My DH thinks I help our DD too much with her homework.When my DD is done her homework I always go over it with her.Last night she had a few mistakes so I helped her correct them and made sure she understood why they were wrong.Is this wrong for me to do? Do the teachers at school not want the parents to help teach?I told my DH that he's wrong and how could I send her to school thinking she's right when clearly her answers were wrong.I was so frustrated with him because I couldn't understand how he thought it was wrong to teach her the right way or a simpler(sp) way to do it.Katie's always had her homework right and this is the 1st time I've had to help correct her answers.I've always considered myself to be the 1st teacher in Katie's life and I love teaching her and showing her new things and new ways of doing things.She has 20 kids in her class and how could I possibly expect the teacher to know if she's understanding everything or not?My DH never had his parents help with homework and he thinks I shouldn't help her correct her answers.

By Tink on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 07:53 pm:

I just talked to both of my dk's teachers about this. They are in 4th and 2nd grade and both of their teachers said they wanted us to go over homework and correct it *with* our dks before they turn it in. My 4th grader's teacher really emphasized that it needed to be my dd that found the right answer but that I should point out which problems were done incorrectly so that she can fix it. She also said that I should try to follow the directions she gives in class, even if I know how to do a math problem differently so that she isn't confused by two different strategies.

By Vicki on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 08:28 pm:

I agree with Tink. I have always checked dd's homework and had her make corrections to it and explain it if she didn't understand it. BUT, never teach them a different way to do it. Teachers expect it to be done the way it is taught to them and points can be taken off if it isn't done "correctly" even if they get the right answer.

By Debbie on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 08:28 pm:

My ds's 3rd grade teacher wants the parents to go over the homework with their child before they turn it in. I usually point out the ones that are incorrect, and have my ds fix them. I only help him if he doesn't understand something.

By Kaye on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 08:47 pm:

I do with my oldest two...if they let me! My middle kid often does his work before I realize he has homework. I don't correct my youngest because I think they need to "see" where he is. I have been trying to get him some dyslexia help. Sometimes I will have him write stuff underneath, like he does a lot of backwards letters, this week was b. So we did a line of b's and then I made him rewrite the words with b's.

A side note, he is in 3rd and does cursive. We were talking about forming letters, he really struggled with the b. Finally he said, "oh it is a backwards capital I". Uh yeah..LOL boy does he think differently.

And even a further tangent, I had to laugh at the typo in the title with the subject matter

By Luvn29 on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 08:59 pm:

LOL, Kaye, yes he definitely does think differently! I had to sit here and mentally write both in my head just to see! And I really notice those mistakes with contractions and possessive form, too!

Yes, you should always go over your child's homework and HELP them figure out why it is wrong,and let them correct it. That's the point of homework. Practice. It doesn't make sense to practice something the wrong way! You shouldn't sit there and give them the answers, but your job as a parent is to guide them. And if they are not understanding something, then it can help them so much to have that one on one explanation that the teacher may not get to.

By Mommmie on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 09:21 pm:

The school has told us not to correct it or even look at it.

By Breann on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 11:48 pm:

I'm torn on this. I can't decide what to do. On one hand, if I go over it with her and help her correct the problems, the teacher will never know that she was missing something.
On the other hand, if I don't help her correct it, maybe I'm not fulfilling my responsibility as a parent.


I can see why teachers would NOT want a parent to help correct it. Then they wouldn't know how they are doing on teaching certain things.
I guess it's a matter of how much you trust that the teacher will catch the errors and actually re-teach the child how to do it. (Instead of just marking it "wrong" and moving on)

By Dawnk777 on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 01:01 am:

If my kid was having trouble with it, I went over it! I figure it was extra teaching, especially if it was a new skill. Emily needed a little extra help with long division. She really didn't get it at school. She had trouble with the homework. They never did go over it in class. So, the next time she brought that math book home, I made her do all those problems again. The second time through, she figured out her mistakes and hasn't had trouble since. This was back in 4th grade.

Now, she has 9th grade geometry and doesn't need my help.

By Trina~moderator on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 09:03 am:

I do look over their homework and help when necessary but I'm not anal about making them correct their errors. It really depends on the child and if he/she is frustrated at the moment. DS takes constructive criticism fairly well, however DD, who is not as academically inclined, would shut down in total frustration if I were to point out all her mistakes and make her fix them. This isn't conducive to a learning environment. LOL!

By Tripletmom on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 09:56 am:

I will have a talk with her teacher on meet the teacher night.She's only been in school just a little over 3 weeks.She's in a split class this year so I think thats why they do not go over homework together as a class.I don't teach her math differently from the teacher,I just give her another way of double checking her work.I guess we all just want whats best for our kids.

Kaye-I will let the teacher teach her the english subjects and I'll stick with the math.LOL(typo)

By Luvn29 on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 10:08 am:

Well, it won't matter if she missed them, if you teach her why and she understands them now. The student does enough work in the classroom for the teacher to be able to see where the problems are. At least in the school where I work.

I guess what I am trying to say is this. In response to, how will the teacher know he/she is having problems with this if I help correct it? Well, if they are having problems and you "teach" them how to do it correctly, or how to understand it and don't just tell them the correct answer, then it won't matter. He/she will know how to do it now, so it isn't an issue anymore.

And like I said above, the teacher has enough in-class work that she can see where the problem spots are...

By Tripletmom on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 10:31 am:

Adena-That's how I feel exactly.I told my DH that she needed to know why the answer was wrong and help her get the correct answer.It's no longer an issue because she understands it now.I do think the teacher gives enough in-class work to know where things stand.

By Insaneusmcwife on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 12:09 pm:

I let my son do his homework and then either myself or my dh will go over the answers with him so he can correct his mistakes. I also make him flash cards for his vocabulary words and and quiz him daily on those as well as his spelling words.

By Cocoabutter on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 01:56 pm:

The most important thing is that the child understands the lessons, and it shouldn't matter who helps him get it, as long as he gets it.

I point out the portions of his homework that he got wrong, and tell him to do it over again. I don't give him the answers, but I may lead him in the right direction if he is struggling, and allow him to figure it out for himself. That's what any good teacher would do.

By Kaye on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 12:42 am:

Sheri, I didn't mean to be the grammar queen. I really did think it was a typo. I am bad about not rereading what I type and my fingers make mistakes like that all the time. It did just strike me as funny though

By Tripletmom on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 09:24 am:

Ditto Kaye-I didn't reread and you're right it was funny.I wasn't offended.