Avoiding Homework Disasters

Below I have listed some helpful hints to avoid homework disasters:

•    Homework is the student’s main responsibility. You can help them by teaching them to be organized at home.
•    There should be a time set aside each night for homework.
•    When they finish homework, after you have looked it over, they should put it right back into their backpack. The backpack should then be placed by the door that you leave from in the morning.
•    Students who do not turn in their homework on time will miss a few minutes of recess and their grade will be lowered for each day it is late.
•    Never throw anything away without first going through the papers with your child to find out what needs to be returned and what does not. Children become very upset when they have done their work only to have to sit out or redo the assignment because it was thrown out. No matter how much I feel for them, I can’t give them the grade without having the work.
•    Never just assume your child has completed their homework. Take the time to show them that what they have done is important. Glance at their work, checking for quality. Ask them a few questions about what they have done.
•    Be careful about setting work aside with the intention of going over it later. Mornings are very chaotic and homework is easily forgotten in the mad rush out the door.

If students make the above activities part of their nightly routine, there should be no need for him/her to spend more than 40-50 minutes on homework, not including nightly reading.