Make helping with homework a part of your routine.

Although they are inevitably broken, New Year’s resolutions are still a fun exercise in reflection, self-evaluation, and goal setting. Almost half of us participate in the practice (we’ll ignore the fact that only 8 percent are successful). The most popular is, of course, to lose weight followed by getting organized and saving more money.

But what about growing as a parent? Here are some ideas to include if you know you’ll be unsuccessful at staying away from buffets.

Make helping with homework a part of your routine

Plenty of parents take a laissez-faire attitude toward homework, thinking that it’s the student’s job to practice. While the student should do all of the work, a parent spending time with them is one of the best predictors we have of education success.

You don’t even have to “help” them in the traditional sense. If your child is making good progress, simply stop by and let them explain what’s going on. Describing facts or skills to another person is a great way for information to become imbedded in long-term memory.

Create a designated study space

You’re probably well aware that technology is more distracting for kids these days than for any other generation that has come before them. It’s impossible to study effectively when your phone keeps buzzing, the TV’s volume is too loud, and video games keep calling your name.

If this sounds like your house, use the New Year as an excuse to create a distraction-free study space. Stock it with the things your child will need, like a computer and reference materials, while setting hard and fast rules about other technology. Soften the blow by explaining that those toys will always be there, but the opportunity to study for a crucial test is only available for a limited time.

Reconnect with your child’s teacher

It’s been four months since the beginning of school. If you’re like many parents, you’ve only talked to your child’s teacher at Open House or a conference—hopefully conferences aren’t a regular occurrence.

After break, take a few minutes to drop your child’s teacher a quick email. Don’t ask for a full report (but don’t turn it down if they offer). Just ask if your child seems to be having any minor issues and whether or not there are things you can do to help. It can be a positive comment that can brighten your day. On the flip side, some things aren’t worth a call or email home, but the teacher will tell you about them if you ask.

Be honest; seek help if they need it

Every student hits a rough patch somewhere in his or her school career. There are some concepts that just don’t click. The problem is that concepts often build on each other, so a weakness can have lasting effects. Looking for help for your child to fill those gaps is not an indictment on your parenting skills or your child’s intelligence. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. So look into tutoring and other solutions before it’s too late.

And yet your child has brought home some complicated science work. It might be a full-blown science project or just analysis of data, but you’re drawing a blank.

Problem: You fall asleep during every documentary. Your answer to “Why is the sky blue?” is “Because it is”. You can’t find hydrogen on the periodic table (it’s the first one). And yet your child has brought home some complicated science work. It might be a full-blown science project or just analysis of data, but you’re drawing a blank.

Solution: Science might seem intimidating (and when you get to the advanced levels, it probably is), but its basic premise is simple: find a way to learn something new about something you have questions about. Anyone can do that. However, there are also some more practical tips so you are able to help your child:

• (One more time) the effort is half the battle
• Swallow your pride
• Establish a schedule
• Look for answers together
• Do investigations together

(One more time) the effort is half the battle

This has been the first point for the other two subject areas and it’s the first point here because it’s so important. The willingness for you to help your child not only has educational benefits, but also social and emotional positives. When you’re a parent, time is your most valuable asset. So don’t be afraid to tackle science. It’s time well spent.

Swallow your pride

At the beginning of the school year, be honest with your child’s science teacher and ask for any resources they can provide that could help you help them. Perhaps more than the other subject areas, science teachers embrace technology. The tools they use in the classroom, including online videos and simulations, can help you as well. Trust me, they’ll be more than happy to help.

Establish a schedule

Procrastination is an annoyance in your child’s other subjects; procrastination in science could make projects impossible. Plants need time to grow. Materials need to be acquired. Make sure you’re keeping up with what’s expected and major projects that are coming up. There’s nothing worse than finding out that you need two frogs to breed by tomorrow morning.

Look for answers together

Just like in the other subject areas, there are more than enough resources online to help any student (or their parent). Don’t be afraid to acknowledge that you both don’t know everything and search together. Naturally, your first stop might be the Discovery Channel. The National Science Teachers Association also has gathered a wealth of links. Then there’s always YouTube.

Do investigations together

There’s no reason why science has to begin and end at homework time. Just as they might have some questions that need answers, perhaps you do as well. Spend some time together playing with science outside of the context of schoolwork. There are plenty of books and websites on fun, home-based experiments. It’s a much more profitable hobby than video games.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting that you don’t know something. In fact, it models a valuable trait for your child to develop. In that vein, help your student look for resources that can help them accomplish their work.

