Do you feel like the “Homework Police” when what all you really want to be is a supportive parent? Homework may represent a challenge for both children and parents and most parents have serious arguments with their children about it. In fact after 7 hours of learning at school who would want to come home and do homework!! Certainly not my children!! They would rather prefer to play outside, go to the park or participate in extra-school activities. If getting your child to do his or her schoolwork is a daily struggle and a source of frustration and stress, check these simple strategies that will support you to make studying a lot easier on you both and will help your child embrace homework with a sense of confidence and maybe even enthusiasm:
- Maintain contact with the school and teachers throughout the school year to stay informed in regards to homework policies, exam periods, projects, study loads… and how you should be involved. Attend regular parents-teachers meetings to discuss your child performance and progress at school, and have your questions answered.
- Take active interest in your child homework by reviewing and asking about assignments, quizzes and tests. Make sure your child understands his / her tasks and has all the necessary materials. Support your child to break down homework time by allocating specific timings to devote to each assignment. Give continuous encouragement and at the end check the completed homework.
- Replace the word homework by study, hence “homework time,” becomes “study time”, so even if your child doesn’t have homework on a particular day, it still is a studying time; encourage your child to use this allocated time to read a book or a magazine or to research a particular subject..
- Create a friendly homework space, make sure your child have a distraction free area / desk dedicated for study time that includes all necessary supplies ( papers, pencils, dictionary…), your child may add his or her personal touch and make it more inspiring and decorate it with photos, medals, colorful items…
- Keep distractions to a minimum, make sure your child has no access to TV, electronic games, video game or fun playing, until homework is completed and reviewed.
- Schedule a regular study time, it may be best to get homework done as early in the evening as possible, the later it gets, the more tired your child becomes. Write the afternoon / evening structure and schedule and post it in a visible place in the house including meal times, study time and free time. Consistent routine is important for a child as it provides a sense of organization and security.
- Help your child to plan ahead and teach him/her organization skills especially during tests periods and during school breaks. Review with your child assignments and tasks loads especially if given ahead of time. Encourage your child to break down the work into manageable chunks by creating a work schedule and make them accountable to stick to it.
- Put your child in charge. It is your child’s responsibility to do the learning and complete assignments. Don’t stress yourself and keep on telling your child to get his or her work done, let him or her deal with the consequences of not following through on his / her responsibilities and learn from making mistakes. Parents are there to offer support and guidance and to make suggestions, resist providing the right answers or completing assignments on his/her behalf.
- Be a role model Kids are likely to follow their parent’s examples so do your homework as your child does his or hers. “Responding to e-mails, sorting laundry, reading a book… “ . Working alongside with your child he or she will learn to take responsibility for tasks and how to work independently and the importance of meeting deadlines as in the workplace and in life in general.
- Praise your child hard work and efforts and don’t react excessively to his errors. Stay positive so your child feels valued and encouraged.
- Set up a reward system, by compiling a list of rewards and prizes that might include outings like going to the park, to the movies, or half an hour extra time on video games, ipad… write them on small pieces of papers and place them in a nicely decorated reward box. If your child is able to finish his/ her homework on time he or she can pick out a prize.
Remember, a major part of ending power struggles over homework lies in establishing structure, giving rewards and bearing consequences. It is crucial to get your child to see that schoolwork is a regular part of home life and homework is an essential part of your child’s education and can serve not only to enhance your child’s achievement but also to enhance family relationships.
Good luck!!
Linda Chaccour – ACC – Founder and Managing Director @ Emerge – Life and Youth Coaching – Certified Youth, Parent and Family Coach
M: +971506964262
No Comments