Here are 5 tips for a happy and successful homework routine on those miserable January evenings:
- Talk to your child at a good time, when he or she is happy and relaxed. Find out how many homeworks are set each night and how long he or she thinks it is reasonable to spend on each and all of them. If a timetable is given out, stick it up in the kitchen so that you are able to check it easily.
- Agree together the best time for homework to be done. Some children prefer straight from school, others immediately after supper and younger children may prefer to learn tables or spellings in bed before they read.
- Buy a cheap white board for their bedroom wall. We’ve got a reasonably attractive wood-framed one for £7.99 on amazon. CLICK HERE for a link to it. You’ll need some brightly-coloured whiteboard pens too. Get your child to enjoy dividing it up into days of the week and writing on homeworks they can cross off as they are done.
- Create a tidy and well-lit desk space for them. It can be anywhere in the house, although if there is space in their room all the better.
- Offer hot drinks and little healthy nibbles on a saucer. They will feel grown-up and appreciated if they are brought thoughtful treats while they work.
Of course this ideal-world scenario will fall down occasionally. Don’t give up though – just have another chat about what worked and what didn’t work and begin again. Really the hot drinks are key here…