It's back to school and back to homework!  I have the feeling that after the long holiday vacation, my kids are going to need a little extra help getting back into that routine.

Even before Christmas break, my younger son was so focused on practicing for the class play that he was a little less than conscientious about making sure he had everything he needed to do his homework.  And we discovered that he wasn't the only one!  When he came home one day, math book in backpack, he admitted that he hadn't packed his homework planner--so he didn't know what page was the correct one for that day's homework.

I won't go very far in terms of "rescuing" my kids when they're unprepared for homework.  I just suggested that he get his list of classmates' phone numbers and call someone reliable to get the information.

The first friend he called had his planner, but not his math book.  He told Mr. Third Grader that the homework was on page 107, and then asked if my son could read him the math problems so he could do them in his notebook.  Mr. Third Grader immediately began dictating some rather complicated word problems over the speaker phone.

The next thing I knew, a mom's voice came over the speaker.  "I can write faster than my son," the mom said.  "Can you tell the problems to me?"

I took a look at the long page of problems, ran over to the phone, and offered to scan the textbook page and email the image to the child's mom.

A few minutes of extreme cooperation later, and both boys were busily getting their math assignment done.

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