Homework Talk!: The Art of Effective Communication About Your Child's Homework (School Talk series) [Paperback]

Cheli Cerra M.Ed. (Author), Ruth Jacoby Ed.D. (Author)

Book Description

Series: School Talk series | Publication Date: July 21, 2006

Put an end to nightly homework battles!



Homework Talk! provides parents with simple and practical advice to help them deal with the many issues that can come up surrounding their children's homework. The authors, Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby, have identified fifty-two typical homework situations and provided tips, strategies, and advice for handling each of them. Are you concerned about:
* Making sure your child is doing all of his homework on time?
* Talking to a teacher who assigns too much homework?
* Understanding how much help to give your child?
* Motivating your child to handle homework issues on her own?
* Overcoming your child's resistance to doing particular types of homework?


If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Homework Talk! is the book you need. Don't wait to start working with your child and your child's teachers to make homework a simple and productive process for everyone.

Praise for other books in Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby's School Talk series:

"A must-read for today's educational leader."
--Jack Canfield Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul on Principal Talk!

"An amazing compilation of what to say to parents."
--Harry K. Wong Ed.D., author of The First Days of School on Teacher Talk!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cerra and Jacoby look at homework from every possible angle in their latest addition to the School Talk series (Parent Talk, School Board Talk, Principal Talk). The text is laid out in a series of "snapshots," each covering a different question about or aspect of homework. Snapshots cover the basics ("Why should my child do homework?") as well as the specific ("My child has too many projects due the same day") and the esoteric ("My child has the homework blues"). Responses are fair, balanced and adapted from current educational research. The authors present some great ideas as well as an array of useful tools for parents and students, including information on how to organize time during teacher conferences, sample letters to teachers and sample homework calendars. Though their techniques don't always jibe with generally accepted practice (educators normally think in terms of three Learning Styles and eight Multiple Intelligences; Cerra and Jacoby have repositioned these as seven Learning Styles), this will make little difference in the book's utility. Parents of school-aged children should find this a handy reference.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover

Put an end to nightly homework battles!

Homework Talk! provides parents with simple and practical advice to help them deal with the many issues that can come up surrounding their children's homework. The authors, Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby, have identified fifty-two typical homework situations and provided tips, strategies, and advice for handling each of them. Are you concerned about:

• Making sure your child is doing all of his homework on time?
• Talking to a teacher who assigns too much homework?
• Understanding how much help to give your child?
• Motivating your child to handle homework issues on her own?
• Overcoming your child's resistance to doing particular types of homework?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Homework Talk! is the book you need. Don't wait to start working with your child and your child's teachers to make homework a simple and productive process for everyone.

Praise for other books in Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby's School Talk series:

"A must-read for today's educational leader."
—Jack Canfield Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul on Principal Talk!

"An amazing compilation of what to say to parents."
—Harry K. Wong Ed.D., author of The First Days of School on Teacher Talk!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (July 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787982733
• ISBN-13: 978-0787982737
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,478,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars End the homework wars for good, December 3, 2006

By 

Christine Louise Hohlbaum "award-winning auth... (near Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homework Talk!: The Art of Effective Communication About Your Child's Homework (School Talk series) (Paperback)

This book came at the right time as my daughter and I had been battling it out over homework this school year. The great thing about this book is its broad approach. Whether your child struggles with the material or with your participation in her work (such as in my case), the book is chock full of helpful tips and tricks to make homework time rewarding, not rebellious.




Divided into five chapters, 'Homework Talk! by Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby advises parents on how to empower their kids to do their homework consistently. The book offers homework contracts to gain a child's commitment; checklists for both student and parent to reference; charts to juggle seemingly overwhelming schedules; and useful 'homework' for the reader to check his own progress. Admittedly, the homework section might be challenging for some readers to actually complete. But it serves as a great reminder for us parents about how our kids must feel when they're assigned homework, too!




What I liked best about this book was its conversational tone. It offered literal 'snapshots' into real-life issues and questions parents have raised to the authors who are both school administrators. I appreciated the book's thoroughness and have earmarked several pages to photocopy to keep on hand in the event my kids(and I) need a little more guidance in the future.

5.0 out of 5 stars a clearer view of the problems, July 28, 2006

By 

Reader Views "Reviews, by readers, for readers" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homework Talk!: The Art of Effective Communication About Your Child's Homework (School Talk series) (Paperback)

Reviewed by Danielle Feliciano for Reader Views (7/06)

In their book "Homework Talk!" authors Cheli Cerra and Ruth Jacoby have given parents a priceless guide to help them conquer any issues that make homework difficult for their children. Cerra and Jacoby have identified more than 50 of the most typical problems surrounding the issue of homework and have given tips and advice for the parents to use to tackle these issues. The issues addressed in this book range from the basics of parental and student responsibility to homework, to the more complex issues of communicating with teachers and dealing with frustration and organizational issues.

"Homework Talk!" is filled with checklists, sample homework calendars, tips and self-evaluation surveys that make this book very easy to use. It is well-organized and easy for the parent to find the section or sections that are most appropriate to his or her situation. This book also confronts a common, yet often ignored, problem of the parents' ability to communicate with the teachers. Often, parent-teacher communication is relatively easy. However, for those times when it is not so easy, parents need to have somewhere to turn for help. This book offers parents tips and guidance on how to approach a teacher, how to communicate effectively, and how to get the situation resolved.

In this book, the authors have given parents a great gift of a load of useful information in one easy to use book. All parents of school-age children would benefit from having this book in their home. Additionally, teachers would benefit from reading it to have a clearer view of the problems that their students and parents face each night when homework time comes around.

Received book free of charge.