Homework may seem like an odd subject for a homeschool blog but a recent forum conversation got me thinking about homework and how much is really needed.
Parents are seeing their kids get much more homework than they remember getting themselves. They wonder why, especially when the level of education is declining, (compared with other countries) kids have so much more work. Some parents think all of the schooling should be done at school, leaving the children time to play at home. Other parents believe that children cannot be successful unless they do a good deal of homework at home, and then some. So how much homework is necessary, and how involved should parents be in helping the student with homework?
When my kids were in school (through 1st and 3rd grades), homework took up a major portion of our evenings. The amount of homework my children did depended directly on how well they had grasped the concepts and lessons in school that day. This was my decision, and I like to think it was a wise decision. The work the teacher assigned was only the beginning of their homework assignments.
I had a process for helping the children with homework. First, they did the work assigned by the teacher. I would check the work and let them know if they had any errors. If the errors were substantial, I would search for online resources to help re-explain to them the concept they did not understand. When I was comfortable that they understood the concept, I had them redo as much homework as was needed. Some days, we did not have to go beyond the first step. However, several times a week, the children needed further explanation and instruction than they had received in school.
To read how my rigid homework process influenced my decision to homeschool, stay tuned for my next post.
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