Math Homework Help: What to do if your child can't complete his homework.

In principle, your child should not ever need math homework help, because math homework should be designed to review skills that were taught and practiced in the math class. However, we know this is not the case.

There are several valid reasons your child may need math homework help.

Perhaps your child didn’t completely understand what happened in class or maybe missed a class due to illness.

And sometimes a teacher uses homework to extend concepts or even to introduce new ones, whether by accident or with the philosophy that this is an appropriate use of homework time.

What is the parent’s role in giving math homework help?
In general, in giving math homework help, your role is to work a similar example to whatever your child is doing, with explanation, and then hopefully, your child can go on to do the assignment by himself.

For example: if your third grade child is supposed to write out four digit numbers in expanded form, he might be stuck and not sure how to start simply because he forgot, in the intervening time since math class this morning, what was meant by expanded form.

By making up your own example of a four-digit number, say, 2348, and writing it out now with words, two thousand + three hundred + forty + eight you hopefully will do the job of showing your child what to do.

• The situation where you need to give math homework help or support for every single problem all the way through the assignment is usually an indication that something is fundamentally wrong! If this happens regularly, you need to try to understand why your child isn’t learning the material in class and thereby unable to do the homework mostly independently. I think a conversation with the teacher would be appropriate to determine if your child is disengaged in the class or misplaced in the class.


• The situation where you really need to teach the topic thoroughly is exceptional, or should be exceptional. An example might be after an extended absence. In that case, if your child is older and you don’t feel completely confident in explaining the material, you should get some help and clarification before you start with your child.


• Maybe the teacher would be accessible by a phone conversation in which she goes through the material with you first and explains how she wants it presented. If not, find a friend or relative who can talk it through with you first, can make the process with your child more efficient and enjoyable.


• The situation where your child regularly needs extended help, problem after problem, is usually a symptom of something not right in the class, either with your child’s approach or engagement, or the nature of the instruction. Rather than go through this night after night, I would encourage some investigation into the situation, to see how you can help your child to be a more successful student, to get more out of the class, and to be able to work independently. Or, see if anything can be done to improve the teaching aspect, if that’s where the problem really is.

But, spending half an hour every night helping with math homework should not be considered a normal family routine.

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