Home Work Help for
Kids and Parents

What is the purpose of home work and why do kids need help with their home work? The purpose of home work is two-fold, one to review what was taught in class that day and two, to practice a concept that is going to be taught in the near future.

As your kids progress in school they will continue to need home work help when new concepts of home work are introduced. For instance, they will be expected to complete bigger projects like science projects, book reports, etc. Don't do these for them, just offer guidance and suggestions to help them.

It's important to give your kids home work help early on to develop good study habits that will carry them through their academic life.

Yes, it's always better to start early with developing good study skills in your child. But, for whatever reason, what if you didn't? Well, it's always better to just start now!

Here are some helpful tips for help with home work that can be used no matter how old your child is:

Dedicate space to schoolwork. Give your child a desk or table in a quiet place in the house. Make sure they have proper lighting, no TV, and no phone calls during home work time. Although keep in mind they may need to make or take a call from a friend if they have a question about their home work.

If they are studying at the kitchen or dining room table, then give them peace. No distractions from anyone walking by or talking around them.

Give them all the supplies they will need. Stock their desk with everything they need for schoolwork like pencils, pens, paper, a small dictionary, and thesaurus. You do not want them to have to get up and go look for supplies while they are studying.

Organize their home work. As I mention on my page Teach Your Kids How to Get Organized, kids need home work help when they first start out. Help them decide if they are going to tackle the hard stuff first, or start with something easy, work on the hard stuff, then finish up with some easy home work.

Set a dedicated time for home work. My kids like to get a snack right after school then hit the books. If one of my kids is in an after school sport, then they do their home work around the sport whenever they have an opportunity either before practice or after dinner. I try to stress there should be no wasted time.

Don't do their home work for them. If you child needs help with home work, read it through with them, then ask them questions. Give them guidance by asking them questions to help solve the problems.

If you see your child struggling or taking too long to do home work, then get involved. Ask the teacher how long home work should take. Make sure your child is getting the help they need by asking questions in class.

Stay involved. No matter how old your child is or how much they have mastered their study skills, stay involved in their schoolwork. Ask your child questions about their schoolwork, home work, and grades. Ask when they have quizzes and tests and ask your child how they think they did. Watch to see if they are struggling or taking a long time to complete their home work. If your child's school offers online access to their grades and assignments, then get online and review them!

Develop good life long study skills. Utilize home work time to develop good study skills that will help your child as they progress through school.

When your child finishes up their home work early, or they don't have any, encourage them to review and get organized for the next day. See below for using 3x5 cards for study notes.

Get your child in the habit of studying for tests. To study for tests, have them write short notes on 3x5 cards to review in their free time. They can then review these cards when they have a break in class, or have night with little or no home work.

This study skill will pay off big when your child enters high school and college and is inundated with a lot of reading in several classes. This will help immensely with comprehension skills needed for test taking.

Develop a love of reading in your child. One of the single most important study skill tips to develop in school that I have seen benefit my kids the most is reading. Once your child masters reading, all the other subjects just seem to click for them. So, always read to your child and encourage a love of reading in them. Then, when they learn to read, take turns reading with them.

If you use these home work help tips to develop good study skills in your child, they will be able to strike a balance between work and play better. Their work will be easier because you have helped them set up a system of organization that fosters learning that will work and grow with them their whole academic life. Hence… more free time… and less time struggling with poor study skills and poor grades.

If you like this page, be sure to check out Teach Your Kids How to Get Organized for more excellent tips on organizing your kid's schoolwork and home work help.

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