Parents' Role Their Teen's Homework: A Teacher's Perspective

If you help the high school student in your home establish good study habits now, college will be that much less challenging. As a high school teacher, I have noticed that some of the habits of the parents of highly successful students remain consistent.

Check Their Homework-Sort of

I began teaching high school English in 2001 and I've noticed that the one thing that successful students have in common is that their parents are still involved in their education at home. The following habits are practiced by the parents of my most successful students.

1. Make sure that you see homework once or twice a week. Don't be predictable about the day of the week either. Or ask your children about what they are learning about in class and what they need to do at home. If you kids say they never have homework, you may want to check with the teacher. Some teachers assign 20-30 minutes of studying a night as preparation for super intense tests. Most kids don't think that counts if they don't have to turn something in.

2. Check for the basics in the assignment even if you have never taken the subject. Make sure that every question has a complete answer, the paper is neat, and that proper spelling and punctuation are used.

Extend Bedtime-With One Condition

Your kids are probably already pestering you about this one, so extend bedtime another 15-30 minutes beyond their usual lights out time provided they are completing their homework and household responsibilities every day. But give them the following condition for the extended period of being awake, during that extra time they have to be in bed and they can read or write in a journal. No telephone, no music, no TV, no video games, no computer. Both reading and writing will help them wind down, improve their academic skills, and get them used to the idea of being a lifelong learner.

Encourage Organization-In the Midst of Chaos

Make sure that your child has a binder with a divider for each class to organize his or her papers. A lightweight hole punch will further encourage organization.

Every paper your child turns in should have fist and last name, the date the assignment is due, the period of the class, and a specific heading describing the assignment. It takes just a small amount of time to write "Vocab. Ch. 4" or "Page 128: 1-29" but the time taken to organize homework or find an old assignment is dramatically decreased by this simple step of adding a heading.