Motivating Your Child to Do Their Homework

Homework is one of the activities in the curriculum that almost no student is enthusiastic about. Nothing is exciting about bringing homework from school that already takes up a third of a student’s day. This is why it is so difficult to get children to do their homework, especially those in primary school.

Whenever a parent will try to force their child into doing their homework, the children will instinctively protest and sometimes even shed tears. After seeing a child’s tears, a parent’s natural response would be to stop the cause of the crying in order to stop their child from crying further.

So, how do you get your child to do their homework without making them shed tears? Well, just don’t make them cry or force the homework upon them. There are a lot of ways to get your child to do their homework without having to go hard on them. And if you want to learn how, then continue reading the article to find out.

Why kids don’t like homework

Before we delve into how you can get your child to do their homework, we must first determine why they resent doing their homework so much. Every child has their personal reasons for not wanting to do homework. However, there are a few re-occurring reasons as to why children dislike homework in general. 

• No merit for the child

A person will feel motivated to continue doing a certain task as long as there is merit and rewards involved that they will reap after the task is done. However, when a person did their best to answer their homework at home only for it to be submitted the next day to the teacher and not gaining any recognition for the hard work done, it can seriously discourage an individual to continue doing that task.

Yes, there will be merit with regard to the child’s grade. Yet, the child himself will not get any recognition for the effort he has put into the task. Plus, the topics to be answered in homework are often already covered in class, which means that they serve no other purpose than reinforcing the knowledge gained by an individual.

• Less time to play

Children love to play. They are at the period of their lives where social interactions through playing can dictate whether a child will develop into an astounding individual or an individual that feels that they are inferior to others. However, when children use up a third of their day at school, and a third of their day for sleeping, this will only give them a maximum of 8 hours to do other things including play.

But when a child is forced to spend another 1 or 2 hours into answering their homework, this can make them feel like they are being robbed of their time to play. This can seriously damage their determination to do their homework and may result in them not wanting to do their homework at all.

• More academic work

School demands a lot from a child’s brain. It teaches them new topics which creates new neuron channels to store information. Schools encourage their students to think critically and solve problems that are hard to come by daily. Plus, schools also have a lot of academic-related work such as making essays, answering quizzes, and memorizing new topics.

Homework is another form of academic work that is assigned by schools. However, instead of doing it at school, homework is given to students to be answered in their homes. This means even more academic work for the students even if they are in the vicinity of their homes. And it can be seriously tiring for an individual to get back to doing academic work when they only just finished a day’s worth of academic-related activities at school.

• Takes up time that can be used for rest

School takes a lot out of a child. They are required to spend 8 hours in a facility that makes them utilize their brains to the fullest, which uses up about 20% of a person’s daily energy input. Plus, they have to keep physically and socially active as well in order to fit in with their peers. All this effort and energy spent by a child can drain them of their energy and tire them out.

After a day of school, a child who is worn out will naturally want to get some rest to recharge themselves for the next day. However, when the time they could spend for rest is instead used to do even more work, this can result in a child disliking the thought of homework.

How to get homework done

Now that we know why children are so against answering their homework, it is now time to discuss how you can get the homework done. Here are a few ways you can get your child to do their homework without any unwanted scenarios.

1. Set an appropriate time

One of the first things a parent should do in order to make their child do homework is to set up a schedule which the child must follow. Divide the free time they have at home appropriately into homework time, playtime, chores (optional), and rest. This will allow the child to manage their time and get used to a routine.

By setting the time to play after the time the child should spend doing homework, the child will feel like they are being rewarded for doing their homework. This will result in them being more willing to do their homework as they can play afterward. However, be sure to keep watch over your child while they are doing their homework to make sure they truly are doing their homework.

2. Reward desirable behavior

Children love rewards. And if a parent rewards their child for doing desirable acts such as doing homework, then the child will naturally want to do homework in order to get even more rewards. One can utilize this method to get their child pumped up into doing their homework. This method also negates one of the reasons as to why children dislike doing homework by giving merit to the child.

A parent can easily do this method by simply giving rewards to their child in the form of snacks, other material objects, or praise whenever they finish their homework on time or willingly do their homework on their own.  

3. Help with the task

A teacher is not the only individual that should teach and guide a child towards academic excellence. Parents must also do their fair share of work to educate their children by helping them do their homework. This is another method to get your child to do their homework.

By helping your child do their homework, they will feel much closer to you. This will also lessen the strain on their brains while doing homework as they will have an adult guide them and teach them whenever they are having difficulties. This will make the task less tedious and more enjoyable as the child is now spending time with their parent.

4. Give him/her a break

After doing their homework for some time, it would be advisable to give the child a break every once in a while. This will allow them to regain their energy and vigor in answering homework and will allow them to relax for a while. You can set a 5-minute break after every 25 minutes of doing their homework.

Breaks are important to keep an individual’s morale high. By giving breaks to a child whenever they are getting tired of doing their homework, you are allowing them to relax and feel like they are not forced to do the homework which will make them less against the thought of doing homework.

5. Get snacks ready

The brain may only weigh a few grams, but it consumes about a fifth of a person’s daily caloric needs. So, try to have snacks at the ready whenever your child is doing their homework in order to refuel their brain with the calories that they need to continue the task.

Giving snacks to our child while he/she is doing their homework can also serve as motivation for them to continue doing their homework as they will receive snacks whenever they do. You can also opt to give snacks after the child has finished their homework to act as a reward for a successfully finished homework.

6. Hire a tutor

If you do not have the time to spare to truly focus on making sure that your child does their homework, then you can always rely on a capable tutor. A tutor will be able to aid you in your effort to make your child do their homework by doing the methods previously mentioned in the article. They can include answering homework in their daily routine to make sure that the child has truly mastered the topics included in the homework.

And what better place to look for a reliable and capable tutor to help you in your efforts than at Singapore’s leading online and home tuition agency: FamilyTutor. We offer quality private tuition to anyone from pre-school up to university level students. Our courses include a variety of subjects to choose from including Math, Chemistry, Physics, Malay, Chinese, and more.

Carelle

Carelle

Carelle is a teacher who has been through the ups and downs of the teacher and learner life. She wishes for every learner to gain educational satisfaction that will help embody the people they want to be in the future.

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About FamilyTutor!

FamilyTutor is an established home tuition agency in Singapore! We match suitable home tutors for our clients not just to improve the students' academic grades, but also to build a strong rapport and meaningful relationship with the students and even the their whole family. FamilyTutor put every student in good hands!

If you need an excellent home tutor, feel free to call/WhatsApp us at +65 8777-2168! Our matching service is free!

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