Parents. How much time do you spend helping your kids do their homework?

Question

Also do you persistently require that your kids do their homework?

Answer 1

I'm not a parent, but when I was a child, my parents helped me with my homework all the time. They would never do the homework for me, but they would give me hints and make up extra questions after I was finished with my homework to help me understand.

For my parents, my school work came before anything. I was not allowed to eat, sleep, play, watch tv until my homework was done. I did around 4 hours of homework for grade 1-8

Answer 2

I think that more than time spent helping, it's more a matter of organizing a set time and place for the child to do their homework. Homework should become such a habit that a parent will not have to insist. Doing homework is a minimal, basic requirement of being a good student and it should not be questioned at all. If the quantity becomes too much, a parent can and should address this with a teacher by giving crucial feedback about the amount of time an assignment is taking (a teacher might not know, every student is very different in this regard).

As a teacher myself, I have noticed that young people succeed most with firmly estalished routines regarding 1. time and place to do work 2. maintaining their own materials 3. understanding how to use resources (computer,dictionary, you) 4. believing that it is absolutely essential to get the job done - owning the responsibility via, say, the careful maintenance of a student planner.

A parent does not have to sit with a child each step of the way during homework sessions, but the family routine must reflect the importance of the work the child is doing. Cut the radio or television, distracting phone calls while the child is working. Offer smiles, encourgement, healthy snacks to reinforce that work is being done. Encourage your child to do both short and long-term planning. Have them be the child that asks a teacher what major project or assessment will be happening in a given evaluation period. Have them be the child that asks how they will be evaluated. Teachers are required to provide this information to their supervisors - why not to students? Most teachers will be delighted to do this. If students know what is expected for a given task, then they can gear their work towards that goal and can even ask their instructor if they are progressing well on a given assignment. As a parent, be a resource, cheerleader, side kick. Parents who are involved in this way are highly effective.

I cannot stress enough that the hardest kind of involvement might be a recognition that one's own adult pursuits must be coordinated around the growing academic concerns of the family. I'm not saying that parents cannot have a life, but I am saying that the life of the parent - if they want to help their child succeed - must be built around the needs of the child. If one parent is busy, then look for another parent, relative or community member to fill this role. Sometimes a local college student would be available to work as a homework buddy to one's child. Freely communicate with teachers - not just when things are going wrong - but with questions like, "how can we enhance what you are doing in the classroom at home?" If all of this is done in the early years, the child will know how to run their academic life on their own by middle school and may be able to self direct nicely in the high school years.
In high school, parents will want to keep a watch over how much time their child sleeps, internet and video game usage, coordination of sports, academic and social activities and the like. Parents should not be involved in the grade negotiation process which is like Monday morning quarterbacking. Students - even shy ones - need desperately to be empowered with great questions to ask their teachers and the clear belief that their teachers are there for them to provide extra help when needed. If a parent has had a negative school experience and with teachers in particular, it is essential not to communicate this negativity to the student. Homework is a time to practice and reflect individually on what is learned in the day. School life comes into the home when we have children and the best students generally come from homes which support their learning as a high priority in the family.

Answer 3

My situation is a little different, since my "kids" are exchange students. So, in the beginning of the year, it can be a couple hours per night, especially with American history and when they need help with English vocabulary. Generally though, I wean them off pretty quickly and then just am around if they need some help. Sometimes I'll moderate an AP history class study group for them and their friends.

Yes, I do require that they do their homework as this is a major part of a grade in US schools -- unlike what they are used to in Europe.

Answer 4

Too much time and a lot of frustration.
On the average, 3 hours or more and it keeps getting worst.
I'm on my youngest one now (2 older) and I feel like I have been in school forever and they still have a hard time. All of my boys keep being pushed forward when I don't believe they are ready, the teachers won't hold them back a year, and the school works keeps advancing faster with each son. I can only pray that they somehow will graduate because I'm tired.
PS I am a full time worker and a single Mom.

Answer 5

I am not a parent, but when I was a child or now ,my parent never help with my homework. Before I moved to the united states, when I was in Canbodia, I got straight Fs, I learn chinese, Cabodian, and English. Once I ask my father to help me with my homework, he said to go ask my big brother. It was painful. Father is too lazy to help. Mother did not go to school much because when she was my age, cambodia was in a war with canbodian itself . And I never did my homework. Now in the USA ,.I just do my homework with the the help of my brother. My grades are As and Bs. But I still don't have enough time and a good place to study because we live with my aunt. she loves to prevent me and my brother from studying. especialy me, she hates me, she wants me to get low grade.

Answer 6

I am not a parent, I am a student. My parents rarely ever help me with my homework because I never ask for help (I don't give up on homework easily). My sister, on the other hand, asks for homework help often. My parent's don't really mind though.

As to your second question, yes, my parents constantly remind me that I need to get my homework done. I probably would never get around to it unless my parents reminded me.

Answer 7

One hour every night would be ideal but its difficult as they have other priorities. As a teacher, I spent all my time helping others than my own. Its sad they do not allow me to help but I insist and make sure the homework is done.

Answer 8

I use to spend hours with my daughter helping her with her homework. Now I rarely have to help her.
She is in 10th grade now and I left the doing of homework entirely up to her. Homework is now her responsibility.