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• Homework clubs are places where adult volunteers work with children or youth that need extra help with basic literacy and numeracy skills.
• The primary focus is on homework assigned by the teacher, but help is also given for specific projects, including science fair and speech work.
• The secondary focus is on areas where the child may be having particular difficulty: reading, spelling, or arithmetic.

"She won't do her homework for me, but she'll do it for someone else".
One mother's reason for bringing her 8 year-old to homework club.

• Any safe, easily accessible, kid-friendly space is suitable for a homework club. Church basements, community centres, or libraries are all good options.
• Some libraries and community centres coordinate their own homework clubs.

• Any adult with patience, enthusiasm, creativity, and a desire to help children can volunteer at homework clubs.
• Some clubs recruit university or senior high school students to work with the children; some also use peer tutors.
• Volunteers may be asked to undergo a screening process.
• All volunteers receive training.
• Volunteers and children are often designated as "partners" to signify equality in the learning relationship.

• Children arriving at homework clubs usually are given a snack and a chance to interact socially with the other children.
• Each child is paired up with an adult volunteer for the session. He or she is encouraged to work on specific homework assignments as they arise.
• If a child doesn't have homework, he or she will be encouraged to work on a subject area that is causing particular trouble.
• Towards the end of the session the adult volunteer and child may join with other learning partners to play board games or have fun with other literacy building activities.
• Evaluation of the session is critical. Children should be encouraged to say what they liked best and least about the session, and what they would like to work on at the next session.
• The evaluation can be kept in the child's personal file for reference purposes.

• In larger cities and towns, libraries and community centres often support the clubs.
• In smaller communities, local churches, businesses, service clubs and individual donors have supported homework clubs.
• Suitable age-appropriate resources, including workbooks, storybooks, games and puzzles can be purchased through garage and rummage sales, borrowed from the public library, or donated by members of the community..

• Children benefit from the one-on-one attention, increased self-confidence and the discovery that learning can be fun.
• Volunteers gain the satisfaction of knowing they have helped a child along the path to learning.
• Communities gain a population with higher literacy skills which, in the long run, leads to higher employment and healthier communities.

• Frontier College, Homework Clubs
• Toronto Public Library Homework Clubs