Homework: From Disaster to Success

Annette Spector - December 1999

All parents want their children to succeed. When children learn early on that homework is "their responsibility" and that "school work" is important, their chances for success increase dramatically. "Children need to get the message directly from parents early on that homework is a "valuable, worthwhile experience" which demands top priority in the household. Many educators nationwide agree that homework is valuable and that parents need to be aware of its appropriate use. 

"Homework teaches students good old-fashioned values," says Dorothy Rich, author of What Do We Say? What Do We Do? Vital Solutions For Children's Educational Success. Rich believes that homework gives students practice in persevering and accomplishing goals as wall as helping them learn to take responsibility for keeping their minds active.

David Boers, author of Happy Classrooms, says that for too long, teachers gave assignments that discouraged learners by giving them homework they couldn't do and then punishing them when they didn't do it. Mary Russo, an elementary school principal in Massachusetts, feels that homework is a powerful tool which engages parents in school life. Indeed, there is a greater emphasis on communicating with parents as a hew approach to homework. Gary Tubbs, the director of academic achievement for the Seattle (Wash.) Public School, approves of efforts to involve parents in homework. 

In Seattle, the district's homework policy provides guidelines for parental involvement and encourages parents to be part of the solution in helping students succeed. So, if homework is a valuable tool which helps promote success, and teaches responsibility, what can parents do to ensure that the "homework experience" becomes a successful experience for their child.

What Is Good Homework?

For younger children, short assignments that can be completed quickly are the best. Longer assignments which are uncompleted or completed with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears are actually harmful. Gary Griffin of Teachers College states that homework "is most beneficial when it moves out of the drone mode and into the creative mode." The most meaningful, positive experiences for children involve creativity and exploratory activities rather than the rote drill and practice types. However, for some children who learn best with repetition and additional time spent on newly learned material, the old fashion drill and practice exercises can be very beneficial. 

Parents need to monitor their children's attitude and frustration level and report back to the teacher concerning how homework is being completed at home. Parents need to tell the teacher if they feel that drill and practice will be beneficial for their child, or whether their child responds best to the more creative type of assignments. Homework assignments should also be related to the next day's classwork so students get the idea that homework really matters because it actually helps them perform better in class the next day. Random, busy work assignments, and especially open-ended assignments do more damage than good because students don't connect practical meaning to them and don't see a "useful purpose" for completing them. Therefore, short, focused, meaningful extension activities help foster in children a more positive attitude about homework.

There are many different reasons for giving homework including boosting achievement, developing initiative and responsibility, and helping students discover that learning isn't limited only to school. As parents, the key is to clarify the purpose of the homework, and evaluate to see if desired results - especially in terms of motivation and home-school communication - are being achieved.

Why Parent-Teacher Communication Is Essential

Parents need to communicate often, not only at the beginning of the year, about homework expectations. Parents should talk with teachers on a regular basis to find out exactly what expectations they have for their students. Nowadays there is a greater emphasis on, and an awareness of different learning styles, and the use of the inclusion model whereby students with learning differences are being educated in their regular classrooms rather than being pulled out into separate classes. This means that the same exact homework is not appropriate, across the board, for all students in the same class. Therefore, parents need to learn what the teacher's expectations are for their own child in terms of the "homework load" and "homework completion."

PRACTICAL PARENT GUIDE

Here's a practical guide to help parents address major areas for successful homework completion. The goals need to be keep frustration down and enthusiasm and motivation up.

Amount of Time

Ask the teacher what should be the total amount of time for my child to complete homework? Ask how much time should be spent for each subject. Set up a system for what happens when it becomes obvious that your child will not finish in the expected time frame. Parents could send in a note stating that the total expected time was utilized, but their child still did not finish.

Observe your child while doing their homework to screen for attentional issues. IF your child is not completing their assignments within the recommended allotted time, try to determine what the reason is. Is it due to a lack of focus, distractibility, or inattention? Or, is it due to your child not understanding the directions, or concepts? Or is it due to poor memory for what was presented in class that day?

