Depending on grade, school system, and teacher, each child's experience will be unique. Yet, there is one common challenge: Homework. Here are some tips I routinely give parents to help make homework a useful exercise—for everyone in the family.
- Evaluate Where Homework Is Done
As you start another year of homework, it's important to think about where homework is being done. Consider this: Kids love to get their parents to do as much of their homework as possible—from explaining directions and suggesting ideas to giving answers and correcting and retyping final copies. And kids are masters at it! Many have trained their parents to believe that they must be sitting with them, preferably in the kitchen or dining room, checking and overseeing each step. Score one for the kids; they can continue to be where the action is, do not have to figure out directions, can be as careless as they want, and still get their homework done on time with no mistakes!
- Establish a Homework Station
Decide with your child where the best place is for completing homework. A desk or table in you child's room is ideal because it will begin to foster the independence that you are going to expect when your child reaches middle and high school. Also, children who are easily distracted by noise and movement will have an easier time focusing in a location that's not part of the family living space. Not only should all homework be done at the homework station, but it should also be where your child deposits her backpack and books when arriving home from school. That way, it's easier to repack for the next day, and it's more likely that your child will arrive at school with all of the necessary assignments and materials.
- Create a Homework Toolbox
As a parent, it's easy to become angry when—15 minutes into homework time, with no visible progress made—you're told, "I was looking for a pencil!" At this point, the child honestly believes that he has been working for 15 minutes, while the parent believes that nothing has been done. The battle lines are drawn! A homework toolbox with help diffuse this potential argument. It also will eliminate the procrastinator's ability to stall and help all kids make a more effective use of time.
All you need is an inexpensive plastic container with a lid that's a couple of inches deep and big enough to hold 8-1/2" x 11" sheets of paper. These are easy to find in the cooking or storage sections of large discount or drug stores. Together with your child, fill the box with standard supplies—paper, pencils, an eraser, a sharpener, a ruler, markers, a highlighter, a glue stick, crayons, a protractor, and any other homework tool that your child needs to complete assignments. Then declare this "anti-walking" toolbox a permanent part of the homework station.
In all likelihood, your child's homework needs to fit into an all ready hectic evening schedule. Both the toolbox and the homework station are organization strategies designed to foster efficiency and time-management skills.
Read Part 2: Tips for getting kids to do their own homework