Do you do your kids' homework?

What? No.

If it’s a project, I will help them get the supplies that they need. They should give me more than a days notice though.

If it’s help with questions, no. Unless they just need help with understanding the question, but I will not give them the answer.

I probably didn’t help enough. I hated those stupid projects in school and I might buy supplies but I was not going to do them again. I guess I was a bad mom. I have a friend whose daughters always win the history day fairs. I am sure it had a lot to do with Mom and Dad’s involvement. It’s one of those “mama guilt” things I live with.

@Judi Don’t feel guilty! If they had won because of your work, what would they have learned about success, accomplishment, achievement, and pride?

But I think my friends kids learned plenty becaue they did it together.

working right now with two grammar school sons. we’re home today from work and school—something called pulaski day. working on two science projects—a volcano and enzymes. paper mache thing was fun, but, well, they get bored quick. building an enzyme as i write.

@Judi I’m sure that you did other things with your children that they are fond of. Don’t feel guilty!

Help. I won’t do my children’s homework. I will help get the toilet paper rolls that is ok in my book.

@Bri_L
where do you get 12 empty toilet rolls by tomorrow? i’m just saying…

@charliecompany34 – call all your neighbors and every friend you know and beg. Besides, shouldn’t your kid have told you a bit sooner? Maybe it’s time for the “plan in advance, don’t leave it until the last minute” lesson.

Oh, I don’t know, call friends, try to poke them out of the rolls. Get 15 and throw 3 out.

I wasn’t saying that was the solution, I was just saying I didn’t see that as a conflict of interest in my child’s education.

@Darwin My mom liked to say “lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.” I learned the “plan in advance” lesson pretty quickly :P

@Darwin yeah, ur right, but my kids’ school tends to hand out the syllabus too late all the time. good answer tho!

matter of fact, for the kids’ birthdays in january, my mother brought over their gifts and a bag of empty toilet rolls.

^ ^

I don’t even know HOW to do some of my daughter’s homework (I realize how pathetic that sounds – but the math is a killer….)

And I guess if you need 12 rolls of TP – get going!

@charliecompany34 If you have kids in school, you should always keep a supply of toilet paper rolls, wire hangers and glue! Poster board too.

@jonsblond no doubt! like stock-piling anything else i guess…

Don’t forget highlighters! I think my kids eat them. I know they sure don’t use them to study with.

Back when I knew more than my kids did, I tried to avoid doing any of the work.

Now, where I can I offer advice and there is no danger of my helping much.

However, back in the elementary school science fair, it was kind of frustrating seeing the winner win because they made a great model of a football stadium while the statistical analysis of ‘Home Team Advantage’ was done poorly.

My mom helped me with my work as much as she could. She jokes that I passed her in math when I was in the seventh grade.. so I was on my own there. Luckily, I have an older cousin who is (no joke) a rocket scientist. He gave me all the math help I needed.
My mom would help me with projects. She understood that it was more of a time issue than a learning issue. What am I going to learn by putting millions of sugar cubes with glue on them in the shape of a pyramid? Not much, besides the fact that I shouldn’t use too much glue.
If anything, when it came to projects, I had one family member who made it even harder for me to complete them. He ate my pyramid sugar cubes and my mission graham crackers. It makes for good memories though, and I still love him. He’s lucky.

Oh, I miss Pulaski Day. I love you, Chicago Only Holidays!

@Les yup, only in chicago. home of obama and blagojevich and burris.

We never did. We all sat around the dining room table after dinner, and would talk about things, but they did all the work. We had our own work—and we worked on that while the kids did their work.

well you shouldn’t let your kids wait til the last minute. kids will always wait til the last minute if you dont help them stay on top of their assignments. you should help them by cultivating good work habits. (that is more long term)

but short term help a little not a lot. don’t let them go out and play or maybe no desert until homework is done. in other words don’t give them rewards until they complete hw (positive reinforcement)

Happy Pulaski Day!

The best investment I ever made when my daughter was going to elementary school was buying a label maker (the kind that makes labels in various colors and sizes and styles). They’re not expensive. Whenever she had a project to do, I would make the headings with the label maker. Sometimes I’d let HER make a label or two. This way, the thing looked nice, I saved a LOT of time, and there was no way the teacher could tell who made the label. I shudder to think of how much time it would have taken my daughter to make the headings by hand.

The only way we help is making sure she stays on track. my son is too young for these things, right no! We will not do projects or homework for her. We check and double check, make suggestions or give a general idea where an error is, but we will not fix it for her. She’s decided that this is the best way for her, too. This way, she can truly say she did the work. So far, it’s worked. She has also gained the ability to budget her time better than I did, at her age!

Supplies, I swear, if you lived close, I’d open my supply closet to you. I have 18 empty tp rolls…with a kindergarten aged child, they prove useful. Highlighters, paper, glue sticks, binders…well, you get the point. All things that can be “re-purposed” are, there is little to no waste. I just hate buying new things all the time, it’s so wasteful!

Good luck!

I used to keep a small stationery store, too, with all the things cak has, and some empty milk cartons and gallon jugs, an old toothbrush or two, masking tape, brass brads, tempera paints, and paper tubes from wrapping paper.

The two things I was most likely to need on short notice were poster board (usually 18×22) and presentation folders. So I stocked up on both, swearing I would never be blind-sided at 9:30 on a Sunday night again. I also hung onto those gigantic plastic bags from department stores because, sure as anything, the day that the poster or project went to school, it would be raining.

my mom used to do most of my projects and some of my homework i elementary although i think it really messed me up in school.

If you’re able to do all that your like super mom!
I’m 14 and a twin and have a brother and my mom never did/does any of my homework/projects she says “we won’t learn anything”

@icehky06 smart mom!

I do my children’s homework whenever they are sick or overly tired, even if I’m tired or not feeling well. That’s the parental thing to do.