.
• Provide required knowledge and information for homework/study projects, for example by organizing a trip to the library.
• Teach children to work independently and help them learn to manage their time.
• As your children are reading their chapter, they should pause after each section and 'test' their understanding. It helps to take notes of the main points as they read. The act of taking notes and reviewing them will help children understand and remember.
• Involve yourself as the "audience" for ready practice of spelling, mathematics problems, reading, etc.
• Be sure children understand that homework is their responsibility. Make yourself available but be clear about your role as supporter and monitor.
• Good notes are important. Organize them immediately after class while the ideas are fresh. Review them that same evening.
• Your children should review material more than once, well in advance, instead of 'cramming' the night before.
• Show interest in what your child is doing. Talk about successes and difficulties. Encourage your child to do well in school. If you believe that the hours of studying are worth the effort, then so will your child. Give praise when praise is due!
• Turn your child into the teacher. You play the part of the student. As he teaches you, he'll be absorbing important information.
• Provide children with homework tools such as dictionaries, rulers and so on.
• Expand interest in a subject by using supplementary material.
• If your child has difficulty with one subject, have her begin a homework session by completing that assignment first while she's fresh. Save her favourite subjects for last.
• Do your own "homework" while your kids are studying, if possible. Pay bills, write letters, or balance your chequebook. When kids see that study time applies to everyone, they'll be more likely to take it seriously. MAKE HOMEWORK A FAMILY COMMITMENT

  (Taken from the "Parent Resource Binder: The Essential Link", published by the Newfoundland and Labrador Home and School Federation).

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