"Tutors are no longer just for children flunking out at school," writes Tralee Pearce in Battling the homework juggernaut. "What used to be a remedial fix is now commonplace for good students. In fact, 73 per cent of children being tutored bring home solid As and Bs, according to recent research by the Canadian Council on Learning."
While many parents complain their kids have too much homework, they are inspired to manage it, experts say. Seventy-five per cent of Ontario parents say their children have "somewhat" or "much more" homework than they did as a child, and by the time their kids are in Grade 4, 77 per cent of parents say they're helping out, according to a recent Ontario Institute for Studies in Education report."
Toronto District School Board teacher and tutor David Laredo took your questions on how to help your child cope with homework. Mr. Laredo's answers are now available at the bottom of this page.
David Laredo holds a masters degree in education and has been a teacher at the Toronto District School Board for the last ten years. He has tutored numerous kids in all grades and subject areas throughout his teaching career and is an expert at helping kids organize and prioritize homework. Mr. Laredo is currently the president and director of academics at Light in the Attic Learning Inc., an afterschool tutoring company offering one on one instruction for kids and lectures for parents who are interested in better helping their kids learn.
Jacob Sheldon, right, gets tutored by David Laredo of Light in the Attic Learning, one of a new generation of centres offering not just science and math, but snacks and door-to-door bus service. (Tibor Kolley/The Globe and Mail)
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Rasha Mourtada, Globe Life web editor: Thank you, David, for taking reader questions today. What's your best advice for parents who struggle to get their kids to do homework?
David Laredo: First, relax! I know that many parents are not familiar with integers or volume and surface area of three dimensional shapes but as a parent what we need to remind ourselves is how important it is to help our children without engaging in a power struggle in which both sides get frustrated and end up hating each other for the remainder of the evening. Pick the same time and place in your home each night to complete your homework. Commit to this by making it a standing appointment for both of you. Your commitment to learning will no doubt help your child's commitment. Ask your child questions about they have been asked to do. Try to chunk out the components of the work into more manageable parts and then tackle the homework as a team not as an authoritarian. Never place blame, and always come from a place where you want to help your child rather than dictating. If at the end of these suggestions you both are still having trouble with the concepts being presented, then "your team" can come up with clear questions for your child to bring to their teacher the next day. This will show the teacher that your child is taking responsibility for their own learning and help the teacher figure out what your particular child's roadblocks are. It will also go a long way in terms of beating the feeling of being overwhelmed.
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