Stressing over Homework?

Do both you and your child stress everytime homework must be done? Do you end up battling with your child to get him or her to do homework? If you answered yes, rest assured you are not alone. Becoming good at getting your child to do his or her homework takes a little time and a change of the way you and your child look at homework. Here are three simple but effective methods that will help you help your son or daughter make the most out of their homework assignments, and to approach homework with a positive attitude. First of all, homework should not be a chore. If it seems to be then that is the first thing that must stop. Children do not respond well to something if it is programmed into their minds that it is a cumbersome project. Nobody likes to think of something as a job, I know I don’t, and especially young kids don’t. Out of fear and frustration, adults will keep trying what isn’t working in spite of overwhelming proof that their methods are failing. Think about it for a minute. If forcing kids to do their homework was at all effective, then we would not have so many discouraged children dropping out of high school We would not have so many kids growing up with poor self esteem and not getting the college education that they should to have. Below are 3 ideas intended to help you plan ahead and get your child on the right track when it comes to doing homework: 1. Schedule time: Be sure to set up a daily routine schedule of when your child is to do his homework. You should not deviate from this routine at all. Be sure to turn off all television and radio during this time. Eventually, your child will be more accepting of doing his homework when he knows that it must be done at a specific time each day. 2. Coach them, don’t do the assignments for them: Although you may want to help your child get the work done by tutoring them, try refraining from being too overbearing and corrective. Give your child a choice of whether they want your help or not. Also, give them a choice of whether they want you to correct the homework papers or not. After some time goes by, you will find that they will start coming to you for help, asking for advice, wanting you to double check their work. In the end result, sometimes less is more. 3. Listen to what your child has to say about their assignments: Most homework stress and arguments start at the beginning of the session. This is the time when it is usually very difficult to get the homework started. If your child starts complaining right away about beginning an assignment then instead of debating him, try listening very empathetically for once. For example, try saying some like: “This seems to be making you very upset, I wonder what is wrong”. Be honest and sincere. You may be very surprised to find that the will be release their tension by talking with you and begin the assigned homework. 4. Make it fun and relevent: Ok, I said there were 3 techniques, but anytime you can get your child to relate to the homework assignment or make it fun, the more they will enjoy learning. With my youngest son who is four he loves to collect coins, so we play a game where he is leaning to add and everytime he gets it right he wins a coin which we put into his piggy bank. With older kids if you are studing history in the 60’s or 70’s you may want to talk about your life and some of the interesting things that happened during that time, or their grandparents etc. The point is if you can try to make the assignment relevant to them or fun.