As a teacher, I am always amazed to find that parents will often, out of frustration, just go ahead and do their kids’ homework. Some of them don’t even bother to disguise their adult handwriting! I ask you, how is that helping your child learn? It may save you some time now, but how will your child advance in the subject if he doesn’t learn the basics now?
Never do your child’s homework. It’s better to write the teacher a note saying, "We didn’t understand this. Can you help?" or even, "Because of baseball and soccer and church, we couldn’t finish the homework before Junior fell asleep. Can we have another day?" The answer may be no, but at least it’s honest.
Teach Personal Finance
One area of math sadly lacking in schools today is personal finance. Your child may graduate knowing all about quadratic equations but without a clue as to how to balance a checkbook or manage a credit card. So, parents, it falls to you, and you must do it before your child leaves for college or work. Teach your child about interest rates, checking, investing, bill-paying, and keeping good credit. If you don’t, your child will have to learn the hard way and you may all pay in the end.
How do you teach personal finance? It’s really not that hard. Just let your child help you out. Let him fill out part of the check you’re writing. Show her a bill or two and explain what they are. But don’t show all your bills - no need to worry the poor kid. The purpose is to teach, not scare! You can also give your child a little bit of money to put into the stock market, just for fun. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but the experience will be invaluable.