Last week I shared a post called “Whose Homework is it Anyway” in which I promised to share, in a separate post, some of the things we have found useful in managing the homework for which parents are actually needed.

As you may already know, in our home we encourage our kids to work independently and that is what they do for their grammar exercises, writing assignments, book reports and various other projects.

That said, there are some things with which the school encourages parents to help out.  We agree that our involvement is helpful in:

• listening to our kids read out loud
• spelling practice (Dictée)
• helping the kids practice their addition, subtraction and multiplication tables

(The school discourages us from helping with the rest of the math homework because the children are being taught in an entirely different way of calculating than we were and they are concerned that it will confuse them.)

We’ve found creative ways to keep this part manageable:

• Each child has a notebook for spelling practice in a designated place (no running around to find paper)
• While prepping dinner, I can listen to them read (although only 1 child at a time), read spelling words or quiz them on addition, subtraction or multiplication.  That said, dinner prep doesn’t last long enough to do all this for all the kids 🙂
• We send 2 kids upstairs to shower (we have 2 showers) while completing the rest with the other child(ren)
• When I am practicing or listening to one of the kids, the others do the rest of their work that does not require me.
• The kids can be quizzed on their math while doing other tasks, such as setting or clearing the table.  A teacher once suggested quizzing them while driving in the car…good idea as long as the kids take turns answering!
• For nights when we need to be out, either the babysitter helps or we record spelling words on an iPod and the kids play them back so they can practice writing them out.

What’s your plan for coping with homework?  Please share!

Wishing you a homework-free night 😉

Tanya