As a parent I know you all want your child to be successful at both home and school. I am going to start a weekly advice column on what has worked with my three boys and myself when dealing with school issues. Topic number one I would like to address is homework.
I know homework is a bad word for most families and invokes the thoughts of pulling your hair out as a parent. If you have seen my head full of hair lately, you would most definitely think that is what has caused my hair loss. I have to say homework at the Williams' house is not that bad anymore after I set some ground rules for my children. I blame the hair loss on genetics!
Here is what happens when my children get home.
1. They all head to the kitchen table.
2. They get out their folders while either my wife or myself get them a snack.
3. We go over what happened at school. I try to have them tell me one interesting fact of the day and one thing that was really boring. Doing this opens up the lines of communication for you and your child.
4. My children do their homework and then I check it.
This sounds so simple doesn't it? Well at first it wasn't! There was a lot of crying and screaming, but I never gave up in making them do their homework when they first got home. It didn't matter if there was a game that night or anything else scheduled for the night. The television, computer and video game systems were kept off until homework was completed. A couple of nights of them just sitting at the table and being knuckleheads was all it took for them to realize that they were going to be very bored until their homework was finished.
Once school work was finished they knew they were free to do whatever they wanted to do. Try my strategy for homework and see if it works for you. The main thing is to make sure you stay consistent with what you do and say.
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