Assisting your children with homework

Homework? I thought I was out of school!


Having your children go to school and bring home homework is like reliving your childhood and elementary education all over again. When they are beginning you get to learn your alphabet over, then you move on to addition and subtraction and gradually you move on up to Multiplication. This doesn't include the countless hours of reading and writing lessons. Who uses cursive writing today anyway with computers, faxes and blackberries? Yet, as a parent your job doesn't end by sending the kids to school but really begins when they come home looking for guidance, help and assistance in the educational journey.

Reading is something that we all need even in this technological age. Reading is everywhere from school to signs along the highway. One way that helps children read more is to pick a book that is level appropriate and have them read one page and you read the other. This not only gets to them to read, but they also pick up on phonics and pronunciations while following along, as you read to them. Children look at it as if they are only reading half the pages because you are helping, but really they will read more because you are along for the adventure. In my experience I have also found that finding the silliest books possible help the children that loose interest the easiest. Dan Gutman wrote a book I recommend highly for this type of child "My Crazy School Daze". It is a book that has stories of teachers and principals that do crazy things to get their students to accomplish a million math problems and a million pages of reading. The kids laugh and visualize the stories as they read each chapter.

Math is an entirely different animal compared to reading. Helping with homework can be a challenge depending on your child, age level and ability. When working with addition and subtraction it has been my experience that food make for great visuals. Give the kids x amount of M&M's then tell them how many more to add or take away. When teaching subtraction you can even let the child eat the ones that are being subtracted. Of course this means you will be buying candy a lot but skittles and Sugar Free candy work just as well.

Making math fun is half the battle of getting the children to learn. Multiplication was hard for our kids but rhyming and shaking your hips on 6x6 is 36 really helps getting them memorized. If children put some of the multiplication facts to rhythms then they will remember them easier. For added help besides the fun side, it has helped in the past to make flash cards of all the multiplication problems from 0x0 to 10x10 with the answers on the back. Go through the stack each night, the ones your child gets wrong, have them write them ten times while saying them out loud. It only takes a few nights of writing a ton for them to start paying attention and remembering them more. On the upside, their writing improves along with their math skills.
When it comes to writing, the best approach to help your children learn is to pick a topic each week for them to write about along with showing them how to brainstorm ideas. Showing the kids how to ask themselves questions like whom? What? When? Where? Why? And How? Before they start writing will help generate ideas. It will also break down the task into easier parts before they start writing on a blank page and becoming overwhelmed. Prompting them through the process also helps on the first few stories. This way you are showing them how to prepare the opening paragraph, transitioning into the body of the story and finally how to wrap it up at the end. Believe it or not these same techniques if taught early enough will be used for the rest of their lives even in business reports and emails. The sooner they learn the format the better off they will be for the real world.

Remember helping your children with their homework doesn't mean doing it for them. It means guiding them and helping point out options for them or directions that they may have skimmed over. With the hectic work schedules, sports and church activities it is tempting to help too much. Try to keep in mind you've been through these grades before and this is their turn. Encourage and support is sometimes the best action plan for helping your children make it through each grade. This is along with fun tricks for memorization or our family favorite playing Multiplication Connect Four on the computer. Nothing makes my son happier than beating his mom at Connect Four and nothing makes me any happier than seeing him learning his multiplication facts.

Keep up the good work, your a great parent and as you help get your child through each grade treasure the moments over homework because the years go by so quickly that before you know it they will be off to college.

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