Well it’s been two and a half weeks since the kids have started back to school and the homework is piling in and the groaning has started! We are working on getting into a rhythm. My son is a creature of habit. When he first started getting homework when he was younger, we waited until after dinner for him to do his homework. If you ask him to do any homework prior to dinner you will face a lot of resistance, groaning and maybe even a fit.
What Not To Do
I discovered this on Monday. We were getting things ready for dinner, wanted the kids to do their homework before we went up to the farm to take care of the chickens and everything fell apart. My son didn’t want anything to do with the homework because one, it was before dinner; two, it was still light out; and three he didn’t understand the last page of it. I asked my daughter to also start to put a dent in her homework and since she saw the way her brother was behaving, she also had to moan and groan.
What To Do To Get Into A Rhythm
I kept my cool and decided that we were going to go to the farm; but since the kids still had quite a bit of homework to do when we got home, there wasn’t going to be any play time (indoor or out), and if the homework wasn’t done by a set time, then we wouldn’t be able to sit on the couch together to watch America’s Got Talent. This is a favorite thing we like to do as a family.
I made the choice to pull them out of the house and go up to the farm, despite the homework needing to be done because everyone needed a reset. The farm is a good place for everyone to calm down, refocus and get some fresh air.
When they got home, the homework was done; but it did take a bit longer than I wanted. Lesson learned. Now when they come home from school, I want to see what their homework is and home much time it will require. This way everyone has set expectations and we can decide what we can and can’t do for any extra activities.
