Seven ways to get your children to do their homework

There has been much conversation about this of late at my school gate. It seemed only fitting to help...

1) Bribery

There's nothing wrong with a good bribe, is there? If you call it by another name - a reward, say - it sounds almost respectable. It's also motivational.

Think carefully about what reward to give them - a book or magazine is usually better than a bar of chocolate.

2) Sticker chart

The next step in the bribery process. Instead of getting instant rewards, children get stars/stickers on a chart and build up to something bigger and better in a few weeks time. Some parents swear by this, saying that not handing out an instant reward makes them get used to doing homework naturally.

3) Threats

You don't want to do it, but you know you do. In our house, the no computer rule works wonders, in others it's no television. One mum says she cancels play-dates if homework isn't done!

4) Emotional blackmail

Teresa writes that, after nothing worked, she resorted to the big speech.

"I told him that if he cared about his future, he had to do his homework or he could end up with nothing. Success only comes from hard work, and a bit of nagging never hurt anyone." Amen.

5) Making homework part of the daily routine

Too sensible and obvious perhaps, but some say it works perfectly, and with little hassle. If you're a lover of routines, stick homework time in your children's planner and hey presto, you'll find your kids are doing it as a matter of course.

6) Making homework "quality time."

Gillian says that her six-year-old son loves doing his homework because it means he gets some attention rather than it being focussed on his rather loud, attention-grabbing younger sister. Can homework really make you bond?

7) Don't start making dinner until the homework's finished

Yes, we thought this was rather harsh, but one mum tells us it's the only way. She tried the other suggestions, but they failed. Hey, and a kid's got to eat!

Read our post on why homework is too difficult - for parents....

(picture by squarepants2004j/a on flickr.com)

Comments

[Suzie Bee]

I somehow got into a homework routine without much fuss. In my family it is just taken as read that I will do my homework to the required standard and hand it in on time. I think perhaps parents make too much of a fuss about it and so it becomes a big thing when it shouldn't be. Whether or not there should be homework at all is another matter...

[starling]

So, what's wrong with just setting the kid down - in the same room as you, so you can keep an eye - and not allowing him/her to get up until it's finished? They catch on eventually, you know.

Homework has always been standard procedure for secondary school and I don't see what's wrong with it (you'll get it at uni too, you know!), but homework for primary schools, that's just not right.

[James]

The more that is put into kids' heads, the less they learn, homework or not. The bigwigs reply to this by putting more in the kids' heads, therefore they learn even less. It's a vicious Catch 22! Lighten up with the homework and schoolwork, and you'll notice that it will do wonders!

[parents outloud]

Why are we as a nation so obsessed with homework, we send our children to school at an earlier age than any other country and our school day is longer, we have shorter holidays and our children have more homework than other nations. The results of all this are we getting better educated children, no, higher result than others, no.
We have children who say when surveyed they are unhappy, we have many school refusers does this not tell us anything.
I would never suggest we should not help our children at home, help them to read and write and if they ask help with maths or what ever subject they need. How many of us can honestly say we have never been tempted to over support to get homework out the way, we hear of families devoting weekend to taking children to places for their school project and hundreds of teachers can tell you how easily they can pick out the work done by parents but cannot prove it.
Until children reach the last year of primary school I believe there should be no homework except reading to children and encouraging them to write but this should be informal not regulated. If when they reach secondary education they cannot pass an examination after five full school days over a 12 week term and four terms a year then so be it. I believe and I know there are a significant number of parents agree children arrive home hungry and tired and an hours homework is not acceptable, neither should every weekend be ruined by the continual nag of have you done your homework. Setting home work in school holidays totally defeats the reason for the break to let the children re-charge their batteries.
If there needs to be an extra prep class after school then I suggest we look at the curriculum time and or teaching children go to school to learn they should not bring the classroom home with them, it is bad for them and for family life.

[mandy]

I just do not understand why a school cannot teach a child something and check that it understands via an exercise when it has them for 7 hours a day. You may as well home-educate really!

[Claudine]

A great article but the answer to this debate has to be BRIBERY - isnt this the answer to everything with children (and husbands too!) or is it just my house????

[Kathrin]

Bribery never worked for me, neither did emotional blackmail ( I think I was too used to playing mindgames with people, my entire family does it!). In the end, I went to boarding school and kind of started working, simply because no-one was constantly nagging me to do it.

[Kyl]

Seems quite bizarre. My parents never had any kind of input into my homework habits. I was supposed to do it before dinner, and I generally did. If I'd been in trouble there would have been major trouble.

[Chris]

emotional blackmail doesn't work on most male teenagers, at least of the type in the example, when my mum tried to use this on me i simply shrugged my shoulders and said its my life if i screw it up that's my responsibility not yours. in addition the guidelines for homework are insane from year ten to upper 6th a student is expected to spend more time in a week working than an adult in a 9 to 5 how is that benificial?

[Kat]

I remember getting my GCSE results and friends asking what I got - I replied with my results. This was often met with a look of confusion, followed by, "No, not what you got, what you GOT - I got so many pounds per A" Ridiculous. When education is so directly equated with monetary gain standards drop and research is compromised by a need to deliver what the sponsors expect. Don't teach your children that the only reason they should do anything is for money.

[supermother]

One answer is pay fees for a school where they do it at school. Many schools have homework clubs. Certainly the days when mine have done theirs at school easier.

Second answer is get the nanny to ensure they do it - my preferred second choice.

Third answer is as they get older don't end up doing it yourself. Am I the only parent in Britain with 3 children at university who never saw once nor even looked at a piece of GCSE course work?

[violincjj]

Enter house, do homework in kitchen straight away, ONLY way!

[Mr Potarto]

What's the penultimate word in the photo? It looks like 'clays' - is that a word? It can't be 'days' because that is higher up.

Incidentally...

"Gillian says that her six-year-old son loves doing his homework because it means he gets some attention rather than it being focussed on his rather loud, attention-grabbing younger sister."

I'm sure it's not how it sounds, but it sounds a little heartless to knowingly deprive the boy of attention at other times just so he craves it enough to do his homework!

[Jean Jones]

I'm afraid I really don't see the point of this post. Homework, as I see it, has two purposes: 1.to teach a pupil self-discipline, in that they have to learn that they must do the work even without someone breathing down their necks, or else bad things will happen at school the next day; and 2. so that the teacher can make sure that what has been taught at school has been understood sufficiently well for the pupil to do the work on their own. If parents use stratagems like those suggested, then the pupil isn't learning anything about self-discipline; and, incidentally, if parents help too much, then there's no point because it tells the teacher nothing. The point of homework is not always to produce perfect work; the point is that it gets done, by the pupil and at their own instigation. This is the only way it has any value at all, even for a 6 or 7-yo.

[Julie]

But what is the view on payment by results - for things like passing the 11+? It seems that effort being its own reward is a poor answer when everyone else is promised PS3s and sizeable lumps of cash!

[Sue]

I don't see there's anything wrong with bribery, is there? I'm bribed to do things I don't particularly want to do but know I've got to. It's called working for a salary...

:)

PS - but beware escalation. You definitely need to keep a tight grip on the remuneration committee!