This document summarizes a presentation about helping kids with homework. It provides tips for parents and teachers, including making sure the work is at an appropriate level for the child's abilities, providing a conducive study environment, being aware of any learning patterns, breaking work into manageable parts, using reading and writing strategies, and teaching children to become independent learners by using reference materials. The overall message is that with the right attitude, praise, and shared responsibility between parents, teachers and students, kids can be supported to successfully complete their homework.

1. November 2012
Helping Kids with their Work
presentation by Annabel Desira
Programmes’ Co-ordinator
Foundation for Educational Services

2. Why are children given
?
• It is one way to re-inforce what they do at dayschool level.
• It is beneficial because they learn to tackle their
difficulties hence problem-solving.
• They revise and practise learnt concepts.
• It instils curiosity and hence the urge to learn
new things.
• In the meantime they’re brushing up their
skills – skills they that they need later on in life!

3. •
•
•
•
•
Whose responsibility is it to finish the work?
It is the child’s responsibility to finish the work.
Parents are responsible for monitoring that the
work is done.
Teachers are responsible for making sure that
the work that is being assigned is relevant to the
child’s world and within the child’s capabilities.
How can we help? To get there we don’t need
any magic keys but Attitude & Praise can make
a big difference.
Ownership from the learners side can do the
trick!
How do I stop Fido
from eating my delicious homework?

4. Whose homework is it?
Is s/he working in the
right environment?

5. Who are we working with?
Are we aware of any learning patterns?

6. Which tasks does this work entail?
•
•
Reading & Comprehension of what is being asked.
Answering correctly most commonly in written form.

7. Breaking it down into manageable bits!
• Plan the way ahead together!
• Time Cards – children need help in
visualising time.
• Mini Rewards – a rewarding activity at the
end of every part.
• Don’t always start with the most difficult!
• Take a short break but not many breaks!

9. Reading Strategies
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Popcorn Reading
Sequencing Game
Guided Reading & Questioning
Anticipation & Prediction
Paired Reading
Different Genres of Reading
A Story Bag / A Story Box
Role-Play Games

10. Skill Cards!
When children are doing
the same task on their own,
you might not be around,
what do they do?
They need to be independent learners.
Find skill cards like these on the internet
and share them with them!
Attractive and useful cards
could be laminated and
used as a future reference.
This way they learn to refer to:
•Dictionaries
•Thesaurus
•Encyclopedia / Wikipedia etc…
because you’re instiling the idea!

12. Writing Strategies
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pre-Writing
Drafting
Sharing & Peer Response
Re-drafting
Editing & Revising
Publishing