Homework struggle Post Reply

[justmeandmyboy]

DS is only 6 but it's a really struggle to get him to do his homework. Essentially it's no more than 10 minutes a day, plus reading but we battle for up to an hour just to get it started.

Or I have the "I'm too sick to read/write"

Tried to explain than in the time it's taken to have the argument we could be doing something else, like going to the park. We've also been late for after school activities such as swimming and gymnastics as I want him to do homework before as he will be too tired after - which he is and then it's not done.

Am I asking too much?

Should point out homework is 10 spelling letters a night and a maths puzzle. And once we get round to the homework and reading it's really not a struggle for him so I don't think it's a case of it being too hard.

Thanks for any help and advice x

[coffeelovingmum]

This might seem a little odd in response bur might be worth checking out as I recognise this battle really well - we had it with our eldest daughter every night until we had her eyes tested as the check at school picked up something odd.

We discovered she had a mild astigmatism in on eye. There were no signs of a problem, she could read well (seemingly when she put her mind to it) but she was finding it hard to focus and so it made her tired, grumpy and unwilling to do homework. To be fair she didn't say anything because she didn't know this wan't the same for everyone else.

In her case this was picked up at 6 and she had to wear glasses until she was 8 but no longer needs them as the glasses helped her developing brain to work out what is sharp and what's fuzzy and how to adjust her eye to make fuzzy things clear.

The minute she had her glasses and it became easy for her to see clearly, homework was no longer a problem she would willingly come to the table and do her 10 mins and now I can't get her to put reading books down!

I took her to the opticians for an annual check-up last month and her vision is now better than 20-20 so the glasses did their job.

Just a suggestion but might be worth a trip to the opticians. Also (for other readers of this post as I know your son can read) you don't need to wait until they can read / recognise letters if you have any concerns, the opticians use all sorts of pictures and other techniques to check eyesight.

Good luck - hope things improve

[justmeandmyboy]

Thanks for that - will give it a try. Even if it is to rule it out!

Kids eh!

[Legomummy]

Have a think what he really loves in life, what motivates him and use that as a way of learning or a reward for once homework done. Eg we will build that model together after the maths puzzle/ watch that program once homework done or "Let's get our light sabers and say each letter in the word as our light sabres touch!"
Think what type of learner he is: visual, or auditory, kinaesthetic etc.
Does he need more down time after a busy day in class, rather than racing off to gym and other clubs? School day can be exhausting...maybe some of those activities could be saved for weekend?
Has he had a good snack- does he have the energy to focus on homework?
Be creative and have fun eg let's pretend we are making a tv show and read the story in a funny voice / be an alien / sing as you read / whisper it / see if you can read that page before I have done 10 star jumps ....almost like the pressure is off the reading and about making it fun.
We start spellings with word recognition and this week did a snowball game. I wrote each of the words on blank sheets then we read them together, my son scrunched them into "snowball" and got to throw them across the room. Then we did treasure hunt for the 10 snowballs, and he had to read each one as he Un scrunched them . You can then extend it to your son copying writing the words and hiding snowballs the next night for you to find. By the end of the week he should write them independently. Some children prefer to hear the words rather than learn by sight, others to rewrite them or trace them in sand with their fingers or make the words with toy letters in the bath. It sounds like a lot of effort but probably less time than the current Hour long battle to start.
There are some great blogs out there from mums who homeschool and seem to make learning fun. I have been inspired by them and find myself seeing learning as fun rather than a chore. This one has lovely ideas for up to year one and things you can definitely adapt to older kids: imagination tree.com

Good luck!

[justmeandmyboy]

Thank you so much for this Legomummy. Wonderful advice.

As a single mama it's at times like this that I miss not having someone to bounce idea's off and your suggestions have given me plenty to think about.

I've thought about cutting back on clubs after school but he enjoys them so much and mixes with other children there that I feel guilty about taking them away - especially as he's an only child.

Strangely when he's with my p/t nanny homework and reading isn't an issue so I'm also thinking it could be him wanting to spend more fun time with me, so I'm going to make it all as much fun as possible so that I don't get frustrated.

Thanks again

x