In some households, homework time is a breeze. No books are hurled. No tears are shed. The kids simply sail through math worksheets and science projects — finishing in plenty of time to catch "Jeopardy."

Sound familiar? If so, this story isn't for you. It's for the other 99 percent of families, whose kids can use a little help in the homework department. For them, we sought out educators to ask: How do you deal with kids who drag out their homework? Who make slapdash mistakes? Who explode when you try to help them?

Below you'll find tips — tailored to meet the needs of specific kinds of kids.

See if you can spot your own offspring in here:

The Procrastinator

It's 9 p.m., and your daughter has just informed you that she has a research paper on Egyptian pyramids due tomorrow. You could scramble to help her find resources on the Web. But experts don't advise it. "Parents should be helping students to manage homework," says Judy Hewitt, a private tutor and teacher at Epiphany School, a Madrona-area private elementary. "They should not be engaging in it."

Be involved — to a point

DO ... provide a notebook to record assignments, a quiet homework spot, a consistent time to start, help with understanding the teacher's instructions, a wall calendar to track long-term projects and a ride to the library. You might also help do a few math problems or spot a few pronouns to get them started.

DON'T ... do what 22 percent of parents surveyed have done — namely, finished their child's homework for them.

The 1999 study of 1,200 parents by the nonprofit public-opinion research group Public Agenda also found that 50 percent of parents reported having serious arguments with their child over assignments "where there was yelling or crying."

Try to avoid that, too.

A better strategy: Let your child face the "natural consequences" of her slow start. If she's a grade-schooler, she'll have to go to bed and use the next day's recess to finish up. If she's a middle-schooler, she'll either stay up late to finish and spend the next day tired and crabby or miss the paper's due date and earn a low grade. Either way, Hewitt says: "Your child will learn a painful but important lesson on the importance of planning ahead."

The Daydreamer

Does your child doodle, play with the dog, shoot rubber bands and accomplish maybe three math problems in 45 minutes at his bedroom desk? He might do better if he's working closer to you.

"When a child sits at a counter while you're cooking, you can notice when he's suddenly rearranging the sugar cubes instead of doing his homework," Hewitt explains. "You can help him refocus by saying, 'I see you've finished three problems already! Nice work!' "

Or, set a timer for 10 minutes and say, "Let's see how long it takes you to do the next five problems." When your child completes the task in just 2 minutes, say: "Wow! You beat the clock." This adds fun (always a good idea), and helps your child feel successful and ready for more.

Tips for latchkey kids

What if you're at work when your child gets home from school and the after-school tutoring at libraries and schools requires transportation you don't have?

Post a schedule on the wall or fridge ("Chill time: 3-3:30 p.m., Homework: 3:30-5 p.m. Chores: 5:30-6 p.m.") and provide a space for your child to check off each activity as he completes it. "This will help kids with self-management," says Gary Troia, associate professor of special education, University of Washington.

If your child gets stuck on the homework, direct him to set those parts aside until you get home, ask for help from a sibling, or contact the King County Library system.

Maximum time for doing homework before a break: 20 minutes. "Kids in the early elementary grades should stop completely after that," Hewitt says. "Older kids should be given two to five minutes to run around the house before coming back to do another 20 minutes." (Kids also often need after-school chill time before starting homework.)

The Exploder

You've been trying to help your child with a math problem for the last 10 minutes, but he's not getting it and you're both frustrated. Pretty soon he's hurling his math book and yelling, "I don't get it and you're not helping! This isn't how the teacher showed us to do it!"

Suggestions: Set an early homework time — when your child is still fresh. Then advise your child to do the hardest work first, before fatigue sets in.

If your child still hits a brick wall, back off and consider writing the teacher a note ("I worked with my son for 10 minutes on this, but he still finds it confusing. Could you please go over it in class tomorrow?")

Teachers say they appreciate the heads-up. "It lets us know that either the lesson wasn't appropriate or the child will need more help," Hewitt explains.

The Speed Demon

Some kids race through their homework in no time — but it's full of words like "sed" and sums like 8+2=11. Curb your urge to correct, says Gary Troia, associate professor of special education at the University of Washington. "You want to promote independence," he says. "So it's best to tell your child, 'This many problems are incorrect. See if you can go back and find them.' "

If need be, circle them. "But avoid telling your child 'This is wrong and here's the correct answer' because then you're taking on the teacher role," Troia explains.

The Overwhelmed Kid

Does your child sit down to write a paper and have no idea where to start? Break assignments into manageable tasks. Say the assignment's a research paper; set the timer for 10 minutes and ask him to make a list of all he knows about a subject. When he's done, praise him ("Wow! You know a lot!"), then have him organize the information, deciding which should come first, next and last. "If you make a task manageable, kids experience success and their motivation ramps up," says Pieter Drummond, director of a private reading clinic on Capitol Hill.

Sometimes it helps to act as a scribe, Drummond adds. "For some kids even in fourth and fifth grade, handwriting is arduous," he explains. "They're not engaging in higher-order thinking skills when they write papers because they're so busy just trying to get things down. If you act as a scribe, they have more time to formulate their ideas, think about building paragraphs and plan where they're going."

The Dodger

Your teen doesn't like it when you ask about homework and you hate feeling like a nag. So you stop asking and assume everything is OK until you receive your child's progress report and find she's failing biology. Surprise! Parents of teens in the Bellevue School District have a prevention tool (see accompanying story). Parents elsewhere should check in with teachers at the beginning of the school year to see what kind of homework can be expected — daily? weekly? If a student is consistently not getting work done, parents and teachers may need to set up a "success plan," Hewitt says:

Teachers agree to sign off that all homework has been completed and parents agree to reward their kids for doing it with, say a trip to the movies on Saturday. With this kind of carrot, experts say, children eventually get into the habit of doing their homework and the need for external rewards disappears.

The Forgetter

Does your child's finished homework often land in the twilight zone between home and the teacher's desk? Post a daily checklist ("eat breakfast, feed cat, place homework folder in backpack ... ").

If the homework still doesn't make it, talk strategies with the teacher. Some teachers place baskets in hallways outside their doors, so kids are reminded to turn in homework as they walk in. Others encourage kids to create an assignment tracking sheet, in which they note assignments, due dates, whether they need to take books home and when assignments are turned in.