Helping with Homework...When to Get Involved and What to Do

7th and 8th grade students are submitting their first 5-paragraph essays of the school year this Friday.  Please see the notes below for help on "helping" your child.

Parent involvement is a wonderful thing...but I want to be sure that what I'm grading is your child's work.  So, how do you know when to lend a hand or take a step back?

Generally speaking (and this is coming from me personally, I'm not speaking for all teachers), I would like you to check that your child's work is finished.  That doesn't you automatically have to look at their work everyday.  If your child has a good record with turning work in on time that is complete and well done, a verbal check is suitable. 

There may be times when you need to do more.  If your child has a string of late assignments or struggles with organization, checking the assignment notebook and each assignment may be a good tool for you to use (for a while).  Once it is becoming a habit, check more sporadically until your child is able to have their independence back. 

When students are working on long-term assignments or completing a final draft of a writing assignment, I do want a little more parent/guardian involvement.  My way to make sure you are aware of long term assignments is to send a letter home at the start and request a parent signature.  That way you can check in from time to time and monitor the progress.

When it comes to turning in final papers, I would like you to read the paper and look for problems with conventions (spelling, punctuation, grammar).  At that point, students have completed steps for pre-writing, written at least one draft, done peer editing, and I have looked at the paper.  While you may still see "flaws" that you would like to fix, please keep in mind that it is your child's paper.  You may recommend revisions, but let them do the work. 

I hope this helps you when you are helping your child.  Please let me know if you have any questions.