Do you help your kids with their homework?

[Anonymous]

When I was a kid, my parents never helped me with my homework. Every elementary parent I have met sounds like they spend at least an hour a day going over homework with their kids. Just wondering if it is the norm for parents to help kids with their homework.

At what age do you stop helping kids with their homework?

[Anonymous]

Mine is only in second grade, so I do help him if he needs it and double-check all his work. At his school they ask that each child have a designated homework helper. He doesn't need much help with math, but the writing/language homework requires that we work together and I essentially quiz him on a few things. There is definitely more of an expectation that a kid will have a lot of support in doing homework than there was when I was a kid.

[Anonymous]

We were definitely pretty involved in our kids' homework up through 4th or 5th grade. After that the teachers pretty much told us parents to butt out and let the kids do it on their own. I still help my 8th grader a little, especially when she is studying for a test or quiz. My 11th grader? He is smarter than me at this point, and he has been working fully independently since middle school.

[Anonymous]

I teach in an elementary school. We don't give much homework, but the work we do give should be able to be done independently. We tell the parents if the child has trouble with the hw, let us know.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the teacher. Last year my kid had a second grade teacher who required that parents review and initialled all their children's homework every day. I reviewed the completed work and circled mistakes, but did not "help" in the completion or correction. This year the teacher essentially said butt out -- the kids needs to figure out mistakes on their own. Not sure how it will play out. I am still looking over the homeworks but now I just say -- "you need to check this over again" if I see a really egregious mistake -- I don't circle it -- DC has to find and correct on his own. Hopefully this self checking will become a habit soon and I won't feel the need to nag.

[Anonymous]

My kids are in 3rd and 5th. I don't help unless they come to me with a question. If I go over it and help them correct mistakes, how is the teacher supposed to know what they know and what they need to work on?

[Anonymous]

Each of my kids is in a different room studying after school. I rotate around the 3 rooms and check what they are working on. If they need help, they ask. I stop rotating around when they finish. I usually spend 10-15 minutes in each room, usually sitting or reading nearby, being present in case they need me. I do this for about 60 minutes everyday; they are all in elementary school. When they are done I check the work and then they can read or play quietly while the other(s) finish.

The teacher's job is to teach, the kid's job is to learn, my job is to reinforce what they are learning. I can do this by being involved in their studies. I don't do the work, I tell if something is not right, though. They can't go outside, watch tv, play wii, whatever, until they have successfully completed their assignments. The reason it takes about an hour is because usually the older child has more intense work and I don't stop until all are done and if 2 are stumped, one of them has to wait for me to finish helping the other.

[Anonymous]

All I do is ask them if their homework is done. School is the priority and homework must be done before running around outside, playing computer games, etc.

If they have a question about their homework I am happy to answer, but they rarely have a question. Kids are in 3rd and 6th grades.

[Anonymous]

I think the vast majority of homework is ridiculous. The only things that I help with are studying for tests and quizzes and making sure that there is a supply of stuff in the house for projects.

[Anonymous]

a fifth grade teacher told me half the writing assignments that were sent home came back looking like a disertation.
Help my ass, plenty of parents just flat out do the assignment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:a fifth grade teacher told me half the writing assignments that were sent home came back looking like a disertation.
Help my ass, plenty of parents just flat out do the assignment.

Interesting. My kids do not have writing assignments sent home; that must be why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:a fifth grade teacher told me half the writing assignments that were sent home came back looking like a disertation.
Help my ass, plenty of parents just flat out do the assignment.

Interesting. My kids do not have writing assignments sent home; that must be why.

I believe it is why. Teachers want to see how well the kid can perform on his or her own without parental "help."

[Anonymous]

No. My kids are in 2nd and K. Obviously the K'er doesn't really have homework, my older child has to do his on his own. If he doesn't understand something and asks me to explain the question then I do, but it's up to him to do the work.

The teacher needs to know what the child understands and doesn't understand. The child needs to learn to work independently and be responsible for his work. He needs to know the importance of double checking on his own and how to learn and figure questions out without someone hovering over him ready to swoop in with help at soon as he wants it.

Does that mean that sometimes he misses questions due to careless mistakes? Yes. It also means that when he gets the paper back and realizes he actually did know the right answer but just wasn't careful, that he's going to be more thorough the next time around.

[Anonymous]

09:21 and I are twinsies!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Each of my kids is in a different room studying after school. I rotate around the 3 rooms and check what they are working on. If they need help, they ask. I stop rotating around when they finish. I usually spend 10-15 minutes in each room, usually sitting or reading nearby, being present in case they need me. I do this for about 60 minutes everyday; they are all in elementary school. When they are done I check the work and then they can read or play quietly while the other(s) finish.

The teacher's job is to teach, the kid's job is to learn, my job is to reinforce what they are learning. I can do this by being involved in their studies. I don't do the work, I tell if something is not right, though. They can't go outside, watch tv, play wii, whatever, until they have successfully completed their assignments. The reason it takes about an hour is because usually the older child has more intense work and I don't stop until all are done and if 2 are stumped, one of them has to wait for me to finish helping the other.

Way to go! I have three and that's exactly how we do it. You've got to be present and supportive to help them reach their full potential.