GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — With a new school year underway, chances are your student is already coming home with homework.
How can parents help their children ace those assignments?
Read on to learn tips from April Ruiz, a longtime educator and founder of Mosaic Masterminds, a West Michigan-based tutoring organization.
Why is homework important?
Ruiz told FOX 17 students must practice what they are learning outside the classroom.
"There are several benefits to doing homework... for one, it allows our scholars to be able to extend their learning from the school day by applying what they've learned. It also gives them an opportunity to cement the lessons that the teachers have facilitated," Ruiz explained. "I'd say homework is exceedingly important for overall success and for confidence building, which, in our experience as teachers, is half the battle."
How can parents set their student(s) up for success?
Ruiz has several tips for parents to consider as students bring home assignments.
*Be proactive in your child's learning
Ruiz said, "It is exceedingly important to know ahead of time what's coming down the pike, so we're not caught off guard."
That leads to her next tip...
*Stay engaged
Ruiz advises staying in contact with your student's teachers.
"If our parents are clued into what's going on in the classroom, that makes such a tighter partnership in the learning process for the scholar, so, therefore, the teachers know what the students know what the parents know," she explained.
*Don't be afraid to check your student's backpack
Ruiz said this is important, no matter the age.
"Our tweens and teens are going through a lot of physiological changes as well. Their brains are a little scattered sometimes, and it's not always high priority for them to keep at the forefront of their mind an assignment or permission slip for a field trip, for example."
*Develop a routine
Ruiz said that may mean scheduling homework time
"I think it's really important to have a routine established, whether it's chores, homework, family, bonding, time, whatever the case may be, we need to schedule homework just like we schedule our extracurricular activities or other fun things we do outside of school," she explained. "They really appreciate structure. They respond well to it in most cases, and also just having that accountability."
*Take advantage of online resources
Ruiz said there's a wealth of information and learning tools online if your student needs some extra help.
"You could literally Google free math resources or free math literacy resources, free science quizzes online. And there's just a world of things out there that our parents and scholars can take advantage of for added practice. There's flash cards, there's physical flashcards, there's digital flashcards, there's games that are out there that can be played," she said.
*Know when to reach out for extra support
Groups like Mosaic Masterminds are available to help with challenges along the way.
Alicia Czarnik-Hagan has enlisted Mosaic Masterminds to help both of her students.
This summer, her 11-year-old son Harrison worked with a "Mastermind" tutor to prepare for the transition from elementary to middle school.
"My biggest thing right now is just helping to keep them organized and on track," Czarnik-Hagan. "I want [homework] to be done. Like, my expectation is that...I feel like it's important to teach kids about responsibility, organizing, planning, prioritizing, and that's really those skills that you get from homework."
Czarnik-Hagan said her biggest test is navigating the parent-child relationship while helping with assignments.
"It is the most challenging when I'm trying to teach something or explain something to my child, because I wasn't in that classroom that day, and so there's a different relationship," she explained. "Just balancing that relationship after school, of still being a parent, but not pushing too hard and like, breaking that the parent relationship and child relationship."
If there's one more tip to pass along, Ruiz said it's to "do something."
"If you don't have a school that is assigning homework regularly, be that gap filler where you can find opportunities for your scholar to extend his or her learning. Make sure that you are on guard and on duty, checking the parent view app, talking with the teacher, email, pop in and find out what's going on... just make sure that you're doing something. Something is better than nothing, and we want our scholars to win."
You can learn more about Mosaic Masterminds here.
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