What To Do When Your Child Takes Too Long to Complete Homework
What To Do When Your Child Takes Too Long to Complete Homework
| By | Dr. Sam Goldstein |
| Dr. Sydney Zentall |
Many children start their homework without difficulty. Some find it increasingly difficult, however, to remain on task long enough to complete homework. In these households, parents spend a great deal of time getting their child to refocus attention to homework. In severe cases it can take many more hours than it should to complete homework. Needless to say, this can be extremely frustrating for both parents and children. Tempers flare. Homework sessions become battlegrounds. A tug of war develops between parents who want homework completed and children who do their best to avoid working. Children may experience difficulty remaining on task to complete homework for a number of reasons. Some children simply struggle to sustain attention for independent activities. Others may be confused about the assignment and become lost as they begin working. Still others find homework boring and unmotivated to earn good grades. Parents typically react to this kind of problem by keeping a close watch over their children during homework time. They help the child get started and supervise work closely. Whenever the child goes off task the parent reminds the child to return to work. The child may take the prompt as nagging and work for a short period of time but with increasing frequency move off task. Thus, a dance of dysfunction develops during homework time between parent and child. Let's examine why this type of interaction is usually unproductive. When you prompt about homework, your child may return to task to get you to stop prompting. As long as the child is on task you stop prompting. As long as you prompt the homework gets done. However, children then do their homework for the wrong reason. They are working to eliminate the pressure you place on them. Each time you engage in this process the likelihood has increased that the process will be repeated. Unfortunately your children are not learning independent homework skills and you are placed in the position of becoming long-term homework guards. The first step to end this cycle is to focus your attention on the positive aspects of your child's behavior rather than the negative. Try the following:
- Accept that some children work at their own pace. Help your child understand that as well. Reinforce him or her with praise and rewards for engaging in homework even for short periods of time.
- Encourage your child to work for longer periods independently by establishing work time or work production goals. A work time goal might be a specific number of minutes of on task behavior which then earns a reward when achieved. A work production goal might be a specific number of examples completed that earns a reward when achieved. Gradually extend work time or work production goals to increase your child's length of independent work. Continue to provide consistent, frequent positive reinforcement.
- Avoid falling into the nagging trap when your child is off task. Make an effort to ignore the negative, waiting for the opportune moment to reinforce the positive. ï Finally, we suggest you withhold favored or preferred activities such as watching television until homework goals are accomplished.
