Homework can be huge challenge for parents and kids

Bells ring. You hear a joyful buzz. School finally is out for another day.

But learning isn't done for the day; for millions of American youngsters, there's still homework to tackle.

And homework can be some students' — and parents' — biggest school challenge.

Time is a key factor. Children need to be on a good homework schedule, say experts, but many parents are in such a rush with their own duties and obligations they don't have a lot of time to supervise their children's homework time.

"We're scurrying from here to there," said Michael Stafford, 42, a science teacher at Tenaya Middle School in Fresno, Calif. "It's a fast-paced world. That may be the major hurdle: managing time. I don't have a solution to that."

Charlene Chessum of Fresno remembers that when she was a child, she completed her homework on her own immediately after getting home from school.

"I was raised by my grandparents," said Chessum, 39. "They could show me the answer, but not the in-between work."

She and her grandparents had different "thinking processes," Chessum said, which taught her to take a different approach when helping her own children complete their homework. Chessum's children are 11-year-old Whitney and 9-year-old Tyler.

"As soon as she (Whitney) gets home, she has a little time to relax and have a snack," said Chessum, vice president of the Fresno Unified PTA Council. "About a half-hour later, she starts her homework. A lot of times, she'll work on it in the kitchen. As soon as she's done, we go over it together.

"I do the same thing with Tyler."

Experts say students should take a break between school and homework, which some children do already.

Fourteen-year-old Vince Gagliardi says he tries to stall doing his homework as long as he can. "I just get tired of schoolwork," said the Bullard High School freshman. "I usually use excuses like 'I'm hungry,' 'I have to help the neighbor or my brother with stuff.' It sometimes works, but not all the time."

An advocate of taking some break time between class and doing homework is Deanna Evans-Schilling, an education professor who directed the Parent Power Project at California State University, Fresno, for 15 years. The project gave teachers a chance to work directly with students who have learning difficulties and their families.