How Do I Get My Children to Stop Procrastinating and Start Doing Their Homework?

Your child procrastinates about doing their homework…there are 4 Solutions to this homework problem.

When:

Establish daily homework time. Give your child limited choices. Offering them choices gives the child a stake in their work. It gives them a sense of control over themselves. Only give them choices that are acceptable to you. For instance ask your child if he/she wants to begin their homework at 4:30 p.m., before dinner, or at 7:00 p.m., right after dinner? You noticed that I didn’t give a suggested choice of 9:00 p.m. That choice would not be an acceptable one to me because then my child would be would be tired and not working at his/her optimum and he/she would be up too late doing it. 

 

How Long:

Ask your child how much time they think they need to do their homework: 45 minutes or an hour? Asking your child how long they think it will take them to complete his/her homework helps them to realize that it won’t take them all night to do it. This is also an opportunity for your child to run through their assignments with you so you know whether they have math, spelling, writing, or social studies homework. Sometimes my children forgot an assignment until I asked them, “Don’t you have any math tonight?”

 

Where:

Ask them if they would like to sit at the kitchen table, work in the family room, or in their room to do their homework. It is a good idea to suggest study areas where your child will be comfortable and distraction free. The place they do their work isn’t as important as the fact that it is away from distractions.

 

No homework:

If your child doesn’t have any homework, that time can be set aside for reading a book or some other learning activity. It is important to have your child doing some sort of reading or learning activity when they don’t have homework to not only keep that pattern of learning that you are creating, but also to open the world of self learning to your child. People in general tend to do low level activities unless they have clear defined goals. So to ensure greater success for your child, keep homework time a time of productivity and learning even when he/she doesn’t have a specific homework assignment.

 

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