How To Ease The Homework Battle

Your child has piles of homework to complete, and you sit down to help her. You give her some tips and suggestions, but shortly thereafter, your good intentions turn into friction and frustration. ‎She’s struggling and you’re trying to ease her struggle, but she’s convinced she can do the work on her own. Help ease this homework battle and build your child’s confidence  with the ideas detailed below.

 

‎Create an organized homework space

Without a clean, organized space for completing work, homework time can become utterly chaotic. Papers might be tossed into various drawers and supplies may be spread across multiple rooms, leading to stress and parental struggles. To combat this potential source of tension, help your child identify a space where he can complete his homework on a daily basis. This designated homework area may be a desk in his bedroom or a space in a communal area, like the kitchen or dining room. Help him identify all the supplies he may need, including pens, pencils, paper, binder clips, scissors, and the like, and keep these tools fully stocked at all times. If he chooses a desk in his room, help him arrange the supplies neatly into different drawers. If he chooses a communal space, help him create a “homework supplies bucket” that he transports from his bedroom to his workspace and back. The key is maintaining a consistent space that is always fully stocked with necessary supplies.

 

Designate a homework time

Deciding what time to begin homework can be a battle in and of itself. If your child constantly procrastinates, you might find that you’re regularly reminding her to get started on her work, and she may feel that you’re “nagging” her. Avoid this struggle by helping her identify a regular homework time. Some students prefer to complete their homework right when they come home from school to “get it over with,” while others prefer a snack or even some exercise after a long day at school, ‎before starting their work. Yet others like to work in the evening, after dinner. Different kids have different preferences, and any of those options can work. The key again is consistency to help prevent these ongoing homework battles.

 

Avoid overscheduling

Many kids these days are loaded with activities. They have soccer practice on Mondays, ‎tennis on Tuesdays, piano on Wednesdays, choir on Thursdays—the list goes on! Weekends are often filled with games and competitions, and there’s very little time to breathe, let alone complete the piles of homework that continue to rise. If you notice that your child consistently feels anxious, tired, and overwhelmed, especially when trying to complete her homework,  it may be time to re-evaluate the number of activities she is involved in. Sometimes too many non-school commitments can backfire, and can create tension when the workload builds.

 

Guide your child

When your child is loaded with assignments, it can be tempting to want to complete them for him, just to get them over with. Yet doing so defeats the whole purpose of homework, and can make your child feel helpless and incapable of independently completing his work. Instead, serve as a guide. Help your child come up with a plan for tackling his work, then stay nearby in case he has questions or gets stuck. He might ask you to review his completed work or may ask your opinion on potential revisions. Being his guide—but not completing the work for him—will help him become more confident and independent, and will help ease any potential homework tensions.

 

If the struggle continues…

If your child continues to struggle with her homework despite these efforts, you can speak to her teacher. Find out how long the homework should take to complete each night, and if she is vastly exceeding that time, let her teacher know. She may be able to modify the workload or work with your child to find more appropriate assignments. You may also consider having her evaluated to see if she may have a deeper learning challenge. If so, there are many services and strategies that can help her tremendously as she moves through school.

Most children are capable of completing homework on their own, if given the right tools. Help arm your child with these valuable tools and believe in him. In doing so, he will likely become a confident, independent, and successful student.

Dr. Emily Levy is the founder of EBL Coaching, a local tutoring program that specializes in one-on-one home and on-site instruction for students in grades pre-K-12. She is also the author of the workbook series Strategies for Study Success and Flags and Stars. To learn more about Emily Levy and EBL Coaching, visit eblcoaching.com!

Relevant Directory Listings

See More

Buckley Country Day School

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; color: #000000;" data-sheets-value="{" data-sheets-userformat="{">Founded in 1923, Buckley Country Day School is a co-educational independent day school serving 350 children in grades Toddler through Eight. We focus on developing a rigorous curriculum and teaching evolving skills required for the students’ future, while remaining committed to a liberal arts, classical education dedicated to nurturing the “whole child.”</span></p>

The Gillen Brewer School

<p dir="ltr"><strong>The Gillen Brewer School is a private special education school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYC, serving children ages 2.8 to 11 years old</strong>. Our mission is to educate and support students to become confident, independent, and engaged learners. </p> <p dir="ltr">Our individualized, academic-therapeutic approach to education incorporates speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, and social groups throughout each child’s daily schedule. Students are immersed in learning which is developmentally appropriate and socially engaging. </p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Our teachers and therapists are cross-trained in each academic and therapeutic speciality in order to provide a holistic and integrated program. Students benefit from small class sizes, and enjoy specials such as art, music, physical education, science, and technology. </p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Central to our program is the home-school partnership, in which Gillen Brewer staff work closely with families to support the whole child in achieving their goals. </p> <p><br />Our Admissions Team is here to discuss how The Gillen Brewer School can partner with your family. Contact us at <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> to schedule an in-person tour today!</p>

Williamsburg Northside School

<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif;">At Northside, our graduates will be comfortable being uncomfortable, for they’ll recognize that resistance and friction are signals of growth, and they’ll consistently seek out opportunities to expand the definition of who they are. They will be future-ready, able to thrive in challenging situations because they have the confidence and the wherewithal to embrace an ever-accelerating pace of change and adapt accordingly. They will be well on their way to becoming life-long learners that know what happens inside the classroom is a catalyst for the never-ending exploration of what lies beyond the school-house walls. And, most importantly, they’ll be good, decent, and caring human beings that aren’t afraid to show some emotion, that are quick to offer a helping hand, and that recognize that encountering differing opinions and perspectives only makes them stronger.</div> <div> </div>