Know How, Know Where

Often, homework struggles come down to one major issue: a loss of control. Children may feel like they can’t do it, or they simply have no choice. Recognizing this can quickly help you defuse your child’s frustration and make things better by finding a way to put them back in control again. An easy—and fun!—way to do this is by allowing your child to choose where they do their homework. Little does more to bring levity to a stressful situation than novelty. So, encourage your child to take back some control by choosing where or how he or she actually does the work. If your child is easily distracted in new environments or unable to come up with their own ideas, provide them with two acceptable choices to select from. Helping your child shift their focus off their frustration for a moment and onto a choice can help by giving them a bit of a breather. This process can often be just enough to help them resettle and approach the task at hand much more calmly and productively, too. If your child is hot under the collar from frustration, then let him or her grab their pillow and lay down in the nice cool (waterless) tub to complete their reading assignment. If a math assignment is proving boring, encourage your child to liven things up by decorating their plain ol’ pencil with some colorful washi tape. If he or she has a packet of worksheets to complete, suggest he or she complete each sheet in a different room of the house.

‍The actual place doesn’t matter. But just being able to choose it can make all the difference in both attitude and actually getting the homework completed. It’ll also help encourage your child to use their own creativity to make unavoidable situations more tolerable—a lifelong skill that will serve them well into the future, too.

‍After the homework is completed—no matter how or where—tell your child that you’re proud of their ability to not give up. Share that this pleases God, too. God wants us to work hard in everything we do—including homework!