Homework 2: Check it or correct it?

That's very interesting to me, FreeDuck.

I was a flop at school UNTIL I got to college and from that point on it was easy.

I did nothing in high school except show up and take the tests. Because I like to read the tests were always easy. I just passed based on test scores; I'm an excellent test taker. Thank goodness attendance and homework didn't count against me.

The first college I went to, The University of Tulsa, was known to be rigorous academically but I thought it was a snap. The lectures were interesting enough to bother with and the rest was all reading. I was a straight A student without really trying.

My father gave me this bit of advice about college and it served me well:

Find out what book the teacher wrote and read that one too.

I thought college was a piece of cake compared to high school: turn in a paper, take a few tests -- easy.

1. Support and endorse the importance of homework. If you complain about the amount of homework, that it interferes with football practice or family life, you are not-so-subtly telling her, "It's not a priority." Homework is your child's single most important job. Any other message is sabotage. If extra curriculars make her too tired to do her homework, rethink the activities. That you check the homework site with her shows you consider it a priority.

Homework has ruined the last two nights of our lives. Mo is completely stressed out and miserable after a couple of the kids caught sight of his "easy" homework and made sure the whole class knew about it so that he got teased and now he's mad at me. I want my happy child back.

The more I read about the idiocy of homework the madder I get.

I can see that - that was more the way it was when I was in school. But I do see a difference in the homework assignments - not the normal write your spelling words and every day homework, but the projects and reports. They are much more creative now, and more open-ended. Much more interesting than I remember doing. And they stress to be creative - part of the grade is the creativity. Usually it is around solving some sort of problem. They had to pose as an endanagered species specialist and sell their animal so people would want to save them. They had to come up with an eatable cell. Really cool stuff some it.

Sure. I had time management skills as they pertain to school. But I had few independent thinking/problem solving skills unless they were math problems. I'm not saying I didn't learn responsibility and all that, just that what I was learning was how to be an elementary/middle/high school student. College was different. Work was different. School was different. Yes, I did my homework and turned it in on time. Yes I prepared for tests. No that wasn't enough to succeed in college. At least not on my first try. I didn't do well until I had more or less unlearned myself.

In the book she talks a bit about the value of sports and other non-academic pursuits in helping shape a well rounded person. I truly agree with her yet I still find myself coercing Mo into getting homework done under the threat of missing football. I kind of hate myself for that.

In today's boston.com:
http://www.boston.com/community/moms/blogs/child_caring/2010/10/how_much_homewo.html?p1=Well_Community_links

Quote:

The parents need to be thehomework coach. It is your job to:

1. Support and endorse the importance of homework. If you complain about the amount of homework, that it interferes with football practice or family life, you are not-so-subtly telling her, "It's not a priority." Homework is your child's single most important job. Any other message is sabotage. If extra curriculars make her too tired to do her homework, rethink the activities. That you check the homework site with her shows you consider it a priority.

2. Create a schedule and routine with your child , that is, don't impose the homework schedule on her. The routine doesn't have to be the same every day, but it should be consistent through the week. Every Monday, she does homework after piano; Tuesday, she does it after dinner, etc.

3. Help her to be organized. What location is to real estate, organization is to homework. Create a place that she can call her own with good lighting, desk space, and tools of her trade. Most kids prefer to do homework in the kitchen (I always thought that was a compliment) but sometime in middle school, they tend to want privacy and will find some other place. It's a rite of passage, go with it.

4. Arrive at rules together. Some kids really do a better job if they are listening to music but most kids don't; most kids can't concentrate on homework if the computer or cell is on in front of them. Agreeing to computer/texting breaks (use a timer, it's objective) is one way to compromise.

5. Don't hover but be available. Some children like to check it and show you their work, some don't. Reach a compromise, depending on which extreme you have. When my son reached middle school and wanted to be independent in his work, he would often ask me to read a report but only put a check in the margin if I had a suggestion or saw a problem. Then it was up to him to figure out what the problem was and whether he wanted to fix it.

6. Be in touch with the teacher. Bugaboo, since it sounds like you are probably already doing much of what I've outlined above, this is the one thing you might want to consider. Have a conversation with the teacher so that he/she knows what your philosophy is about homework and you know what his expectations are, including how much time it should take to complete homework, so you have some idea if your child is outside the bell curve on either end.

I am just reposting. Don't necessarily agree with everything here.....

1. Support and endorse the importance of homework. If you complain about the amount of homework, that it interferes with football practice or family life, you are not-so-subtly telling her, "It's not a priority." Homework is your child's single most important job. Any other message is sabotage. If extra curriculars make her too tired to do her homework, rethink the activities. That you check the homework site with her shows you consider it a priority.

I think you're right, David.

But I think this is a really popular religion. The church of "my kid is better than your kid (and you'd better not get in their way)".

I love the internet. What must that be like for kids now to grow up without ever really having to go to the library or open a 30 pound dictionary? Amazing really.

iTunes now has all kinds of educational videos -- some university courses even from MIT and OpenUniversity -- for free. I would self educate like mad when I was young if these were available then.