These homework tips are from The Parents Place and were written by Erlyne Osburn.

Returning to school can be as exciting as it can be nerve-racking -- for parents as well as students. The anticipation of beginning a new school year, making new friends, and learning new things can bring anxiety to families. It is both wise and considerate to take some time to prepare your children as the new school year begins.

Get them back on track -- As the summer days wind down, put your kids on a schedule similar to the one they will have this fall. Gradually send them to bed earlier and wake them up early in the morning so that they will be used to that sleep schedule when school starts.

Create a workspace -- Establish an area conducive to work and learning. Create a workspace for each of your children that is not only quiet, but also well-equipped. Take advantage of back-to-school sales to get the best prices on homework essentials such as pencils, pens, colored pencils, markers, erasers, rulers, paper, notebooks, staplers, paper clips and anything else that your children will need on a regular basis. Plenty of light and space to work is also recommended. When your children are doing their homework, limit the noise in the house as much as possible. They will be able to concentrate better without distractions.

Be consistent -- For the rest of the summer, set aside time each day when your kids can work on academic skills, such as reading, math, and journal writing. Once school starts, this can become their homework time. Although you may have to make some changes due to lessons, classes or practices, try to stick to the same basic schedule as much as possible. Kids respond well to structure and schedules, so try to be consistent from the beginning.

Practice skills -- Aside from nightly assignments, your children should probably spend some time practicing skills each day. Create a checklist for each child that indicates which skills should be worked on each day. Spending a few minutes on spelling words and math facts can increase your child's ability to recall them, and will probably help his overall grades, too. Daily reading practice is also important.

Discuss your goals -- Relay your expectations to your children. They need to know what is expected of them and how they can go about meeting those goals. This might be more meaningful to your children if they participate in establishing the ground rules. For example, they might want to stop halfway through homework for a snack or to play. Is this something that you will allow, or will they be allowed to play and have something to eat before homework time? Whatever the rules are, be consistent about enforcing them. Of course, there are going to be exceptions to the rules, and those times will require some commonsense flexibility, but try not to deviate from the rules too much.