How much is too much help?

    It’s an age-old question: How much help from parents do children need in completing their homework? How can parents collaborate with teachers to nurture their children for their best academic performance?
    Two elementary school principals – Vanessa Chavis of St. Peter Claver in New Orleans and Sybil Skansi of Mary Queen of Peace in Mandeville – said parents are critically important in helping students perform their best in school. And, communication with the school whenever problems crop up is extremely important.
    “It’s not that parents don’t want to help their children, but sometimes they don’t know how to,” Chavis said. “We have an open invitation to those parents who are not sure how to help their kids with their homework to come here and let us teach and show them how. Once they know how to, then it becomes a priority.”
 

Teachers offer parents help
    At St. Peter Claver, parents who request it can come into the classroom and monitor teaching techniques, and they also can contact a teacher during a planning period to address specific issues that the child may be having difficulty grasping.”
    Skansi said the amount of hands-on work at home varies, especially for different age groups, but she emphasizes with parents the concept of setting up a structured environment – a set time and comfortable place without distractions – for children to do their homework.
    “It really helps if a parent can provide the environment and the structure for children to get their homework done,” Skansi said. “Then the parent can encourage them to do it on their own and watch that it is done. That helps kids to develop their own study habits and enhances their ability to do it themselves. You don’t want parents who do so much for them that they become too dependent. Homework is something that reinforces something they already know. The parent is there to be the cheerleader. That helps them feel better about themselves and their learning habits.”
    A basic strategy for parents is to find out exactly what the child has for homework, Chavis said. The child should bring the homework assignments home, but if there is any question, St. Peter Claver has a website on which every homework assignment is listed for every grade.
    Children have different learning styles, but Chavis suggests that it’s a good thing for kids to have a short break and a snack before they tackle their homework.
    “Don’t let them get into the homework right away when they get home,” Chavis said. “Let them eat a snack and let them wind down. Most parents say they let their child go out and play for a little while, and then when they come back in it’s crunch time for homework, dinner, bath and maybe a little TV. They need a little time to wind down.”
 

Snack break might help
    Skansi said whether or not to take a break after school is “individual to the child.”
    “I get feedback from some parents who say that their kids are in that learning mode and want to just get it done, and then there’s unlimited time to play,” Skansi said. “Others say their child needs a break or a snack. They are all individuals. Children develop their own learning styles and their own habits for learning outside the classroom.”
    Skansi said if parents feel their children are taking too long to complete homework assignments, they should talk to the teacher.
    “If it looks like the child is taking longer than the guidelines, you need to look at why,” Skansi said. “It goes back to study habits and work habits. A child may be sitting at a table for three hours but really only being attentive to the homework for a half-hour.”
    Skansi even asks teachers occasionally to do the assigned homework to see how long it takes them to complete the tasks. “The teacher might think she can do it in 10 minutes, but it might really take 20 minutes,” Skansi said. “We spot check to make sure it is reasonable.”
    “Everybody has a different learning style,” Chavis added. “And, things have changed in the way they’re being taught to kids. Math is a good example. Math is not taught the same way as when we were taught math.”
 

Can’t pour it on
    The school has a responsibility to be reasonable in the amount of homework teachers assign, Skansi said.
    “Homework has a purpose, but I don’t think kids need to be in school for eight hours and then have six hours of homework,” Skansi said. “We know kids need balance. Kids are involved in so many things – sometimes too many – but a lot of times their other activities are good and healthy. What’s really important is the child learning that they can be in control of their own learning.”
    Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at pfinney@clarionherald.org.