“Mum, I need help on my homework. I need to find something on…”

How many times have you heard those words uttered by your children on their return from school? How many times has your stomach dropped several feet as you realise you have no idea

a) what they are talking about and
b) where to look for information even if you did?

It can be so easy to turn on the computer, load up your search engine of choice and type in a few random words – hoping someone, somewhere has found the answers for you, or as is more often the case, the child does it themselves.

The problem with this kind of ad-hoc research is bias and incorrect information. As you know there are no safe guards when it comes to the information you find on the “net”, anyone can have a website, and probably has, but it doesn’t make the information correct.

As a parent who would like to help their child / children do well at school, what do you do?

Use the course books and school information sheets:
These are given to the student for a reason. They usually have most if not all the information the student / your child will need to know to begin the research and ultimately the homework they've been given. Ask the child to explain what the assignment is, and what they know about the subject. Chances are going to be good, when the child / student begins to explain to you what they need to do, they will be able to “see” they already know a lot about the subject. Get them to make a note of all the things they think are important. Then get them to show you the homework assignment sheet and /or information sheet they have been given, and ask them to read the information to you. Again, this will reinforce the knowledge the student already has on the subject and additional information can be added to their research notes. Ask your child to see if the teacher has given any references to their course books, and if so, it is time for the child / student to read the relevant pages.

Once this has been completed, get the student / your child to make a draft copy of the assignment / homework. Where questions cannot be answered at this point, get them to draw a line on the page…then add the question that still needs to be answered, then get them to carry on to the next part of the assignment.

Only if there are gaps in the student’s knowledge base at this point, do you need to widen the scope for additional research materials. The beauty of completing assignments and homework in this way is this – you have a very specific question to ask the search engines when you do decide to turn to the online world to help you.