Homework Help
If you are like most parents, you could get a little intimidated by the idea of becoming a resource for your kids to help them with their homework. But besides the teacher or a very knowledgeable friend, parents are the best resource for trying to sort out homework problems and get on track for any young student who is trying to get that important part of their academic life under control. So the first step that you must do as the parent of a school age child or teenager is do some work on your own attitude and priorities so you see helping your youngster through this tough part of life as a priority for you and part of your parenting responsibility.
The second attitude adjustment for you and your child is to see each other as partners in the success of your son or daughter. Too often parents and children become adversarial about homework and school issues in general and that friction doesn’t help anyone. But if your child knows you want to do all you can do to help and that you will give up the time needed to help him or her get that homework done, that can make all the difference between the success of failure of your child academically.
The truth is that you can often work these joint homework session in with other things you are doing. Mom can work on the kitchen while your daughter is doing homework at the table and still be there for her to bounce ideas of questions off of. Or dad can allow your son to have a table in your office to work on homework while you do your evening paperwork for work and both of you will be in a studious mood.
In both cases, you are giving the student one of the most important things they can get to be successful with their homework which is your support and your company. Doing homework can be a very lonely exercise and many times students quit too early because they feel isolated. By letting your child do that homework in a public place and where you are spending your time, as long as the TV is off and the phone isn’t allowed to interrupt, he or she will get that work done in record time and be in good shape for the next day at school.
This can become a very rewarding part of your parent and child bonding time. Don't worry if you feel you might not always understand what the child is studying. Many times just getting the student to talk about the subject, to review verbally what was covered in class or by asking questions about the topic and helping them learn how to navigate a text book, that is all the child needs to get back on track. And when that child gets up from the homework session smiling because it is all done and he or she feels totally ready for school tomorrow, you know you were the one thing your child needed the most. You were a good parent to that child.