Anyone who has had, or been around, a school aged child knows that homework can be a big deal. I personally am not a big fan of homework, however it exists whether I like it or not, and it must be done! A lot of kids have trouble getting homework done, it is a very common problem that a lot of parents have a hard time getting under control. I have known kids that would actually fail classes just because they never did their homework, even though they did well on school work and tests. Kids need to understand the importance of getting their homework done, and often times they need help making sure it's done. Ignoring homework troubles can lead to poor grades, falling behind, and an urge to give up on school. There are several things you can do to prevent this.
Don't leave the timing up to them. If you tell them to do their homework whenever they want, they will continue to push it later and later until it's too late and they are rushing to do it, or they decide not to do it at all. My mom used to have "homework time" after school every day for us six kids. Even if we said we didn't have any, we were required to sit at the kitchen table for a minimum of a half an hour after we got home from school before we were allowed to do anything else. If we didn't have homework, then we had to read something, even if it was just the newspaper. This way, chances are if we did have homework and we were just saying that we didn't to get out of it, we would probably just do it because we were sitting there anyway.
Another great tool are "agenda books" or "daily planners" that have a spot on them for each day of the week where a student can write their homework down. You can check this every day after school and make sure that each thing is done. If you have a tricky child, the type that might not write it down or will try to erase it later, you can require that they write it in pen only and have their teacher's sign them everyday in approval (if such a thing is offered at your child's school).
The most important thing is to be supportive. Make sure that you are available to help if things get too frustrating for your kids. Even if the work is out of your league, give them the tools to help themselves. Show them how to find the answers in the book, help them look it up on the internet, call a friend in the same class, whatever you can think of. Don't let them give up. There is always a way to get it done, without making your head explode!
The end result of making sure homework is done is unquestionably a happier, more confident kid. The stress of showing up to class empty handed is gone. They will take pride in handing the work in every day, and they will enjoy the fact that their teachers are pleased. Their grades will be easier to keep up, and they will be more likely to be successful in school all together. Things can only get better from there!
Don't leave the timing up to them. If you tell them to do their homework whenever they want, they will continue to push it later and later until it's too late and they are rushing to do it, or they decide not to do it at all. My mom used to have "homework time" after school every day for us six kids. Even if we said we didn't have any, we were required to sit at the kitchen table for a minimum of a half an hour after we got home from school before we were allowed to do anything else. If we didn't have homework, then we had to read something, even if it was just the newspaper. This way, chances are if we did have homework and we were just saying that we didn't to get out of it, we would probably just do it because we were sitting there anyway.
Another great tool are "agenda books" or "daily planners" that have a spot on them for each day of the week where a student can write their homework down. You can check this every day after school and make sure that each thing is done. If you have a tricky child, the type that might not write it down or will try to erase it later, you can require that they write it in pen only and have their teacher's sign them everyday in approval (if such a thing is offered at your child's school).
The most important thing is to be supportive. Make sure that you are available to help if things get too frustrating for your kids. Even if the work is out of your league, give them the tools to help themselves. Show them how to find the answers in the book, help them look it up on the internet, call a friend in the same class, whatever you can think of. Don't let them give up. There is always a way to get it done, without making your head explode!
The end result of making sure homework is done is unquestionably a happier, more confident kid. The stress of showing up to class empty handed is gone. They will take pride in handing the work in every day, and they will enjoy the fact that their teachers are pleased. Their grades will be easier to keep up, and they will be more likely to be successful in school all together. Things can only get better from there!
It just wasn't that easy for my parents to keep in touch with what was going on with me like that when I was in school.