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As the shiny new school supplies beckon, the fresh start to the school year could be the inspiration for parents to shift their strategies when it comes to the nightly homework battle.\u201cThe battle is different for every family,\u201d said Drew Edwards, adjunct associate professor of psychology at Wake Forest University. \u201cSome children resist starting their homework, some have a hard time finishing and others do their homework \u2013 but don\u2019t turn it in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards, who is the author of How to Handle a Hard-to-Handle Kid<\/em>, suggests parents work with their children to develop a good system for bringing the assignments home<\/strong>. That could be a planner or notebook children use to write homework assignments down daily, or an assignment sheet you send with them to school.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to get in the habit of writing it down and bringing it home,\u201d Edwards says. \u201cThat will help students get in the habit of bringing home the correct textbook or other materials needed to finish their homework.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some other tips Edwards offers:<\/p>\n \u2022 Find the right spot.<\/strong> Some children like to do homework on the kitchen table, others need more isolation\u2014have your child try their homework in several places until one feels just right. Sometimes your child will tell you they don\u2019t have any homework. And sometimes that\u2019s true. \u201cIt\u2019s important to keep your routine going to create good homework habits in your child,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cSet aside 45 minutes to an hour and create your own assignment that reflects what your child is learning. That could be reading, practicing other math problems or looking up current events.\u201d According to Edwards, making sure children know they are going to be doing learning activities every Monday-Thursday could help break the cycle of children who don\u2019t bring the assignments home.<\/p>\n While you are working on your new strategies, Edwards suggests retiring constant nagging and doing the work for the child \u2013 the two biggest mistakes parents make. \u201cSchool is important,\u201d Edwards said, \u201cbut so is the relationship you have with your child. Don\u2019t let homework become an issue that harms that relationship.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the Wake Forest University press release via Newswise: As the shiny new school supplies beckon, the fresh start to the school year could be the inspiration for parents to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[45,73,19,12,124],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5038"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5091,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5038\/revisions\/5091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Find the right time.<\/strong> Right after school? After a short break, but before dinner? After dinner? If you\u2019re not sure, pick a time and try it for two weeks. If it\u2019s not working, try another time for two weeks.
\n\u2022 Find a starting point.<\/strong> Does your child like to start with the hardest homework or easiest homework? Maybe there\u2019s a certain order they like. Edwards said you should offer suggestions, but let the child decide.
\n\u2022 Find the focus.<\/strong> Put all other books and materials away while your child is working on one subject. \u201cLooking at a pile of books can make a child feel overwhelmed or can just make it tough to focus on the current assignment,\u201d Edwards said.
\n\u2022 Find the sweet spot.<\/strong> How much monitoring does your child need? Some children might need you to break an assignment into smaller parts, particularly for for assignments with several steps like math, or writing sentences for vocabulary. Keep the positive feedback coming, but try not to hover.<\/p>\n