With school often comes homework, particularly for older grades. While you shouldn't do their homework for them, there are a lot of ways that you can help them while still letting them learn in age-appropriate ways.
First of all, help them set the stage. Make sure there's a distraction-free area for studying, with plenty of basic supplies and a way to organize it so it doesn't get cluttered.
Second, understand what's expected. Teachers will often assign 10-20 minutes per grade level. At the lower grades, they may only have homework in one or two subjects per day, but as they get older they'll start to get homework in every subject.
Help your child plan. Encourage them to start on the hardest subject first while they're still the freshest. If they have longer projects, help them come up with a plan for completion (but make sure they're coming up with ideas too).
Help them evaluate. Feel free to check their work, but then let them fix their own mistakes. Ask questions about what they've learned to help it stick and help bolster critical thinking skills.
Finally, help them have a good attitude. It's ok if you didn't like school, or a particular subject, but let your kids make that decision on their own. Talking about certain school subjects in a negative light, even casually, can subconsciously set a child up to perform at a lower level. Instead, show interest, and talk about the benefits of what they're learning.
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