Homework can be tough – on kids and parents. When dd1 was in Gr. 2 I remember spending 2 hours a night supervising homework. 2 hours! Finally, at parent/teacher interviews I casually, but purposely, mentioned how long it was taking to finish homework and the teacher was shocked. It shouldn’t take that long – maybe I’m giving too much. Ya think?!
A few homework tips to pass along
- Schedule homework time into a daily activity – same bat time…same bat channel
- Find the right homework time for your family (for us…it’s after snack but before TV)
- To each their own homework – even your pre-school kids (psst…print out colouring pages for their “homework”)
- Use brain power and no e-aids – no phones, no laptops, no tablets or calculators (unless required)
And when you hit the homework wall (for me that is Gr. 6 math – yikes!) know to call on your resources.
http://www.sosdevoirs.org/ - FREE Canadian and available to kids in French public schools SOS DEVOIRS connects real teachers with your real kid to help with homework questions via telephone, email or chat.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/elearning/homework.html FREE, Canadian and available to English speaking math students (grs. 7-10) who can log in from Sunday to Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST for 20 hours a week of individualized confidential math tutoring.
As said above, don’t be afraid to talk to the teacher about homework struggles (hey, you don’t know the answer to a question if you don’t ask).
And above all, try, try, try to keep homework positive. Yes, it can be exhausting but you can add “COACH” to your résumé. Because, in the end, homework builds the foundation of learning, life skills, focus, confidence and self-starting. Skills that, we – the parents – use everyday when we supervise homework 
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