Few children relish the idea of sitting down and doing their class assignment. Many will put up some kind of a fuss - ranging from gentle grumbling, to procrastination and outright refusal. The problem is that you, and the teachers, can see some long-term benefit to studying. To the child it just seems to be a pointless hassle that is keeping him away from doing something fun. Not only that, if the child finds the work hard, and/or is used to getting poor grades for his work, the whole exercise becomes even more demoralizing and discouraging. Given all that, what child in his right mind WOULD want to do their homework? So, if you want your child to do the homework, present it as a pleasant activity so that it erases all the negatives attached to it in the child's mind. Of course, even your best efforts cannot bring that much of a revolution that your child will hardly be able to wait to do his homework. So, don’t even harbor such illusions. If he is willing to get this homework done and out of the way, it is good enough. How do you achieve that? Here are some suggestions: 1. Don't fight with your child. Yelling at them to do their homework probably won't work, and will just frustrate and infuriate yourself, your child, and the neighbors. Instead, be pro-active by setting up the home environment and routines so as to encourage good study habits. Focus on rewards rather than punishments. 2. If your child finds it difficult to complete the daily assignments given, check with the school about how much homework is expected and how long it should take. In case of genuine difficulty, consult the teacher and follow the instructions. As a rule your child should not be spending more than an hour on homework. More than that would be drudgery and difficult to do after a full day at school. 3. It is important to allocate a place for homework; it helps to make it routine. Make sure the place is conducive to working. You cannot expect your child to do homework on his lap while everyone else is watching TV. Indeed, there should be no TV until everyone's homework is done. If you don’t have a writing desk, you could use the kitchen table, and clear it of all distractions and interruptions. Of course, it is best to set up an exclusive area for homework. 4. Provide help and support. Don't do it for them, but do help them to get started, or to find the books they need. If they need to do some research on the internet, maybe sit with them and help them find the info they need. Answer their spelling questions (unless it is a spelling test!) If they are having problems with math, work through the problem with them. Above all, though, stay calm! Getting frustrated with the inability to solve obviously simple questions won't help! 5. Lots of praise and encouragement. The first goal is to get it done, only after that is happening should you start to focus on quality! By and large let the teachers deal with the content of the work. Your job is to support the homework effort, and to encourage diligence and persistence. Let the teach correct the content. Having said that, you can, for example, encourage the child to read his work out loud so as to catch obvious spelling, punctuation, and syntax errors. 6. If necessary, set up a reward chart that explicitly rewards homework completion by means of extra privileges, such as TV, or family treats or activities. Again, focus first on rewarding the regular completion of work. Later on you can reward higher grades. Setting up a regular schedule is often helpful. 7. If there is a specific subject that is causing problems, do something about it. See the teacher and try to find a way to turn this into a successful experience for your child. 8. You can help your child break up long-term projects into smaller units so that he feels encouraged after completing each unit. This will help him learn to organize and plan ahead. 9. If you don’t have so much time, you may find out about a homework club. Many schools offer to supervise homework after school. Many children like doing their homework with their friends under the guidance of the teacher rather than at home with other family members, TV, meals and all the other distractions. 10. Finally, it is important to give the taste of success to your child. Failure is extremely discouraging and de-motivating. Success has its own charm; it is self-motivating and encourages more attempts. Once you achieve that, you will never have to bother about your child’s homework again.
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Few children relish the idea of sitting down and doing their class assignment. Many will put up some kind of a fuss - ranging from gentle grumbling, to procrastination and outright refusal.
Dr. Noel Swanson is a child psychiatrist who specializes in child behavior problems. He writes for a fascinating website with lots of parenting tips that is well worth a visit, as well as his must-read book, The GOOD CHILD Guide. Click here to get your own unique version of this article: Uber Articles directory.
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