Look over the homework, but do not do the homework for them. Review teacher comments on homework that has been returned and discuss with their child. Teachers may need to be flexible in scheduling meetings with parents to discuss homework problems in order to accommodate inflexible job schedules and other demands. Encourage parents to monitor television-viewing and select with their children the programs they may watch. Inform parents that more then two to three hours of television-viewing on school nights is related to lower student achievement.
Moderate television viewing, especially when supervised by parents, can help children learn.
Ms. Faucette asked her junior high English students to give up television for one week as part of their study on television and media values. Every day they wrote in journals, held class debriefing sessions, talked about how hard it was to give up television, generated lists of alternative things to do, including homework. During this week, not one student failed to turn in homework, compared with the usual 80 to 85 percent completion rate. TV sucks time away from these kids. The strategy will depend on what the problem is, how severe it is, and the needs of the student.