Thursday, September 27, 2007

Helping my child cheat?

Okay - I need your input on this one. Is checking over my child's homework cheating, or is it simply me doing my rightful job as a parent?

If my son asks me for help - I'll help, no questions asked. But if I see that he is having a difficult time with a new concept - I will spot check his other answers to see if he understands the new material. When I inform him that his other answers are wrong, and that he should look at them again - he completely FLIPS OUT and informs me that my checking over his answers is CHEATING! I calmly (OK, maybe not so calmly every time) that I am simply doing my job as a parent!

I believe this stems from an experience when he was in 3rd grade, when a long-term substitute told them that their homework was their own and any help from anyone (including parents) is cheating.

So I ask again, is helping a child with their homework or checking completed homework cheating? How do you handle homework in your household?

6 comments:

Caledonia Unplugged said...

Brenda, teachers should be thankful for parents like you, rather than accusing kids of cheating when parents help.

The goal of education, after all, is to learn the material. The grade should be merely a barometer to measure the child's comprehension of the material and an indicator for teachers to adjust methods or emphasis accordingly.

So, I don't believe your help is cheating IF your emphasis is on comprehension and not just correct answers. In fact I believe you're cheating your child if you think he's having difficulty and DON'T help. (non-parent, but former teachers)

Anonymous said...

I agree with CU. While we no longer have kids at home who are in school, our goal in working with our children was to see that they understood the concepts. If I were to find math errors, I would ask my child to show me how they arrived at their answer. If they grasped the concept, they would then see their errors. Don't see that as cheating at all.
Shame on the long-term sub.

Brenda said...

You're both so wise!

I'd like to hear from someone now who DOES think that it is cheating!

Please explain it to me, I promise I won't bite.

Anonymous said...

Hello, I recently searched this up and found this blog spot. Anyways, I'm a college student now and my parents have helped me with homework all the time. I think it's a good idea to help your child with homework. For my parents, I wish I could give them these pointers: One: Don't yell at your child if they can't get it right -- it'll only make them not want to study. Two: Don't actually do the homework for them. Three: Take your time.

If my parents followed these three pointers, I believe they would've been in the right track. I now have barely a 2.0 average and wonder if it was my parent's overly helpful ways.. that led me to my laziness state now.

I believe if you do what you are you'll be good to go. Just take your time and make sure it's them doing the thinking, not you.

Anonymous said...

Hello, I recently searched this up and found this blog spot. Anyways, I'm a college student now and my parents have helped me with homework all the time. I think it's a good idea to help your child with homework. For my parents, I wish I could give them these pointers: One: Don't yell at your child if they can't get it right -- it'll only make them not want to study. Two: Don't actually do the homework for them. Three: Take your time.

If my parents followed these three pointers, I believe they would've been in the right track. I now have barely a 2.0 average and wonder if it was my parent's overly helpful ways.. that led me to my laziness state now.

I believe if you do what you are you'll be good to go. Just take your time and make sure it's them doing the thinking, not you.

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