Provide Supplies and Identify Resources
Have available pencils, pens, erasers, writing paper and a dictionary. Other supplies that might be helpful include a stapler, paper clips, maps, a calculator, a pencil sharpener, tape, glue, paste, scissors, a ruler, a calculator, index cards, a thesaurus and an almanac. If possible, keep these items together in one place. If you can’t provide your child with needed supplies, check with her teacher, school guidance counselor or principal about possible sources of assistance.
For books and other information resources, such as suitable computer websites, check with the school library or your local public library. Some libraries have homework centers designed especially to assist children with school assignments (they may even have tutors and other kinds of individual assistance).
You may want to ask your child’s teacher to explain school policy about the use of computers for homework. Certainly, computers are great learning and homework tools. Your child can use her computer not only for writing reports and for getting information through Internet resource sites, but for “talking” with teachers and classmates about assignments. In many schools, teachers post information about homework assignments and class work on their own websites, which also may have an electronic bulletin board on which students can post questions for the teacher and others to answer. However, you don’t have to have a computer in your home for your child to complete homework assignments successfully. Some schools may offer after-school programs that allow your child to use the school computers. And many public libraries make computers available to children.
Parenting viewpoints from parents in the trenches, because parenting doesn’t come with a manual. In addition to