Good study habits

Experts believe in one overriding approach: It's your child's homework, not yours. Jane Clifford details study smart approaches to homework

In his book "Ending the Homework Hassle: Understanding, Preventing and Solving School Performance Problems," John Rosemond says parents have to stop being "parent-participants."

"Parent-participants, although well-intentioned, are addicted to being overly involved in their children's lives. They live through their children and take their children's successes and failures very seriously and very personally. They overdirect, overprotect and overindulge. They take on responsibility that rightfully belongs to their children, thus robbing them — although unintentionally — of opportunities for growth."

He encourages the role of "parent-consultant," who is "simply available to provide help when help is truly needed." That assigns responsibility to the child for getting the work done and encourages independence.

Rosemond tells the story of his son, whose bedtime in third grade was at 9, but when Rosemond and his wife would go up to start the "good night" routine, their son suddenly remembered all the homework he hadn't done and was up until 10 or later. Rosemond and his wife instituted a new routine that, barring a special project, homework time would end by 8, so there could be family time, or he would go to school with it unfinished and pay the consequences. Enforcing that was painful, but before long, their son was starting on his work earlier to be sure he was done by 8.

In "Homework Talk - The Art of Effective Communication About Your Child's Homework," the authors, Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby, give parents what they call snapshots. There are 52 of them that, essentially, break the homework issue down to manageable bites — from being organised and developing time management to working independently and the parent's role in homework. One thing they suggest is creating a contract — one for parents and one for the child.

Parents, for example, can agree to provide a place to do homework, and the necessary supplies. They can include what they think their role is in monitoring and helping. The child can agree to ask questions about things not understood, to bring home the necessary books and assignments, to settle on a place where homework will be done, and to work diligently to get it done rather than procrastinating and otherwise goofing off during homework time. Both parent and child sign and date the contracts they create, which makes expectations — and consequences — clear.

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