How To Get Your Child To Do His Homework
Most children hate doing homework; it restricts their freedom to play and is a grim reminder of school. They wonder why school has to continue at home also. So, it is quite normal for children to put up some kind of a fuss, which could be gentle grumbling or outright refusal.
While the parents and teachers are farsighted and insist on studying, you cannot expect such wisdom from a small child who lives in the moment and wants to make the best of it by having fun. Moreover, if the child finds the work difficult, then the whole exercise becomes all the more demoralizing and discouraging. No wonder, children would prefer to do anything other than 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. Keep in touch with the school to find out how much homework is expected to be done and how long it should take. If your child takes more time or if the grades are consistently very poor, you should speak with the school. There may be some learning or attention difficulties that need to be addressed. That may be the underlying cause of not wanting to do homework. If your child finds the homework difficult to do on his own, you need to identify the problem and address it. You may want to speak to the teacher and ask if it is okay that your child spends a fixed amount of time on study even if he is not able to complete the given assignment. Some children are slow in writing, but that should not demoralize them.
3. Create a place that is conducive to working. It is hard to get homework done if you have to do it on your lap while everyone else is watching TV. Maybe have a rule about no TV until everyone’s homework is done. Make a cleared space on the kitchen table, or a table or desk in her bedroom, that is clear from distractions and interruptions. Ideally set up an area that is exclusive to your child.
4. Your child will need some help and support. But, don’t start doing the homework. Help by way of getting him started, or to find the books or websites that will help. Teach them to find the relevant material. You can help him with spellings or work through a math problem with him. Most importantly, stay calm! You may find the problem simple but it may not be so simple for your child. Give him time to learn things.
5. Be generous in appreciating every single achievement no matter how small it is. First focus on getting the homework done, then start to focus on quality. Let that be the teacher’s responsibility; you remain confined to the homework only. Your efforts should be directed towards inculcating diligence and persistence. However, you can ask your child to read his work out loud so as to catch obvious mistakes and correct them.
6. You can encourage your child to do his homework by rewarding extra privileges, such as TV, or family treats or activities. Again, you should start with rewarding the regular completion of work, and then go on to rewarding higher grades. For this, you can set up a regular schedule.
7. There may be a specific subject that is causing problems. For that you need to see the teacher and take her help and guidance to work on the deficient areas.
8. For long-term projects, help your child to break it down into do-able chunks for which you can set realistic goals and deadlines. Teach your child how to organize and plan ahead so that things are not left until the last minute.
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. Above all, focus on helping your child to experience success. Failure breeds discouragement which leads to giving up. Success, on the other hand, is motivating and encourages more attempts. Do whatever you can to make the homework experience a success – either in itself, or by means of the rewards that it earns.