The Role of Parents in Math Homework,

 

By Graham Seibert

 

 

Every year I resolve to be more involved with homework.  When I see the kids goofing, watching TV, when my instincts tell me they have either postponed their homework or done a cursory job, I want to jump in to be sure they are getting full value from the educational experience.  I am not the primary teacher, and it is certainly not my job to do their homework.  On the other hand I probably have primary responsibility for seeing that they develop a good work ethic and study skills.

 

Then comes the frustrating reality.  I have to take their word for the assignment and when it is due.  I am not prepared for their protestations that “I don’t have to know that.” and “the teacher said to skip that part of the chapter.”  The most heated arguments have to do with scratch paper.  The kids scribble barely decipherable answers between the lines on the assignment sheet.  I tell them to show their work.  They counter that they don’t have to and are unconvinced by the argument that it is impossible to find their errors unless they proceed step by step.

 

While 8th grade math is simple stuff for college educated parents, most of us are snowed by the nomenclature.  Commutative?  Floor value?  Y intercept?  Opposite angle?  While the concepts are easy the kids tend to be lazy about learning the definitions.  They are almost always in the textbook.  Most of what it takes is the time to show them that you can look it up the same way they could have had they made the effort.

 

The Internet provides a fantastic medium for teacher-student-parent communication.  For one thing, schools have started posting homework assignments.  It is easier on the kids and the “I forgot” excuse is out the window.  I would propose posting a page for parents as well, including:

1)       Bounds (upper and lower) on the role the teacher expects parents to play in math homework.

2)       The teacher’s expectations with regard to format, neatness and showing one’s work.  It would save so many arguments!  A parent doesn’t have to know much math to recognize a hurried job of homework.

3)       Teaching goals for each segment of instruction.  For instance, “In this section the students will learn to transform equations to isolate the unknown variable by applying the same operation two both sides of the equation.  The operations used will be addition, multiplication, subtraction and division.”

4)       Page references in the textbook

5)       Definitions of terms that are not in the textbook or are not explained in the textbook.  My daughter’s book did not explain that éAù represents the smallest integer greater than or equal to A, also called the ceiling value. 

6)       A guide to the technology the kids are using.  One big divide is automation.  Parents most often use either simple calculators or computer spreadsheets.  Kids tend to be asked to use TI graphing calculators.  Most parents would benefit from a hyperlink to a document telling them how to use the TI calculator. 

7)       How and when to communicate with the teacher.  Email?

 

There are some broad, universal guidelines that would be well to put in print.  The first that comes to mind is an essay on stupid mistakes.  Kids rarely make smart mistakes.  Part of the discipline of homework should be checking their own work.  It is easy to do if they have shown their work. 

 

Once they have checked their own work it is fair game for a parent to review.  Having disallowed the stupid mistake defense, a parent should be able to regard errors they find as need for some combination of additional study on the part of the student and instruction by the parent.

 

One of the most important things a parent can do, something that a teacher is hard-pressed to find time for in a classroom, is to help with reasonableness checks.  A child should apply common sense to his or her answer.  Some of the obvious ones are:

1)       Does it make real-world sense?  If the question required computing the speeds of two oncoming cars, is 300MPH a likely solution?

2)       Does it pass the ballpark test?  If the problem is to multiply 123 x 456, is the answer anywhere near 100 x 500?

3)       Are the units right?  If the question is what is the area of a triangle, could five cubic inches be the answer? 

4)       If the problem is solving an equation, can you substitute the answer back in to be sure it works?

5)       Is the domain right?  If the problem is to find the square root of an integer, can the answer be a fraction?  Can the area of a rectangle be negative?

 

In defense of their egos kids can show a marked lack of interest in why they might have gotten an answer wrong.  They need to learn that life is a process of making mistakes, figuring out what went wrong, and trying again.  It applies just as much to math as it does to cooking, fixing bicycles and computer programming.  They need a life plan for recognizing and dealing with their mistakes.

 

Elementary and middle school are crucial in a child’s development.  This is when they develop their study habits.  It is also the time in which they still allow parents some level of participation in their lives.  For parents middle school math may be the last with which they can offer any concrete help. 

 

Classroom teaching does not have to be a lonely contest between a teacher eager to impart knowledge and students eager to differentiate the equation balancing minimum effort with maximum results.  The Internet is a powerful tool for the teacher to coordinate with the teachers’ natural allies, the parents.