Students of all ages have returned to school. There are many common characteristics of “going to school” for all ages, but the most dreaded is often HOMEWORK!!! An organized approach to homework and some forethought will help lessen the hassle.
Homework is given to young students, first through sixth graders, to establish responsibility, routines, and to practice and review skills taught directly in the classroom.

It provides:

• Students with an opportunity to reinforce the learning that takes place in the classroom.

• Parents with knowledge of the skills being taught, how successful their child is in mastery of the skills and an opportunity to share in their child’s learning.

• Teachers with one of many tools to gain meaningful information to guide instruction and to document progress.

A few hints can also make homework easier for everyone involved.

• Set aside a calm and uncluttered work area for your child to complete homework. This could be a kitchen table, desk in the child’s bedroom or at a table somewhere else in the house. Television and music should be turned off and younger children should be in another area to eliminate distractions.

• Supplies to include pencils, erasers, straight edge, scissors, crayons and glue, should be stored in a container that is always available. A large Ziploc bag, shoe box or other container will work to hold these items.

• Plan for homework time, break time and snack time.

• Talk to your child about their homework. Do they have questions? Encourage them to talk with their teachers about concerns and questions. Teach them to be self advocates.

Parents should not spend the small amount of time that they have with their child each day arguing over completion of homework. When homework completion becomes a struggle between parent and child, another approach needs to be looked at as a solution. Conferencing with the classroom teacher may make the parent aware of gaps that the child has in academic knowledge or perhaps, the child takes longer to complete written work and a modification of the amount of homework could be made with the teacher. If the homework hassle, indicates that a child is struggling with an academic area, assessments should be considered and extra support could be indicated.

Maureen Murray-Barthelme
Contact Tutor Doctor St. Louis