What to do when your child will not do homework on his own

If your child will not do homework without your assistance, first make sure that he is making a genuine effort to try to work alone.  Follow these steps.

 

1.     State that you expect your child to work alone.

Say, “I expect you to do homework without my help.  I will not sit with you or do your work for you, but I will be available for questions every so often.”

2.     Schedule daily homework time.

Allot a time each day when all other activities stop and your child must go to his study area and do homework.  Say, “I expect you to get all of you homework done during this time.”

3.     Give praise and support when your child works independently.

When you see your child working alone, say, “I am really proud of the way you are doing all of this work on your own.  I knew you could do it.”

4.     Help your child build confidence.

If you think your child feels that homework is too much to handle on his own, “chunk” the assignments by breaking them down into smaller chunks that can be handled successfully.

5.     Offer help only after your child has genuinely tried to solve the problem independently.

There will be times when something is really too hard for your child to understand, but make sure that you don’t step in until he has made a sincere effort to solve the problem at least twice.

6.     Back up your words with action.

If the problem persists, tell your child that at the end of homework time he must sit in his study area until the work is finished.  Don’t let tears, anger, or indifference manipulate you.  Relying on you for help will only lead to greater dependence instead of the confidence you are trying to build.

 

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