Raising Wayland: How Much Homework Help is Appropriate?

Now that school is in full session, our children are confronted with various levels of homework. Year after year, I always wonder what is an acceptable amount of parent involvement in the homework process. Should parents help, correct and remind their child to do their homework? At what age should children “figure it out on their own”? Just this past weekend, I had a conversation with my mother in-law, a retired teacher, and I was surprised to hear that she preferred parents to review homework prior to it being turned in. She would be frustrated by messy work or misspelled words. I argued that I heard that homework is a review of what students learn in class and if I help my child do their homework, how will the teacher know that the child is struggling with the concept?

For now, I remind my children to focus on their school work before getting wrapped up in an activity, and I am available to address questions. Though, to be honest, most of the time, my kids do in fact know more than I do at this point. Sometimes, I take a look at their final products and add my two cents, but more often than not, I prefer for them to work independently. No matter how old our children are I know that we all have children with different types of learning styles and parenting techniques when it comes to homework. I would love to hear how your family tackles homework.  

Do you remind your child to do their homework?

When do your children do their homework? After school, after dinner, before activities, etc?

Do you review and edit your children’s homework?

When there is a school project, do you partner together to accomplish it?

If you are a teacher, what are your expectations on homework?

At what age do children begin to work independently on homework?