Fact sheet 47Avoiding the Back to School Homework BluesSam Goldstein, Ph.D. and Sydney Zentall, Ph.D.
Your home has been a homework-free zone, but summer is over. Although going back to school mayfree-up time during your day the thought of homework is an experience each year that is oftenmet with uncomfortable expectation. If you are like most parents, you feel a mixture of emotionsabout homework. Some of them positive, but many of them unpleasant. Frustration, annoyance,boredom, confusion, and even anger are among the many negative emotions parents, as well as theirchildren, express when it comes to homework. Face it, most of us did not like doing homework whenwe were kids and we probably do not like it any better as parents.Homework, you are reminded constantly by your child’s teachers, is an important component of theschool experience. You are told that completing homework successfully makes for successfulstudents. Homework continues to be an institution in our educational system. Even in wellfunctioning families under ideal circumstances, homework can be one of the hottest parent-childcrisis buttons. Parents are unsure as to the best time, place, routine, or system their child shoulduse to complete homework. Many children rebel and parents feel overwhelmed by the pressure ofmeeting their children’s school demands. It is not surprising that parents complain about homeworkalmost as much as their children do.Most children during their school career forget some assignments, lose homework, requireassistance, or make mistakes. Some children have difficulty learning essential skills that enablethem to complete homework independently. Some have trouble obtaining assignments. Some may beconfused, overwhelmed with long-term projects, or rush through assignments. For childrenexperiencing school problems, the challenges of homework are added to existing classroomdifficulties. It is not uncommon for these children to bring incomplete class work home as well ashomework. For them, and for you, there is the prospect of hours and hours of schoolwork at home,often with minimal long-term benefit.Your child’s ability to be successful with homework begins with the value you place upon homework.Success also requires helping your child develop essential homework skills, creating a workingalliance with your child and teachers as well as learning to deal with common homework problems.In this article, we provide answers to five of the most common homework problems parents face.
1.
When your child won’t do homework without you.
Asking about homework and helping out isan important part of your guiding role as a parent, especially for elementary aged childrenexperiencing difficulty completing homework independently. Try to establish a workingrelationship with your child. This will create a homework alliance in which you have an agreedupon time, place and system for completing and monitoring homework each day. Keep inmind, however, excessive involvement in your child’s homework, may stifle the ability tolearn to do homework independently. Be available for assistance and feedback. Do not jumpin too quickly to correct homework, nor wait until the 11th hour when, out of frustration, you end up completing their homework.
Fact sheet 47Avoiding the Back to School Homework BluesSam Goldstein, Ph.D. and Sydney Zentall, Ph.D.
2.
When your child repeatedly makes excuses to avoid doing homework.
By staying involvedwith your children’s education, you will be familiar enough with their ability and homeworkhabits to know when they are really struggling with homework or when they are usingexcuses to avoid homework. Sometimes "it’s too hard" or "I don’t understand it" are honeststatements. Other times they reflect strategies your child may use to avoid workingindependently. Children, who make excuses for not completing homework, even though theypossess the understanding, the skill, and the opportunity to complete it successfully, shouldbe held responsible for their behaviour. Follow these steps:(1) Encourage your child to take responsibility for homework and don’t allow yourself to gettrapped in lengthy discussion or arguments.(2) Set up homework rules that you and your child can agree to follow.(3) Help your child make short-term homework goals that can gradually be extended. Keepin mind that some children are overwhelmed with the thought of too much homework.(4) Reinforce and praise appropriate homework behaviour and avoid a negative pattern ofscolding, nagging, or threatening.
3.
When your child waits until the last minute to start homework assignments.
Everyoneprocrastinates to some extent. Avoiding an unpleasant task in exchange for doing somethingmore pleasurable is common for all of us. Some children, however, get stuck in aprocrastination holding pattern. They don’t get started on daily homework assignments untillate in the day or evening, put off working on long-term projects and fail to study for testsin advance. You can help you child avoid the procrastination habit.(1) Choose a pleasant, consistent place to complete homework.(2) Create an agreed upon schedule and routine for homework.(3) Have your child learn to make checklists of what needs to be completed.(4) Provide appropriate supervision.(5) Create incentives including pleasurable activities that can be accessed when homework ispartially or fully completed.(6) Set goals and use a clock or timer to help your child to develop a sense of timeliness forrequired tasks.
4.
When your child rushes through homework and makes careless errors.
Some children rushthrough their homework but do it thoroughly and correctly. In general this is not a problem.
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47-Avoiding the Back to School Homework Blues - Goldstein
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| Upload Date: | 11/17/2009 |
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