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Without my father's advice, help, and guidance I doubt I ever would have made it through elementary school math. Suddenly just knowing your numbers wasn't enough, you now needed to learn all these strange new signs, and what they meant. It was all very confusing for my younger self. With my father's help though, I not only made it through four years of advanced mathematics in high school, but several semesters of college course work as well.

Parents are easily the most important source of information for young children. They not only look up to their parents, but they look to them for help with understanding their homework. The best parents are the ones who do not wait for their kids to come to them with questions, but the ones who get involved before hand, and find ways to help.

In the world of beauty pageants, there is something known as a stage mom. The stage mom is someone who takes complete control over their child's life, and pushes them to do better in the pageants. The world of academics have their own version of stage moms, only these people do more than push, they do the real work.

I was at a science fair for eight year olds when I overheard one of the parents admonishing their child for touching "my project". When the teacher asked the child a few basic questions about the project, they had no answers and it became quite clear that the parents had done all the work themselves. This happens far more often than we'd like to admit, and its not beneficial to either the parent or the child. The child isn't learning anything by letting someone else do their work, and in the future they will continue to expect others to do their work for them.

The problem then becomes one of finding a way to help, but without taking over and doing everything. The easiest way to do this is to set limits on the amount of time you do help with your child's homework, or school project. This means spending 15-20 minutes at a time helping your child, and then taking a small break. If you need to, you can go back and help more, but make sure the child is doing as much work as you are.

The other problem for many parents, is just finding the time to help their children with their homework. Between work, running errands, and dozens of other little things, some parents simply can't find the time to help their children. Those parents should focus on finding as much time as possible throughout the week, and on the weekends to offer help. Even if its only a few minutes one night, and a few minutes the next night, those minutes quickly add up. Then if you add a few minutes every night, or a few minutes every week, it will add up to even more time spent helping your children.

Parents who help their children with their homework and school projects have more chances to bond with their kids, and to know what is going on in their lives.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Eblin.
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