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Helping With Homework
Create an Environment Turning off the television not only eliminates distraction, it sends a signal that the work is important.
Be There If you have a young child or one who resents the work, do your homework with him. Pay bills, read a book or newspaper or magazine, catch up on office paperwork anything that involves quiet concentration.
Make a Schedule If a child despairs at the amount of homework or the prospect of assignments in five subjects, suggest she make up a schedule, if she maps out the evening (6 to 7: French; 7 to 7:15: Vocabulary cards), she should learn to organize her work, budget her time and figure out by trial and error how long various assignments take. Inserting 8 to 9: watch 'Buffy' or computer on the chart will give the kid not only a break but also something to work toward.
Check the Results Yes, make sure to check if it's done. That shows you think homework is important.
Check for Quality Checking how well the work was done is a tougher call. On something objective like math, most educators believe pointing out mistakes helps. Homework is worse than useless if a kid has diligently practiced doing it all wrong. Also, the child is more likely to learn from his mistakes one on one with you.
Pick your Targets In subjective areas like writing, think twice before you point out how the child might improve, say, her explanation of acid rain. Such help is like Tabasco sauce: a little goes a long way. The child may feel that her essay is just fine, Mom, and won't see why you want to sharpen her topic sentences. Pick your targets: if you want to help your child with pronouns, or tenses, stick to that and only that for a while. Otherwise she may come to feel that nothing she does is good enough.