Problem: As a student, you didn’t make it past pre-calculus. As the years have gone by and the technology improves, you can barely multiply. Long division is long gone. Your child has reached these skills in their own education and need help with their homework. You pretend not to hear them when they ask for it.

Solution: I was describing myself there. I dread when my kindergartener is bringing home math that is either too complicated or has been forgotten. But it’s inevitable, and there are ways to help them without having to quickly take a bunch of Khan Academy courses:

• (Again) the effort is half the battle
• It’s not your homework
• Help hunt resources
• Establish a system, then let them walk you through it
• Point out math in the real world

(Again) the effort is half the battle

In last week’s article on English homework, I wrote about how the most important thing in the homework experience, aside from practicing important skills, is for the parent to show their support for their child. It helps build the relationship and might even form lasting memories. This is especially true if they know you dread math/English/science/whatever.

It’s not your homework

Perhaps in no other subject area than math do parents feel the need to drag their child right to the doorstep of the solution, if not do the work for them outright. This is obviously detrimental to the purpose of homework. It’s their job to do the work. Your job is to be a sounding board, if not a guide.

Help hunt resources

There’s nothing wrong with admitting that you don’t know something. In fact, it models a valuable trait for your child to develop. In that vein, help your student look for resources that can help them accomplish their work. It might be a simple YouTube video. If all else fails, check out the Homework Help page of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. They have a wealth of links to check out.

Establish a system, and then have them walk you through it

Above all else, math is orderly and logical. There is a process for almost every task. Last week we talked about how allowing the child to teach you is the best demonstration of knowledge and that applies for math as well. Have them explain the process, then walk you through the steps. If they have to cheat and look at their textbook, that’s ok. It still reinforces the skills.

Point out math in the real world

Finally, if you encounter math in your daily life, bring it up to your child. For many students, math is the quintessential “Where am I going to use this?” subject area. Make it an ongoing habit to show that even someone who doesn’t have to work in math runs into using those skills from time to time.

The common wisdom is that people are either left-brained or right-brained, math/science or language arts/history. Ignoring the fact that this has been disproven by recent science, you can still be good at some things and not good at others.

Problem: Your child brings home-complicated English/language arts (ELA) homework. You were excellent at math or science, but struggled in English. You are intimidated and fearful that your help will actually hinder your child’s learning process. Instead, you send them to YouTube.

Solution: The common wisdom is that people are either left-brained or right-brained, math/science or language arts/history. Ignoring the fact that this has been disproven by recent science, you can still be good at some things and not good at others. But there are ways to help your child with homework in subjects in which you struggled.

• The effort is half the battle
• Remain positive
• Let them teach you
• Did it make sense?
• You don’t have to be an editor

The effort is half the battle

Unless you are homeschooling, you are not responsible for teaching the content your child needs to be successful in school. What matters, and what they will remember, is that you made time to try to help them. If you give your best effort and focus on them, it will go a lot further for their confidence than the ability to give them the right answers or expertly edit a paper. A supported kid is very often a successful kid.

Remain positive

Many schools have something called the “5:1 rule”; every negative comment needs to be balanced by five positive comments. It’s something to keep in mind in your daily life, but especially when helping your child with schoolwork. They might produce work that doesn’t suit your taste—even if you don’t necessarily understand ELA—but voicing those sorts of opinions isn’t helpful. Keep it positive.

Let them teach you

The best demonstration of knowledge is when you can teach someone else what you know. Instead of just looking over their work, let them teach you about what they are reading or writing. In their words, a concept might make more sense to you than if you were to read something. Then offer positive feedback about the effort they’ve put in and how they’ve made the idea easy for you to understand.

Did it make sense?

No matter how inept you may be at ELA, anyone can tell when a written project makes sense, whether it stays on topic, and is organized in a way that a reader can follow. Those are the biggest pet peeves of English teachers and are the aspects in which a student is graded most stringently. The deeper aspects of writing (or reading, for that matter) are the domain of the teacher. But if you read something from your child and it simply doesn’t make sense, offer suggestions (positively).

You don’t have to be an editor

Your child is not expecting you to get out the red pen and start marking up a paper. In fact, they’re probably glad if you don’t. Chances are, with today’s technology, those kinds of errors have been corrected already. If not, that’s also the domain of the teacher. Don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself.