How Do I Know If My Children Are Doing the Homework They Should Be
Doing?
This is a difficult question. Beginning at the primary grades, get your
children into the habit of copying home assignments in a special booklet
or section of a notebook. A folder that holds the assignment pad and a
place for homework worksheets and essays is often a good idea. From time
to time you should check on whether the assignments are written down. If
they are incomprehensible, ask your child what the assignment is and see
if the child knows. Insist that future assignments be written carefully.
If your children use a laptop computer in the classroom, such as an
eMate, keeping track of homework is as simple as typing it into the computer
and bringing the computer home each night. Teachers and parents should
work with students to set up good homework habits when using portable technology.
It should be, for example, clear to students where home assignments should
be stored on the computer and that they must be copied onto the computers
correctly.
If your child is telephoning on a regular basis other children in the
evenings to get assignments, this is a sign that your child is not copying
down assignments as the teacher wishes. Your child is depending upon others
and may even try to get some answers while asking about the assignments.
Some parents will hear from the teachers about problems with home assignments.
Often students who are having problems with doing assignments are not copying
them down in home assignment notebooks. Sometimes they just aren't doing
them. If you are having such problems with your children, you might ask
the teachers to use a homework form with your child. This type of form
may include a list of subjects and a space for each assignment. After the
child copies the assignment, the teacher checks to see that it is copied
correctly and initials it. At home you check the sheet daily and initial
also.
