« How Much Money Should You Save in an Emergency Fund? | Home | 9 Steps to Change Your World- How to be Successful in Your Business »
5 Steps to Balance Discipline with School Work. How You Can Make Homework Part of a Calm Evening!
By Colleen Palat | January 21, 2009
Many parents ask the same question: How can I get my child to complete his homework without it turning into a big fight? We all agree that there are far too many distractions in our child’s life today such as video games, MySpace, MP3 players, and cell phones. This makes it difficult to get our child to focus on his or her homework. Here are 5 steps that you can follow to limit the distractions and encourage homework completion without the constant battles.
1. Begin with a discussion on what your child. Found out the reasons why your child is having trouble focusing and completing his work. The problem may be the ability to understand a certain subject, the teacher, lack of interest in that subject, distractions or bullies. It is important for you to get a good understanding of what may prevent a child from learning. Find a time when neither you nor the child is stressed or in a present conflict so you can have a calm and open discussion. At no point should you let your emotions or disappointments interfere with the conversation.
2. Based on the results above, write out a plan of what action you will take to get the issue resolved. Sometimes this may be a simple phone call to the teacher or it may require a personal visit with the staff. Work out a plan to resolve the issue in a manner that is agreeable to you and your child. The goal here is to eliminate any problems that your child will bring up in the course of doing their homework. Keep tabs on the progress and be sure to take any action necessary to keep the ball rolling on resolving any problems.
3. Once you have eliminated the reasons why your child is distracted, it is time to lay out the rules. Today’s technical advances are quite different from the distractions we faced in our school days. However, we still had distractions. Remember what they were and how important they seemed to be at the time? Your child feels the same way. With an understanding of this, try to incorporate compromise into your rules. Have the child do a certain amount of their homework. After you are satisfied with the progress, allow them one break to send a text, etc.
Include in your rules exactly what you expect them to accomplish within a certain time period. Let them know that you will be removing all distractions which include phones, computers (turned off), MP3’s or any other device while they are studying. You must remain firm on this rule. Set it out in the beginning and stick to it. The number one problem in balancing school work with discipline is the ability to stick to your rules. At no time should you raise your voice or enter into an argument with your child about the rules you have set out. They were discussed and agreed to in the beginning, right? Upsetting yourself or the student will only delay and hinder the progress of the work to be done. Remind them of the rules and remain calm but firm.
4. Monitor your child’s study period. We have all gone through the “bored of homework” phase. Your goal has been to lay out a set of rules that will provide an environment suitable for study. Its only a matter of time (sometimes seconds!) before the mind begins to wander. A common mistake is to send the student to their room and tell them not to come out until they are finished. Plan on making several visits to see how your child is doing. Note their disposition upon entering the room. If they are staring into space, ask them if they are stuck on a problem. See what the issue is before proceeding to your next step of the rules.
5. Go over the work before letting them get back to the technical world. One of your final rules must be the satisfaction of the work before it is finished. When all work is finished look for positive comments and praise. It’s also a good idea to remind them on occasion how important school is and how it will affect the rest of their life.
If you are having trouble with your child completing their work and you feel that they need extra help, consider a tutor. It will save you a lot of headaches! The student may also be more willing to listen to the tutor and ask them questions. A good tutor will know what to do when spending time with the student. The important thing for you as a parent to remember is to keep enforcing your rules!
Popularity: 41% [?]
Topics: Parenting, Uncategorized |
February 1st, 2009 at 6:37 pm
[…] Palat submitted his article, 5 Steps to Balance Discipline with Schoolwork