How a working parent can get their child’s Homework done on time.
What exactly is homework given and what is it about homework that wears families out especially parents who have to actively engage? Even newbie students and pupils, who love doing it at first, often lose their enthusiasm and start stalling. And after a long day, you just want to relax so you can get dinner on the table or start the bedtime routine.
However, that’s not the case, instead for the past two hours; you’ve been sitting with your kid, speaking only in soothing tones desperately hoping he’ll miraculously get through three more pages of English without another meltdown.
Here are 5 Tips on How to get Homework done with ease and on time:
1. Accept the reality: Having to complain about the length, style or intricacies of a homework doesn’t get it done, in fact as a parent it should rather be a surprise if your child does not come home with any because homework reinforces learning and, above all, it is an opportunity to learn to work in an autonomous manner.
Accept that this homework is a tool to help your child know more and this reality is the first step towards conquering the time to be spent and will help prevent you from seeing it as a task
2. Schedule a fixed place and time: As parents, we quickly learn that no matter what the parenting challenge, one of our most effective tools is helping kids develop a routine. That applies to homework, too.
Creating a routine could involve getting your kids to sit at the same place every evening, at the same time so that starting homework gets easy as it becomes an automatic process.
This also helps you as a parent; step out at that time to go attend to the task for that particular time. This helps as a cheat code for effective time management.
However, it is important to remember that routines are developed over time, so if you are just starting this out, take it one day at a time.
3. Explain and review: We often hear parents complain about home works, asking questions if it’s for the children or the parents?
Homework’s are for the children, however as a parent it helps you to get involved with the activity your child is carrying out in school.
If you do the homework given to your child it does not increase their work capacity or their discipline or teach them anything new. You do not have to correct the exercises at home. The goal is not to make the child’s work perfect, but rather to get the child to try to do them in order to understand any difficulty. Teacher corrections are better; you should have your child to listen to him or her.
However, it is the job of the parent to explain difficulties if there be any as much as you can, review the homework to ensure all of them as given by the teacher has been completed so no one is pending for submission as at when due.
Little kids need instant feedback and appreciations, so it’s okay for parents of young pupils to go the extra mile of celebrating the ability to have done it all, it will make them want to do it better tomorrow.
4. Set up pivot activities: Have a backup plan for when kids get stuck on an assignment and you are probably occupied with work calls that you cannot avoid.
Decide in advance if they can do some artwork or play in the backyard or even get some screen time while they wait for you to get done.
5. Use technology to your advantage: Create to-do lists and sync them with your own schedule using digital calendars and reminder apps (like Google Calendar). Any “to do” items that don’t get done, can automatically get shifted to the next day. Or set a timer on your phone to prevent your kid from getting overwhelmed.
Remember, homework reinforces learning and, above all, it is an opportunity to learn to work in an autonomous manner.
