That Pesky Homework!

From the National Middle School Association:

Question: How much should I intervene with my daughter's homework? I like to think that I am involved when I ask her about it or offer to help. My involvement is her interference. What should my role be? What do other parents do?

Answer: Remember that young adolescents think they are happiest when they can keep their home and school lives separate. That is why they work so hard to keep parents out of their schools, including homework. Most parents of young adolescents feel that they would know very little about their adolescent's homework if they weren't insistent on hearing about it. It is best to err on the intrusive side than to be laissez-faire about it. You should know the homework policies of both the school and the teachers. What are the expectations for nightly homework? Where can your child go for extra help? What can you do to help from home? If any of these things are unclear to you, or if you hear from your son that, "My teacher doesn't care if I turn in my homework or not," that is a signal to contact the teacher AND to have a friendly conversation with your son. Parents of young adolescents need to know that you do care about their homework and that you will ask about it every day.