Not to understand the concept of 'homework help'?

[bringincrazyback]

I realise I'm probably going to cop some flak for this, especially as (disclaimer) I don't have children of my own. But I'm genuinely posting this to try and understand, not to troll.

I don't get why 'homework help' has become a thing. Granted I'm 50 so have to delve back a fair way to remember my own schooldays but I can remember my parents helping me with homework maybe two or three times in the whole of my schooling, and personally that's the homework approach I understand - surely part of the point of homework is to help children develop independent research skills? - I certainly feel my parents did the right thing in making me get on with it myself. So I struggle to understand why I hear so many mums talking about homework help and how much time it takes up, how stressful it is etc. When my stepdaughter was at school and was at ours for the weekend with homework to do, I noticed that there seemed to be this expectation that parents would examine homework in depth and make suggestions/supply answers where necessary etc, or at any rate DH did this and I got the impression SD's mum did too. I kept my opinions to myself - not my child, not my place to interfere etc - but internally I've been wondering about this ever since. How does the child ever develop proactive learning skills if the parent intervenes every time they get stuck, or even before?

I asked a friend this question once and she pointed out it can be necessary if the child has different educational needs, which I totally get. But that aside... I just don't get it?? Genuinely interested in understanding more about why homework help seems to have become such an accepted norm nowadays.

"Those with able kids, or straightforward homework, don't need to help."

Even highly able kids benefit from one-on-one help thinking through what they are learning about. No teacher can do that in a class of 30, or not for any length of time!

I have a postgrad degree but no idea what a fronted adverbial is

I'm a professional editor and I have no idea what a fronted adverbial is.

I occasionally help my kid with homework, but it's more of just a tip here and there. She actually does most of her homework at school as she's very bright and manages her time very well. Usually if she asks for help it would be something on the order of "Can you take a look at this piece I've written to see if I need to change anything?" "Here's what I'm thinking about doing [I suggest one or two minor details]" "I'm thinking of using one of these two quotes for my assignment, which one do you like better?" Little things.

When I was growing up, occasionally I would get my dad to help with my homework, especially my math and science homework (he is a veterinarian). Again, I could do most of it myself, it was just the odd question where I had difficulty. The only problem was that although Dad meant well, he's very intuitive and had a much better understanding of science than I did, so occasionally he would go a little off the deep end and I wouldn't understand I did do well in math and science, though, at least in part due to his help. He would also edit my papers in university and looked over my master's thesis for me (by edit I mean I wrote the paper and he just looked it over to see if there were changes I could make to the wording).

@grasspigeons
I'm not impressed with those projects. They seem to assume that every child lives with their parents and family and that those parents are physically able to do jump starts.

I do think more is expected much earlier these days.

I am only 31 but didn't get homework until the last year of primary and even then it was straight forward and I could do it myself.

My son is in preschool and gets homework sent - letters, numbers etc. I have to help him as he would not be able to understand the instructions himself.

Also, if a child finds academic work hard, they will need support/encouragement to complete work. I feel this is important or they just give up and don't try.

I will certainly continue to support my son with his homework as he goes through.

PumpkinPie

TBH I don't see the value of homework for kids that young, with the exception of reading homework. (When my kid was in Year 1 and 2 she had to bring home a book every night and read it to us for school. That was her only homework.) Good grief, they're in school for hours! What are they doing in school that takes so much time they have to bring EXTRA work home?

My kid just finished Year 8 (Canada so slightly different program) but this year she started having "Flex" classes. Each day she could book herself in for a class of her choice, whether that was a help session, specialty class, or library (the latter was dependent on her grades being high enough, but she has always had good grades). I know she does most of her homework at school and suspect that she uses her Flex for this. I do know that sometimes she will finish her classwork early and ask her teacher if she may begin doing some homework.