These days it seems like teachers send home as much work for parents as they do for kids. Some even ask you to correct your child’s papers. Let me tell you, with four kids and no answer key in sight, those kinds of tasks can eat up an entire evening quickly.
I’m an involved parent, and I don’t mind helping the teacher out a bit, but I don’t have time to work each problem in every subject for all four kids to come up with the correct answers. My girls have extra curricular activities, Awana, and we do have to eat dinner, clean it up, take showers, pack lunches, lay out clothes for the next day, clean out backpacks, etc., and still squeeze in some fun and a little quality time together before the girls head off to bed.
Another problem some parents face is understanding the work. It’s been a while since some of us have been in class, not to mention the fact that a lot of things have changed. I went to see my daughter’s math teacher and she basically laughed at me. She said she doesn’t know any parents that fully understand new math. I still want to know what’s wrong old math.
The good news is there are homework help sites online (*see resources listed below) to walk us through new math and other fun stuff like that, and occasionally you can even find answer keys for some assignments (caution: that means kids can find them too). Better yet, you can also ask teachers to either send answer keys to your email or post them on a protected page on the school website if they expect you to grade papers.
Getting settled into the back to school routine can be hectic, but if you and your children’s teachers can work together, it does make things easier. Just try not to let frustration build up. Keep the lines of communication open between you and the teacher and see if you can each find ways to make things work smoother for both of you.
*Resources:
The Homework Spot – Offers help by subject and by grade level (grades K-12) including science project ideas.
Math.com – Free lessons and help with everything from the basics to geometry, algebra, and more.