Homework, and More Homework…

Many parents are frustrated with keeping track of their child’s daily assignments.? An unbelievable amount of children don’t do their homework these days, which causes them to continually struggle in school.? It a distraction for the teacher, the child is penalized, and parents are upset.? The good news is that many teachers these days are posting their daily homework assignments online.? But what if the teacher doesn’t post the assignments on the school’s website, how do you deal with this issue?? Great question.

Most schools give out a daily planner often called the “agenda.”? If your school doesn’t have one, a simple planner will work just as well.? The plan is to have every child write in the upcoming assignments in the agenda for every class,? every single day.? Don’t worry if this sounds like too much work, just about every teacher gives a moment or two for students make note of assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, etc.? Having been on the teaching side of things, I can assure you that the most successful students do this consistently and most children who struggle don’t have a good system for homework.? Even if the assignments are posted online, students need to fill in their agenda so they have it as a reference at their lockers at the end of the school day.?This is also a great habit to develop as they transition into college and then adulthood.

Your first task after securing an agenda for your child is to explain to them that they will need to write down the assignments for every class, every single day.? Your mission will be to check it to make sure they are doing it.?? A simple checklist posted somewhere obvious can really help.? It can be as simple as a checklist with a series of simple questions, such as:
-Was the agenda/planner open and ready for inspection at _______ time?? (pick a time)
-Was there something written for each class?
-Was it legible?
Was the assignment completed?

You get the picture.? A daily checklist will show your child exactly what is expected of him/her.? Failure to complete tasks should result in a negative consequence.

Now you might ask yourself “What if my child decides not to write it down, or conveniently forgets to mention an assignment?”? Emphasize that this is the same as lying to your face and there will be severe consequences.? If the assignments are posted online, great!? Simply check it out and make sure your child wrote it out correctly.? If not, you will have to contact the teacher weekly and ask them if there were missed assignments that week.? Don’t be shy about asking the teacher.? They deal with this situation all the time and often have set times when you can reach them.??

While this is annoying at first, most children will realize there is no getting around this process and simply do it correctly to avoid the consequences.? Please keep in mind that it may take many months or even years to break your child of their bad habits, but it is worth it in the long run.? As one parent said to me “getting my child to write out his assignments was like breaking a wild horse!? It took nearly two years, but it was worth the fight.”
Your School Coach,
Scott Straub?

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The first step will be sit down with your child and explain to them what is?going to happen.