Happy Spring of 2021!!! It’s time to SOAR again! No matter what school may look like for your kids, I KNOW that the BEST thing they need is your encouragement! My first guest on this blog, Emily Graham, has some amazing tips to share with us! Hope you enjoy!

Guest Blogger: Emily Graham

Emily Graham is the creator of Mighty Moms. She believes being a mom is one of the hardest jobs around and wanted to create a support system for moms from all walks of life. On her site, mightymoms.net, she offers a wide range of info tailored for busy moms — from how to reduce stress to creative ways to spend time together as a family.

Count to 10: Strategies for Taking the Pain Out of Homework

Few things place a strain on the parent-child relationship like homework. As a parent, it’s natural to feel responsible for your children’s homework and performance in the classroom. However, feeling responsible means you bear responsibility, which can lead to frustration, demands, threats, tears, and hours of time spent in futility in the evenings and on the weekends. If this describes the homework situation in your home, it’s probably time to adopt a new perspective on things and take some of the stress out of the process. Remember, doing homework ultimately is your children’s responsibility — your job is to assist, not change places with your kids. 

Reconsider Your Strategy

If yelling and threats are only making things worse, try to envision a time when you were pleased with how things went. Maybe it was a time when your child did his homework without being asked or coerced, a time when it produced a good grade and a feeling of optimism toward his schoolwork in general. Try to recall the circumstances. Where was he sitting/working? What role did you play (if any)? What time of the day or night was it? What subject or subjects was he working on? If possible, try to duplicate the conditions and the approach you took that time in addition to implementing positive reinforcement. You can also try asking your child what works best for him, and what you can do to help.

Build the Framework

Set down the rules for homework, including a schedule detailing what time it’s to be done, where, and for how long. A successful structure might include a set time every night (e.g., 5 pm to 8 pm), a quiet and well-lit space with no distractions (TV or gaming devices), and no fun activities until they’ve finished all their homework. That will help set the expectation that homework comes first and needs to be done without exception. What’s more, you can use a homework app such as myHomework to help keep everyone on track.

Walk Away

Nothing good can come from making a bad situation worse. If you and your child just can’t get on the same page on a given night, don’t fall into the debate trap. Take a break, walk away, and let him know that you’re available if he wants your help. Give your kid a break to get himself under control and feeling better. Spend a few minutes just chatting about something other than homework. Try to make him laugh or talk about something he really enjoys. Sometimes, the brain just needs to reset instead of butting up against the same problem again and again. A break or change of scenery sometimes results in a fresh and productive new outlook.

Don’t Be the Child

Parents who insist on taking responsibility for their child’s work put themselves in a no-win situation. Don’t be the child, which means you shouldn’t do the homework for him. You’re there to assist, to encourage, to guide, and to keep him on course. Besides, it won’t help anything if you try to do homework in a subject in which you got a D-.   

Don’t Try to Change His Mind

Some kids will declare they don’t care about their grades or school when they get really frustrated. It’s a natural reaction to a difficult challenge. Avoid getting into a point-counterpoint argument, let your child vent, and try to steer his thoughts into a more positive area.

Inject Some Fun

Mix things up a little bit. Spend some time outside together once homework’s done and play a game, do some bird watching, gaze at the stars, or have a backyard camp out. Make it a tradition, and your child might start feeling a little better about doing homework. As a helpful motivator, you can also introduce your child to some fun educational apps on your family’s tablet. If your child wants to get creative, they can use your tablet to create pictures and videos. Tom’s Guide has a comprehensive list of apps that allow adults and kids alike to unleash their creativity. Online games can be a great outlet for kids during their free time, so if you find that your internet is constantly lagging, consider outfitting your home with 5G for smoother connectivity.

Don’t beat yourself up if it’s proving tough to find a homework “groove.” Try different tactics and different arrangements if things aren’t working. Have your child work for an hour by himself, then check-in to see if you can help with something rather than hovering over him the entire time. Sometimes, you just need to mix it up.

Image via Pixabay

Emily Graham is the creator of Mighty Moms. She believes being a mom is one of the hardest jobs around and wanted to create a support system for moms from all walks of life. On her site, mightymoms.net, she offers a wide range of info tailored for busy moms — from how to reduce stress to creative ways to spend time together as a family.