Today's Tip for Families

2026-10-03

A mother and four children in front of a table with a globe. One of the children is holding a magnifying glass.

Foster Independence with Schoolwork

Your child will often be asked to find and learn facts while doing schoolwork. It’s important for you to encourage your student to do this independently.

When your elementary schooler is doing schoolwork at home, explain that your child needs to try to answer all the questions in the assignment. Then, suggest this process:

Start with the questions you know the answers to.
Skip over any that give you problems.
Go back and think more about the questions you couldn’t answer the first time around.

Is your child still stuck? Only after taking all the steps should your student ask you for help. Then, keep this goal in mind: You don’t just want your child to get the right answer. You want your student to learn how to get the right answer.

Suppose your child asks you to spell Illinois. Instead of rattling off the spelling, you might ask, “Where could you find that?” Then, get out the dictionary or a map or globe and have your child find Illinois. This way, your child learns about the silent s at the end of the word. And just as important, your child also learns how to use a dictionary and a map.

Demonstrating how to find information is the most effective way to help your elementary schooler learn facts now and be prepared to learn more in the future.

Brought to you by:

West Point Consolidated School District