Work with your child to create a homework plan to ease homework struggles throughout the school year.
School will be in session in some areas in less than a month. For many students, back to school also means back to homework. Unfortunately, homework time can be a struggle for both children and parents. The time to solve homework problems is before school starts. Follow these tips to set up a homework plan that you and your child can live with.
Have a Homework Meeting
Whether there is one school-aged child at home or more, a parent should plan on meeting with each child separately about a week before school starts to discuss homework. Siblings can vary greatly in their approach to homework. Some children don’t mind homework and may even love it. Obviously, these children are going to require less parental involvement at homework time than a child who is reluctant about homework. The parent has to be willing to work with each one separately to come up with a homework strategy that is suited to individual needs.
Listen Before You Speak
Before the parent starts setting homework rules, he should ask for the child’s input. A parent’s homework completion goals should be rephrased into questions for the child. Some possible questions are: Why do you think homework is important? What would help you to complete your homework each night? What can I do to make homework time easier? When would you like to do your homework? Where would you like to do your homework?
Children often give more insightful answers than parents expect. From these answers, the parent and child can come up with a homework plan that will meet both of their needs. Children that are given the opportunity to make some of the decisions themselves will often find it easier to stick to the agreed upon plan.
Put it in Writing
Once a homework plan is hashed out, write it down. Having something in writing makes it seem official and the child is more likely to follow through on their end of the bargain. Some parents may want to go so far as to make the homework plan into a contract requiring their child’s signature as well as their own.
Be Willing to Renegotiate
When school starts and nightly homework assignments begin, be on the lookout for any part of the homework plan that isn’t working. If the agreement states that homework could be done in the child’s bedroom, but toys prove to be a distraction, renegotiate to find a more suitable location. Sometimes, the homework plan will work well for the first month or two, but then the child will start losing interest or feel it’s no longer important. Schedule another meeting and come up with a fresh approach, again enlisting the help and opinions of the child.
Nightly homework assignments don’t have to be a struggle for the child or the parent. Communication at the start of the school year will establish homework guidelines and ease homework stress.
For more homework tips read Back to School Decorating: Decorate Your Home for Studying and Create a Homework Space.
