Kids and Homework

Kids and Homework

If you ever have issues with your child avoiding doing homework, here are some ideas that might help deal with the situation!

If your child isn't getting his homework done regularly and to schedule, you might be hearing excuses like:

"The teacher never said there was homework!" (Probably the teacher did say, but the child forgot to listen!)

"I can't do the assignment because I forgot the textbook in my desk at school."

"I don't understand the question / assignment!"

This are all symptoms of the child not taking responsibility. Encourage your child to understand that he is responsible for finding out what homework is due when, and ensuring he remembers the material he needs to complete it, and seeks help in a timely way if he is having difficulty.

To help him make this transition of mindset from "casual about homework at best" to "always responsible for own homework achievements", you can

1) Reward your child in an age appropriate way for any actions that indicate an improvement in his attitude to homework. Reward charts are great for the younger children.

2) Link privileges to completion of homework, e.g. TV can only be turned on when homework is complete

3) For real hard cases (in older children only) you could tell your child that he must bring home a signed note from his teacher every Friday that confirms that all his homework is up to date, or lists outstanding assignments. Then ALL homework must be completed before any weekend leisure activities may be commenced!

Happy homework!

Cassie