3) Provide a break in between school and homework time. For some children, coming home from school and immediately beginning homework creates too long of a period of time for sitting still. Allow your children to have a short break before needing to settle down and sit still once again. This can be a half hour of activity, such as being outdoors or playing indoors. This might also give you the opportunity to look over the homework for the night to keep up with what needs to be completed.
4) Set goals and break down larger projects into manageable chunks. Look over your child’s homework for the night and break down larger projects into smaller chunks. Set up a system for your child to follow, for example, you might want to have them complete their math homework first. Once that is completed, they can move around for 5 minutes and then begin work on the next subject. This allows them to focus on one thing, rather than becoming overwhelmed on completing “all” homework.
5) If homework normally takes several hours to complete, talk with the teacher. Some teachers are willing to work with parents in assigning only some of the work, as long as the student gets practice on the key concepts. For example, your child may only need to complete the even problems on a math worksheet rather than every problem. Some teachers will let parents know approximately how long homework should take. Once that time limit is up, mover on the next subject. If you find your child is consistently having difficulty with one subject and consistently cannot complete the homework in the allotted time, you can check into tutoring services. Many schools offer after school tutoring for free.
6) Incorporate breaks into homework time. As children get older, homework is expected to take longer. This may be hard for your child. Start with having your child work for one half hour and then taking a five-minute break. For younger children, you might want to have them work for ten or fifteen minutes with a five-minute break in between.
