| This week's topic is homework help and our expert is Joella Good Newberry, who currently is a fifth-grade teacher at Bear Creek Elementary School in Boulder, Colorado. Your child will be bringing homework home from school almost every night. It may be reading or writing, a one-day assignment such as math or spelling or another weekly assignment or long-term project. The purpose of homework is to reinforce what your child is learning at school and enlarge the concept of learning to include the world beyond the school door. What your child is learning and thinking about is very important. Besides the actual concept or skill to be practiced, homework is a vehicle for learning how to be an effective student. It teaches responsibility, independence and helps the child know that he or she is responsible for his or her own learning. How can you help? Ask your child about homework with the same natural interest you would display when asking a friend about a good book. Use the same respect for what your child is reading and doing as you would for a friend's new job or project at work. Ask your child to set up a weekly schedule for homework. Talk about soccer practice, piano lessons and Girl Scouts and come up with a plan of action. Help your child with follow-through on meeting the commitment to excellence. On Monday, the child may do homework from 4:00 to 5:30. On Tuesday, homework may be from 7:00 to 8:30 depending on the child's schedule. In some households, "study hall" takes place from 7:00 until 9:00. Time management and self-discipline are invaluable gifts you can provide for your child. An assignment notebook or "day-runner" for your child is a must to help support these goals! | |
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