One of the most questions parents often asked, mums especially is, Dumebi, my child does not like to do his homework, I honestly don’t know what to do about it and this stresses me a lot, in fact he’s so lazy when it comes to doing homework.
I usually smile when I hear parents say this to me because I understand their worries and them thinking is their job to get their child to do their homework. I also, understand the fear of not wanting their child to fail, it’s all parents dream for their child to do well academically, so as to get a good a job and succeed in life and that is the reason, they’re so anxious and worried that their child is refusing to do homework hence, they’re so desperate to getting their child do their homework.
Truth is, your child’s homework is for your child not yours so, it’s his duty to do his homework, however, he needs your support and guidance to be able to achieve this level of competence.
Here are few questions you may want to ask yourself as parents
Firstly, does my child knows what his homework is all about? Does my child have basic knowledge required to do his homework? Do they understand the basic skills of addition? That 10 bottles of coke plus another 10 bottles of coke will make 20 bottles of coke altogether?
Secondly. Is my child(ren) overwhelming with many homework and he does not have the ability to decide which one to do first? This is where your job comes into play by teaching your child how to prioritize his homework. Say to your child, darling, I can see that you’ve got so many homework to do today and I understand you’re getting overwhelmed with it, don’t worry I’m here to help you figure it all out, so, Now, tell me which one would you like to do first? The easy ones or the difficult ones? when would you like to do them before your snacks or after your snacks? Helping your child to figure out all of these will make him want to do his homework.
Thirdly, does my child have the desire to do his homework? is he willing and ready to do his homework? does he have the inner drive or internal motivation to do so? If not, that means, disinterested motivation has taken place. Your role now is to build his internal motivation.
Dear intentional parents, I understand that getting your child to do his homework can be quite challenging and difficult as this is most parents reality every Monday to Friday, but I will encourage you to master the skill of patience with your child. Don’t get into yelling and smacking just because of homework and as a result, you forget your priority which is your child and not the homework.
