I used to teach school long before I became a public school teacher. I started out in an effort to help the foster children in our home catch up, as many times we had children who had attended school irregularly, if at all, and were often behind.
In the evenings we studied current lessons and learned new materials. What I found was that younger children in our home began to learn information the older children were being taught, and this interested me as I was making no formal effort to teach them — they just picked it up.
I think, however, that the most important clue as to how this learning took place was that there was a time and place and framework for this learning … and this is what made the learning so easy.
Homework is just what the words say, work done at home. Usually, this means teacher-assigned work to reinforce what has been taught that day at school. It can mean time at home for practicing skills such as handwriting or multiplication. The most important part of homework is the where and the how it is done.
Although early grades may have little homework assigned, it is a good practice to set aside time each evening for homework, for practicing skills being learned at school. Very young children need this time for being read to, for being asked questions about what has been read, for talking about books and reading. Beginning readers need to be read to as much as those who do not yet read because the effort expended in learning makes reading more like work, and they need to be read to for the pleasure of reading.
Children of every age need time set aside for reviewing the day’s lessons whether or not formal homework assignments were made. Ask your child to show or explain to you during this time something he or she has learned that day in class. Homework time can be used to organize school materials, for sorting papers, assembling notebooks, covering books, (they are always coming uncovered) and for being sure supplies like pencils, pens, protractors, etc., are ready for the next day.
In addition to having a set time each evening for schoolwork at home, there needs to be a spot for this work. Certainly, it should be a quiet area, and without distractions such as television, family conversations, etc. There should be good light, a flat work surface and a comfortable chair. Parents can use homework time for their needs as well, in the same area, paying bills, catching up on correspondence or reading as the children are studying.
Parents who set aside this time at home, and insist the time be utilized for schoolwork or for practicing school skills such as reading or math, are sending a clear message to their children. School, schoolwork, and what the child is doing in school is important to them. What children need to learn is amazing and the habits they need for success must be developed early.
Although few of us can help our children with calculus or chemistry, we can provide for school success at the high school and college level by establishing good study patterns from the very start.
