Five Simple Solutions to Ending Your Homework Struggles

Tips to help you and your child survive the homework battle.

Now that school is back in session, and our children are getting homework to complete, are you experiencing difficulties getting them to do it? Hey, it’s okay — you are not alone in this. I’m a mother of three — two of which are still in school — and they use to test me at every start of a school year. It was a constant battle with them, either they hid it or said there wasn’t any — but I knew darn well that they did have homework. It caused a lot of tension in our home and I needed to find ways to make completing homework easier on us all.

My initial strategy was to not even bring it up to see if they would do it themselves. Well that was a complete fail, because it wasn’t getting done consistently every day. After a few other failed attempts, I finally found some ways that has helped us.

Here are some tried and tested ideas to help you and your family:

Set a Homework time

Have a set time each day for homework to be done. Both you and your child can talk it over and figure out a time that is best depending on everyone schedules in the home. Also taking into account that each of you will need time to decompress from the day because everyone needs a few minutes to unwind from their day.

Create a Homework Area

Pick an area of your house that has the less distractions, good lighting, and a room temperature that’s comfortable. Also, make sure you have all the supplies — including stationery, access to reference material, and anything else your child needs to succeed at doing their homework.

Explain the Importance of Homework

Sit down with your child and explain to him or her that it’s important to do their homework because it reinforces what they are learning in school. Plus it also teaches him or her to be responsible of their education.

Suggest Adequate Breaks

Look over their assignments and see what needs to be completed. If there is a lot of work. You can do it in two ways; have them work on each assignment until completed, or encourage them to work in 15–20 mins slots then break for 10 mins if doing it the other way is too much for them. It really depends which way works best for your child.

Always Remain Calm

If you find yourself about to lose your cool with your child and feel like you’re about to scream, take some deep breaths, or leave the room for a few minutes till you calm down. Remember our children are like sponges — they model what they see us do.

If you have any tips you would like to share, please do so in the comments below.

Until next time :)

Peggy Haven is a freelance writer, mom, and coffee drinker. One of these is her great love — guesses?