Dad of Divas' Reviews: Book Review: Homework Made Simple

Monday, August 23, 2010

Book Review: Homework Made Simple


About the Book

  • Carlos is slumped over the kitchen table with his head held tightly in his hands mumbling, "This is all so stupid!"
  • Amy slinks into the living room at 9:00 p.m. to have her mom sign a note saying that she knows that she didn't turn in the report that was due last week.
  • Todd hollers from his room that his homework is done. But, when asked to produce it, Dad can't believe he plans to turn in such a messy, illegible paper.
child stressed about homework
For some parents, these situations are all too familiar. While there are a few lucky families where friction over homework happens only occasionally, for the majority of parents, dealing with their children's homework is a continuous struggle ending in stress, self-doubt, and anxiety.

Ann K. Dolin, M.Ed., a former public school teacher with over 20 years of teaching and tutoring experience, hears these stories on a daily basis. To help beleaguered parents assist their children (ages 6 - 18), Dolin has written a book offering concrete solutions to these common problems. In Homework Made Simple: Tips, Tools and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework, she discusses the core problems that commonly cause homework stress and helps parents identify six key types of students who struggle with school and homework. They include The Disorganized, The Rusher, The Procrastinator, The Avoider, The Inattentive and The Easily Frustrated. She then offers specific proven solutions to help each type, providing lots of examples and easy-to-implement, fun tips.

Dolin places a great deal of emphasis on organization. That is because it is such a crucial part of success. Homework Made Simple details six study skills that are easy to teach and incredibly effective in helping students master content and build confidence. They include strategies to improve:

Active reading for comprehension
  Note-taking necessities
  Memory methods
  Proper planning
  Use of individual learning styles, and
  Problem-solving skills

Finally, Dolin helps parents create their own Action Plan to help ease homework stress in the home. To craft a plan, she suggests parents take the following steps:
1. Identify one or two problems that are causing the most
    distress.
2. Craft specific goals related to these issues.
3. Write down one to three strategies you can realistically
    implement to achieve this goal. Ask yourself, "Can I honestly
    do this for the rest of the school year?"
4. Implement these strategies.
5. Assess progress after one week and then again after 21
    days (four school weeks).
6. Once you consistently see change, pull back slightly so that
    you are less involved and your child has ownership over the
    strategy.

Moms and Dads have only the best of intentions of doing all the right things for their children. They have a strong desire to help their children accept responsibility, work efficiently, and stay organized. They want to ensure that their kids are on top of their school work and are reaching their potential. Parents yearn to raise children who are motivated to learn, succeed in school, and go out in the world to do good things.

Dolin hopes Homework Made Simple will offer some workable tips and strategies to make all these hopes a reality.
My Take on the Book
Full of great homework tips, this book is a must have for any parent who has school age children who is looking for resources to aid them in being successful and limiting overall frustration. The author has laid out a book that typifies children into having different homework habits:
  1. The Disorganized
  2. The Rusher
  3. The Procrastinator
  4. The Avoider
  5. The Inattentive
  6. The Easily Frustrated
If you are not familiar at what type of challenges your child is facing with homework and what type of type your child is, the author also helps with this with some easy to use checklists that help you to identify this for yourself.

The author goes on to do a great job at troubleshooting with you the reader, providing helpful hints and tips that will seemingly help quite a bit.

Overall, I liked the flow of the book as well as how easy the tips are to implement. I would highly recommend this book to others!

If this book sounds like something you would like in your own home you can find it on Amazon!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.
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