So many parents were asking us for this. We were just responding to what they wanted.

Homework routines are important. A mistake that many parents want to make is that all their children have exactly the same routine for homework. And any parent with more than one child can tell you that children learn differently from each other.

It's very helpful if parents have some sort of calendar that is large enough and is posted in a prominent place. In one color you have written when the science fair project is due. And then you backtrack from that date breaking down that science fair project into manageable chunks of time. Great big projects tend to scare kids.

The biggest reward is that the child finished the project without the stress of waiting until the last minute, and that will build confidence for the next major project. Success breeds success.

I think the child psychologists are well-intentioned and are speaking for a good number of children, but education is too complicated to be governed by black and white rules.