How to Help Children with Their Homework
How Much is Too Much? By Jan Pierce
W
hether you love it or hate it, homework is a component of your children’s education. It is a given. In our busy lives with schedules full of sports, dance, music lessons and the like, families may find it difficult to set the children’s educational responsibilities as a high priority. Although parents everywhere want their children to succeed in school, according to Sharon P. Robinson of the U.S. Dept. of Education, many parents err more on the side of slighting the importance of nightly homework than in giving too much help. There are those parents who make the mistake
of doing the work themselves for a variety of reasons, but they are in the minority, and teachers will always spot such activity. So, what are the proper ways to deal with nightly homework assignments for our children? First of all be sure that you understand the purpose of homework. It serves a number of purposes, but foremost are: • Review and practice of new material • Practice in independent research and study • Developing good habits and attitudes toward learning
• Going further in a subject than can be done in limited class time • Preparing for the next step in learning which will be presented the upcoming class session Once adults see the purpose of homework, it is easier to properly support it. The amount of nightly homework should vary according to age. Most experts agree that for grades 1-3 there should be about 20-30 minutes of homework per night. For grades 4-6 it should increase to about 40 minutes to an hour, and from grade 7 and upward it may reach two hours or more. Continued on page 22 >>> November 2021 | ParentsPress.com
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