It can and WILL happen!
I’m sure you know how it goes, kid comes home and immediately thinks they are going to go outside to play or they try to hop onto the video games and waste their night away. Homework you ask. What, what is that, no homework tonight! Then Friday comes along and they have a letter in their bag indicating there’s missing work. This is a weekly routine with mom or dad constantly battling the homework fight only to lose. It doesn’t have to be like that. You can gain control of the homework tug a war and come out a winner. Homework can be easy again.
Gaining control back
Children should never have the sense that they are boss; they should be treated as equals but never as if they rule the nest. Some parents have a difficult time with homework because they find it is such a struggle that it’s hardly worth the screaming and arguing that comes after the homework word. Motivating a child that is used to getting their way is not going to be easy. You will have to keep focused and remember that the prize at the end of the tunnel is worth it in the end.
If you have a child that is not doing their homework and you feel as if you are losing control over the household rules then your first step is to regain some of that control immediately and that could mean a more extreme strategy. This might mean video games are gone cold turkey for one or two months. It also might mean that the child is prevented from leaving the house or talking on the phone. In some extreme cases dinner might need to be moved to a later time to leave plenty of time for the child to get homework completed. Once parents gain some of that control back things will run smoothly and you can begin the process of motivating them to want to do their homework.
Once parents have regained control of the homework war, they can motivate their children to do homework by giving things back with restrictions attached. Video games can resurface but with stricter policies. Phone time can be allotted and playtime with friends reserved. For older girl’s makeup and hair accessories can begin to resurface. The key to all of this is not letting these activities rule the house again. Make homework a necessary rule that is not to be broken. If homework is not done by xyz time then free time is taken away.
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