HOMEWORK HOMEWORK, Dear Lord HOMEWORK!

Ok folks, I have a first grader this year and homework started this week. yah.:neutral: I need some techniques, tricks of the trade, or just plain old threats that work to get a very unmotivated 6 year old to do homework. Now, it isn't hard stuff, it's actually very simple stuff... 'about me: what's my full name, brother's sisters, my house, count the windows, doors, pets, drawing pictures etc' It is almost as if he has forgotten EVERYTHING he did last year. All is gone - down to the simple stuff of letter phonics, what comes after 12, the opposite of up. I'm flipping my lid trying to stay calm b/c I know if I flip out it will only make it worse for him. What the heck people! I worked with him over the summer to keep it fresh; it's almost as if he walked through the school's front doors and his hard drive was erased.

HELP!:banghead:

 

No______________until your homework is done. This can be "playing outside", "playing video games", "television", etc. Usually, the first one works for our child. They are working on cursive, but are doing simple adding/subtracting, greater than/less than, and phonics and blends also. We're not having a lot of homework so far. Most is done at school.

 

You could start a sticker reward chart. He/She earns a sticker each time homework is complete and correct. After earning a specified number of stickers, he/she earns ______________.

OR

You can't play (or whatever the fave activity is) until your HW is completed. In my experience, I have found that the positive reinforcement mentioned first works best and is less headache for the parent!

 

I know this is bizarre but how 'bout you wind down from your day, take a long deep breathe (possibly wait until after supper and things are calm) and then make it sort of him teaching you. Instead of him 'learning', how 'bout him 'teaching'. He's been in shool all day and has been the student. Let him be the teacher for a wee bit in the evening.

 

Actually this works fairly well for adults also. I have to teach the equivalent of "tax code" and have learned that the best way for the students "To Get It" is to have them teach the other students what their section was all about.

Often times when I do this I tell them to just put it in their own words when making the presentation. When this guy in his 40's got up to make his presentation he said:

"hsihoeifh efhopjnf, zxcerwrr adopupojm ulfjlifn xo" or something to that effect.

 

A six year old is probably just plain wiped out after being at school all day. Goodness some catch the bus not long after 8:00 and aren't getting home until almost 5:00. Not sure if that is the case for your child but even if he is carpooler, it's a long, structured day for him. Definetly some wind down time is needed. Let him know that he has time to do something he wants but has to do homework at a specific time. Maybe he does homework 7:00-7:30 . If homework is finished by 7:30 he earns another half hour of free time. If homework drags out, he's choosing to give up that extra free time.

 

When my now 14 yr old was that age, he had to release some energy when he got home before settling down to do homework. After spending all day having to be on best behavior and quiet, he really had a lot of energy built up. All kids are different of course. You might have to try different things until you find something that works best for your son. I hope you find something that works.

 

My 14 yo has ADD and homework was always a hassle. I found that letting him wind down first worked great. I also tried the "letting him teach me" thing and it seemed to work until he caught on. I had him in counseling and they said the same thing pirategirl said. Where I messed up was that I made it too hard to get the "big" prize after so many stickers so make sure that you keep it short because if they don't see results soon they won't do it anymore. Once I learned that, it was great. The other thing that was suggested by a counselor was making a list (we used his agenda, but can't remember if they had agendas in 1st grade or not) and cross off his homework as he does it so he can see his progress. Lots of high fives and hugs and I am proud of you's work great too.

 

Routine is huge for us! come home, get snack, use potty, get to homework. we must stay in the school work mode b/c if we dont, getting back into it is a nightmare and lasts til 10 or 10:30 at night! we do not play video games during the week or go outside to play. if everything is done and all is well by 8 then he watches tv for 1 hour before bed. i have told him if he can prove to me he can be responsible and do homework with no problem before i get home and it is consistantly correct he can play outside when i get home after homework is checked of course.

we all feel your pain koo......may the force be with you.

 

Right there with you! Had a minor skirmish in the homework war tonight ourselves. Ugh! I'll be watching for more suggestions!8)

 

Can someone please tell me why they even need homework. The schools have our children for seven hours and five minutes (not including the morning work before the tardy bell. Is that not enough time to cover the material? If they want something reinforced at home how about making the school day 6 hours and then we can do an hour of work/reading at home.

Just my thoughts!

 

Ahhhh, possibly for preparation to function "in real life". They need to know how to multitask also (primarily a homework type activity).

Currently I am putting together a two day course on how to manage a chemical company, scanning web sites for political stories (I have a smile that stretches ear to ear right now), watching the GOP convention and posting this all at approximately the same time.

Hell typing that out I even impressed myself! :jester:

 

six year olds?

 

Isn't that a little late in life?

 

I'm with Emma Caroline

I think that kids today don't have enough quality time with Mom and Dad. The schools have our children all day long and some kids are then transported to daycare. When we get home from 10 hours of work do we need to fight with our children about homework? Shouldn't we be talking about our days and sharing with our kids? Maybe all this pressure is what is wrong with youth today. Gangs, violence, etc...

Just some thoughts . My kids are both out of school now and they were both honor students that did not do homework. :lol: We did projects together, but I made sure that the teachers understood that time at home was for us, not school. Of course, where they graduated in New Jersey, you had much more of a say with your child's teacher, not like here, where they make you feel like you work for them and they do not have to answer to you at all. My son designs and programs games for Microsoft, and my daughter is an attorney in NJ. I think they did ok, but that was more than a few years ago. We have a great relationship and I attribute that to spending quality time with them during the formidable years and not wigging out over homework that the teacher is more suited to teach than I am anyway.....

I'm with you Emma Caroline....

 

For you ncmom! :jester:

 

Kids are most certainly deserving of less homework than what is usually expected of them. I don't really buy into the "prepare them for real life" stuff. First of all, they are just kids. Kids need time to be kids. Second, unless we are grooming our future generations to be workaholics, they should learn to, instead, leave their work at work and like TristByrd said spend more quality time at home with family.

 

1st grade was harder for my daughter, but we got through it..just stressed that homework first. Now she is in 3rd grade and she gets home gets a snack and then gets her stuff out and get's started..I don't have to ask her to do anything. I go over it and I'm here if she has questions. It has worked out wonderful for us here.
Now I will agree with the amount of homework..but last year she hardly had any. We will see how much she has this year. Everything is very new to her..different teachers for different subjects, grades are now A,B,C, D's and F's. She is bound to make straight A's. So I'm proud of her even if she does'nt get them, I know she tried the best she could.
This did not happen over night, it has taken two years of working with her to get her to this point.
Sheri

 

koo, been there done that, have twins. it sucks. however, they can make it last all night, or they can go ahead and get it done.....it was always their choice. First couple of weeks, lasted for hours, eventually, it was done in 30 minutes and life went on. Nothing, and I mean nothing (not even dinner in some cases), happens until their homework was done. Just don't get worked up over it, just be firm. do it, move on. It'll be fine Mama Koo.

 

I see both sides of this.

Kids today really do have more homework than we did.

My 7th grader was doing the same algebraic equations last night, that I am doing in my first year of college?

But, it is what it is. And in my house, homework is first. Get home, go potty, grab a snack and get settled down. If after 30-45 minutes you need a break, fine, take a break. But go back and get it done. We STILL battle over homework. Not because she doesn't want to do it, but because it's hard.

Just do the best you can. Sorry, that's all I got....