Homework help: When is it too much?

As a teacher of students with learning problems, it's amazing how often I see kids who have completed all of their homework perfectly and yet, they cannot complete the work assigned in class on the same topic.

It seems that all my students have their parents help them do their homework. But providing too much help leads to over-dependence on assistance and no real independent learning. To encourage good learning skills for your children, follow these steps:

• Concentrate on acting as resource people, instead of actively assisting children with their homework.
• Be happier with an independently achieved C+, than a parent-assisted A and realize it's worth more for our child's long-term achievement and self-sufficiency.
• Allow them to work independently: If, for example, your child does his homework at the kitchen table, you could be preparing dinner or reading in the family room, but not sitting beside him at the kitchen table.
• If they ask for help, answer questions that will direct them to think independently instead of doing the thinking for them. This means saying: "Check the dictionary" instead of "It means...."
• If children have a topic but don't know how to start writing their composition, show them how to brainstorm and make mind maps, instead of giving them topic sentences.

All in all, we should remember that learning about how to learn on their own is the real key to learning. We can all be taught by someone else, but only some of us learn to locate the answers on our own. Give your children the legacy of independence - teach them to learn on their own.