Whenever I start a sentence with the words, “Tonight’s homework is...” I know it will be met with moaning and groaning. I am never surprised by my students’ attitude toward extra assignments. In fact, I can even sympathize with them. After all, they have been cooped up in my classroom all day doggedly working sums and sounding out new words. It seems almost cruel to ask them to fill up their after school hours with more work.

More surprising to me than my students’ outcry is the number of parents that join in with their complaints. All too often I hear parents telling me that homework is too much work for them, or they feel like they are being asked to do the teacher’s job. Unfortunately, this mindset hinders the opportunity parents have to show their children that they care about their education.

As a teacher, I have found that when parents become involved in their children’s schoolwork, their children do significantly better in school. Perhaps the best way you can actively involve yourself in your child’s education is through homework. So how can a parent optimize their children’s learning experience without jeopardizing their own sanity?

Understand the Purpose of Homework
Understanding the purpose of homework is essential. Homework is simply an extension of the work students are doing in class. It is meant to reinforce what they have learned by giving them an opportunity to practice and apply newly acquired knowledge outside of the classroom. As a bonus, it also teaches children valuable life lessons about discipline and responsibility. By overseeing your children’s homework, you have a direct window to see what your child is learning every day. Remember, homework is meant to review material already learned and should never be used to introduce new concepts. If you feel that this is happening, it is important to talk to your child’s teacher.

Developing Responsibility and Organizational Skills
Having a set time and place to do homework is a great way to develop responsibility and organizational skills in your child. Make sure that they have a quiet environment to work in and all the materials they need are provided. Make yourself readily available to answer questions or keep your child on task, but don’t offer help that isn’t asked for. Periodically check on your child to let them know you care about what they are doing, but don’t hang over them while they work. Part of the lesson homework strives to teach is independence. When you do offer help, make sure that you facilitate your child arriving at the solution. Never supply answers to your child even in the guise of helping them finish faster. If a fellow student were to give your child the answer to a problem in class, you would call it cheating. Doing your child’s work for them not only voids out all the educational benefits, it does little to teach them the value of integrity.

Monitor Assignments
While you shouldn’t do your child’s homework, it is important to help them keep track of their assignments and check to see that their homework is completed each day. If the teacher doesn’t send a homework sheet home, buy your child a notebook or calendar and teach them to write down assignments and due dates. If more than three days pass without homework being assigned, call the teacher just to make sure your child isn’t missing any assignments. Clear and constant communication with your child’s teacher keeps misunderstandings at bay and optimizes your child’s learning experience.

Letting Your Child Accept the Consequences
What if you have done everything suggested and your child still doesn’t finish their homework? Don’t make excuses for them. Letting your child accept the consequences of their missing assignments can go a long way in teaching them to be responsible. If you call the teacher and make an excuse for the unfinished assignment, you have just sent a message to your child that no matter what they do or don’t do, Mom or Dad will bail them out. I once had the parent of a fifth grader ask me not to penalize her son because he consistently failed to bring his math book to class. She felt I shouldn’t mark him down because it was her fault for not putting the book in his backpack. I wonder if she will be as eager to make excuses to his boss someday if he doesn’t show up for work or take responsibility for his bills, should he fail to pay them?

Homework doesn’t have to be a struggle. When approached with the right attitude and tools, it can be a great way for parents to show their children that learning is important. That is a lesson they will carry with them well into the years after they have put their schoolbooks away.