Homework angst
-
- September
- 12
We’re just a week into school, and already, I’m fussing about homework.
Not because my 9-year-old is getting too much of it – that was last year’s rant. This year, he seems to be receiving a normal number of assignments, but he’s taking forever to complete them, it seems. It’s as if he thinks it’s good to be doing homework at 9 p.m., so he drags it out. Even though he pretty much understands the work and could do it a lot faster.
Last night, after he finally finished and went to bed, my husband and I discussed strategies to try to encourage him to move faster and complete tasks more diligently. (We have the same issue in the morning, when he moves like a slug to get ready for school. But we attribute that to his “Captain Midnight” personality – he’s a definite night owl.)
Our initial solutions: Tell him that if he finishes his homework in under 90 minutes for four days in a row, he gets to decide what we’ll all have for our family’s “special” Saturday breakfast. Or, if he finishes his work in a timely way, perhaps he can stay up a little longer on Friday night to watch more wrestling. (What is it with boys this age and wrestling? I just don’t get it).
Part of me realizes that it’s early in the school year, but I want to make sure he’s starting off on a good step. How do you handle homework tussles at your house? Share your thoughts here.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 3:17 pm by Gayle T. Williams.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print
| 
Email
I do not have this issue now, she has her homework done before I get home from work, but a few years ago, I had the same problem. What finally solved it was that I told her that dinner was at 7pm and homework had to be done by then. If she was having problems with the homework, she had to let me know by 6:30pm. Most times it worked and it got her into a pattern of finishing by a certain time. Once she did not finish in the allowed time and had not indicated to me she was having problems. I made her take it in and she received a lower grade for not completing. I explained to the teacher my little “Test” and the grade was reversed with her completing at lunch time. She remembers that still and gets that homework done!
Linda,
I began trying your time-limit strategy last night and it worked! I’m hoping to keep it up (it’s a lot of work for us), but it seemed to be the impetus he needed to stay on point. Thanks so much!