Help with homework?

On the topic of computers our schools lend them out to those who don’t have them. DGS has been lent one because of his autism (state school) and DGD at another school has also been lent one. Obviously we are very fortunate.

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Reported.

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It seems you need to do some more homework. What a load of tosh. You obviously forgot to add a link to whatever you’re advertising. Reported.

I don't remember my parents ever helping me with homework and I gave very limited help to our children, mostly at the primary stage.

However we now have four teenage grandchildren, all living some distance away and thanks to technology I have weekly sessions with each of them, which started during the first lockdown.

I am not a trained teacher but have always liked maths so we generally do some maths together and have a chat. I try not to "do their homework" but may give them hints. Sometimes we look at maths you tube videos.

As well as their coursework we also do problems from "the Ultimate Maths Challenge " a brilliant anthology of problems from the UK Mathematics Trust.

When we do problems together I sometimes make mistakes, not a bad thing as they know we can all make mistakes and there is a difference between silly careless mistakes and not understanding. Fortunately they seem to enjoy it.

Occasionally I wake up in the middle of the night going over a maths problem and I think this may happen more often now that the oldest is doing A Level. I think we all benefit from it. Our relationship is closer than it could otherwise have been since we are seldom able to visit each other and I hope attempting to get my head round things I did a very long time ago, but long since forgot, must be good for my brain.

Only helped DC with homework such as reading and practising spelling and tables at primary and doing revision checks later on, just as my mum did for us. It was good for me too as I had to read, and remember so I could ask appropriate questions or know the answers.
During Covid DGC wanted me to look at online learning and tasks he had from school. The maths and science programs were excellent. I could have been good at physics if we’d had access to those.

Very true Mollygo. BBC Bitesize is an amazing resource.

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Just doing their homework for them is futile. They will fail, their exams.

However for a parent or grandparent to take an interest in their schoolwork and help them understand what they find difficult can surely only boost their knowledge, ability and confidence.

My parents took no interest in my education and I just had to get on with it myself. Fortunately I was also friendly with some of the other brighter children in the class and we studied together for GCE. If I had chosen to have children I would have expected to cope with homework themselves, as I had to do. Similarly friendship fall outs, bullying and so on. I dont believe in wrapping kids in cotton wool. Its a bloody hard world out there and they have to learn to sink or swim.

When I went on to teach in higher education later in life I was astonished at how helpless and needy some of the undergraduate home based students were. Too idle to come to lectures and tutorials and then expecting it all set out for them in handouts.

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Reported.

DS once asked for help with Latin homework. I told him he should wait for his dad to come home but he insisted on telling me the question (which I didn’t understand) and then said ‘thank you. I’ve got it’ and then went back into his room.