School is fully back in swing! Finally, us parents get a couple of hours of peace and quiet until school finishes. How does the rest of the afternoon usually go for you? Easy and stress-free or are your afternoons and weekends filled with tears and stress from your child’s homework? If the latter sounds like a typical week for you then do not worry, we are here to help. Here are some simple tips that may help with the homework tears.
1) Distractions:
The first thing to do is limit distractions. This means no television in the background or other siblings playing nearby to distract your little one. We suggest creating a study/homework zone that is specifically dedicated to academic activities. Having an area where all their books are and all their tools is important. Make sure the area is comfortable and also well-lit.
2)Tools:
Have all their tools handy. Keep spare pencils, pens, a calculator, and a dictionary in this study zone. Nothing is more distracting for your child to have to keep standing up and hunting down pencils or erasers to be able to complete their work.
3)Timing:
Time needs to be dedicated to studying and homework. You may have the perfect child who comes home and instantly starts their work and completes it in no time but unfortunately, we aren’t all blessed. Most children come home after a long day at school and put off their homework until the last minute and can we blame them? Most of us were probably the same! This is why as a parent you need to help out with time management. Once they come home and have had a little rest and a snack, get them started on homework. An hour before bed will cause anxiety, stress, and havoc on a bedtime routine. Help your little one plan out which homework needs to be done first or can be left for the weekend.
4) Teach
If they need help with homework, it is important to teach them not to do it for them! We understand it can be stressful especially if you are busy. Doing the work for them will definitely be faster but in the long run, they will struggle with other related concepts and fall further behind meaning they will need more help in the future. Try as much as possible to explain calmly and help them. If homework struggle is being a common occurrence, do make it a point to bring it up to their teacher. The teacher is there to help and they will be more than happy to keep an extra eye out for a student who may be falling back.
Are your children struggling to get back into the school routine? Check out the previous blog on getting into the swing of school season!
https://www.childcaremalta.mt/back-to-school/
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