Level of Independence

Ask the teacher how much parents should help their child with homework. Ask such questions as these: Should I help with spelling? Should my child use inventive spelling? Should I check for errors? Should my child check and proofread? Should my child skip questions on math problems he/she doesn't know? Should I re-explain or re-teach a skill? Teachers aren't mind readers. So when homework comes back to school complete and all correct, unless the parent calls or sends a note in saying that help was given, the teacher will automatically assume that your child "got it" in class, understood directions, and remembered concepts presented that day.

Observe your child to see if he/she is procrastinating because of genuinely not knowing what to do, or whether he/she is having a difficult time getting started because of distractions. Also observe for varying degrees of frustration which can eventually lead to low self-esteem. If it appears that the difficulty level of a particular assignments is causing considerable frustration, notify the teacher right away. Remember, your child should walk away from doing their homework with a sense of satisfaction and pride in what they have accomplished. If they end their homework session feeling frustrated or confused, their enjoyment for learning will diminish rapidly.

Quality of Work

Ask: Should I insist on neatness and ask for sloppy, careless work to be redone? Should my child print or only use cursive writing? Is it O.K. to switch handwriting styles? Can my child use the word processor? How should my child handle errors? Erase, cross out, use brackets? Should careless errors in writing or math computation be corrected? IS there a standard, special heading that should always go at the top of each page? Can my child use special lined handwriting paper, or turn regular notebook or loose-leaf paper so that all lines are vertical for help with proper number alignment in math?

Observe for actual difficulty with handwriting, which might indicate an underlying fine-motor delay. If your child gets easily frustrated when asked to write, or erases excessively, or starts out neatly and then becomes less neat or sloppy as time goes by, communicate with the teacher sooner rather than later, so that the teacher can observe your child in the classroom too.

Due Dates

Ask: What will be the routine, daily assignments? What will be weekly assignments? When will there be long-term reports and/or projects? Will there be separate due dates for each step of long-term reports? When reading books and novels, how much should my child read at home? When does the book have to be finished? Will there be a written book report? Should my child keep a running journal about the book being read at home'? When are written assignments about books due'? Also, periodically throughout the year, check with the teacher to find out if students are required to copy down assignments from the board, or is the teacher sending home written notices with due dates? Parents need to know "the way" that due dates for assignments are given, such as verbally by the teacher, written on the board, a written flyer for the backpack. If your child is having difficulty turning in assignments on time, investigate whether there are problems with any of the above methods for how your child is receiving the information about due dates.

Observe your child at home to determine if there are problems with general organizational skills, time management, study skills. Also determine if your child appears "overextended" with lots of extra-curricular activities which take top priority over homework completion. Yes, we all want "well-rounded" children who have broad interests, passions, and hobbies. However, completing homework "on time" needs to take precedence over outside interests and activities. Also observe to make sure that your child has the necessary supplies right at hand to complete homework. Sometimes due dates are not met because prior planning was not done to insure that all books and materials are readily available. Observe your child to determine if they stick to a set schedule and homework routine. IF they don't, encourage use of a written schedule which lists time in half hour increments and then activities to be completed within that time frame.

Homework Styles

All children have different preferences for their personal homework environment. Children work better when they are comfortable and mentally ready to study and do homework. In order to determine how children can best complete their homework it is important to help your child discover their best homework environment by asking the following questions: When is the best time for me to do homework? What part of my homework should I do first? The harder part? The easier part? Where is the best place in the house for me to do homework? How should the room be lit? Bright, overhead lighting, or lamp light? Should I eat or drink while doing homework? Should I listen to music? Should I take breaks? If yes, how many and how long?

Engaging your child in their own decisions about homework completion gives them the message that "I own my homework; not my parents." Therefore "I am responsible for discovering the best way for me to complete my work with the best quality." Remember, parents, you are facilitators, assisting your child toward developing good, solid homework habits. Too much parental involvement will only stymie childrens' ownership of their work.

Parent-Teacher Partnership

Children's successes with their school experiences are significantly enhanced when parents and teachers work together with the common goal of building self confidence and high self esteem. Communicating about homework is an important process for helping children keep up their confidence. Here's a poem by an anonymous author which expresses my belief concerning how a child learns best.