How to support your child and avoid homework hassles.
1. Provide a good work space: Many of us grew up believing that the best place to do homework was alone in a quiet room at a tidy desk, sharpened pencils in hand. But lots of kids do better sprawled on their bedroom floor or sitting at the kitchen table. Let your child pick the spot; just make sure there’s a relatively clutter-free surface on which to write, good light, and no TV or blaring music.
2. Stick to a routine. There’s often a lot competing for our kids’ after-school hours: play dates, TV, computer time, lessons, chores. But children — especially the elementary school set – need the structure of routines, including a regularly scheduled homework time. Even if your child claims to have no homework, turn off the TV, ignore the phone, and use that quiet time to read a book or to review class notes. If you can also use that time to pay bills or read the paper, all the better.
3. Refer problems to your child’s teacher. The point of homework is for kids to interpret or practice what they’ve learned in school, and teachers need to evaluate that by seeing what a child is capable of on his or her own. By all means stay in touch with your child’s teacher, but try to keep the homework contract between the two of them.
4. Keep kids company while they do their homework but don’t do it for them. Have them work at the kitchen counter while you prepare dinner, or lie in bed together and read chapters of your own books.
5. If a fight is brewing, step out of the ring. Homework struggles can escalate fast and usually aren’t pretty. They are often an effective way for a child to procrastinate or to connect with you – even if that connection is decidedly unpleasant. If you tend to be the parent who locks horns over homework, ask your spouse or another adult to take over homework supervision. I know neighbors who switch kids for an hour of homework every afternoon.
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