School attendance is linked with the expectation that the students do their homework at home after their lessons at school. For most students, 'at home' refers to the family context. For those young adolescents who do not grow up in their original families but in residential youth care, the latter is particularly relevant when it comes to doing homework. Homework completion in residential care is the focus of this contribution. I will highlight the various practices and challenges of independent homework completion in the bedrooms of the adolescents as well as the practices of assistance and control from professional staff in the dining rooms of residential groups. An ethnographic study carried out in Germany forms the empirical backdrop to this article.