Homework ARRRGGHHHH!!! 8yr old

[miloand4]

Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to get an 8 year old boy to want to do homework. My 8 yr old son is a very "spirited" young man and really stuggles with sitting in a classroom ALL day let alone having to come home and SIT some more. He just pines to be outside. He is a clever boy can read write do maths etc.. I have tried bribery sending to bed talking to his teacher. Its getting frustrating and affecting his school report. I cant force him to do it. He just simply wont.
He is really well behaved at school in the classroom and sits still is quiet and listens but he hates it with a passion and just needs to be outside!I hate that it is causing problems in an otherwise happy house. WHAT DO I DO???

[sam's mum]

does he HAVE to do the homework. if it isn't adding any value to his schooling I would talk to the teacher about him not having homework. sometimes homework is just for the sake of it rather than being something that is important.

I would let him run and have fun, you don't want to turn him off school all together. the overall attitude to school is more important, especially at 8.

[dreamtobeamummy]

does he HAVE to do the homework. if it isn't adding any value to his schooling I would talk to the teacher about him not having homework. sometimes homework is just for the sake of it rather than being something that is important.

I would let him run and have fun, you don't want to turn him off school all together. the overall attitude to school is more important, especially at 8.


:iagree: I wouldn't be overly stressing and getting upset with it. I personally would let him run outside, I never did home work at that age as all i wanted was to be outside to and Hey a child being outside these days and not infront of the tv is very rare :p

[Mrs Potts]

I agree with PP. If your DS is working at his year level or higher (without a struggle) then I wouldn't worry about the homework. If he's great at maths, but his reading is lacking (for example) perhaps you can compromise with 15 minutes of reading/spelling words then he can go outside.

At his age the only homework he should be getting is general revision/spelling words/home reader. IMO anything more than that is unnecessary.

[miloand4]

They get half an hour a night In yr 3!!!! I think it is to much but if you dont do it it affects their report card!!!! We read together every night anyway it is a bedtime ritual for us and he hates the stupid books they bring home from school {they are pretty bad!} so we read the books he likes and they are far ahead of what they send home. But the teacher told me that this will not be recognised on his report!!!! So I lie and say we read them and go get the captain underpants books out lol He gets 10 out of ten for spelling all the time. I tend to just let him go out and have his play time but the teacher has been severley marking him down because of this. I think I will speak to the princapal about it. It isnt something we should be fighting about!!!

[dreamtobeamummy]

Wow thats alot of home work for a grade 3 child!!! IMO he sounds like he is doing a great job :yes: I would go talk to the principle

[LittleMissyMoo]

That does sound like alot of homework for his age, and this is something you should address with his teacher. BUT, parents cannot expect their child to LEARN and MASTER all skills while they're at school, its impossible for teachers. The skills need to be practised and rainforced at home, hence the importance of homework.

Can you use positive reinforcement to make it more endurable? For every half an hour of homework, he can do half an hour of something he loves? Or can you make it a special time with the two of you that ends in doing something fun together like playing a game or video game?

Also the timing of the homework is crucial, no child wants to be at school all day and come home to half an hour's home work. Make sure he has a run around or play with friends first to de-stress and shake off the day. Maybe make sure homework is done after dinner or bath?

Best of luck, I applaud you for sticking with it.

[SuperGranny]

I would be talking with the teacher more or with the school principle. If your son is doing fine with the school work and a good student in class, maybe he really doesent need the revision of homework each night. If he is reading above the age level and finding no trouble with math, i think the homework is just for some routine for when he gets into the higher grades at school. So that extra work at home becomes the normal thing, a habit. Maybe he will be able to accept that while this level of school is easy for him , the high school might be a bit harder, so he should do some homeowrk now to get used to it. I have had the attitude that the teacher sets the homework so it is the teacher responisblity to see it is done. If there is consequences that the teacher can impose, like staying in a lunchtime or giving harsher grades then that is what happens. but to put it in perspective, there is not really any improtance in the grades one gets at primary school. They wont be looked at by anyone in the future. I dont know if i have helped, but that is my thoughts. good luck Marie,

[miloand4]

Thanks guys I feel like Ihave tried everything I told him I was going to talk to the teacher about him staying back after school to do his homework!! That worked this week lol hopefully it will for next week to :D

[NibbleCurlynBub]

Either way I'd talk to his teacher.

If the sit down and study kind of learning just does not work with him then maybe she could help with another approach if he is required to do learning outside of school.

I always found that OBJECTS helps. So for maths, blocks or graph paper and a highlighter... Stuff like that to make it a teeny bit less boring.

If he is 100% bored and being forced with it chances are he won't remember much of it and might actually do very little learning. So it might end up being a waste of time.

[meggs]

Hi there,
Sorry I couldnt help but take a sticky beak, I dont have a school aged child but I am a teacher - well was until this yr when I had DD...

Homework is such a contentious issue isnt it? My perspective as a teacher is that homework can be valuable if it is helpful, if your child really isnt gaining anything from it then maybe give it a rest or just do the bare min that you think he needs...Im utterly shocked that his teacher is marking him down and has it reflected on his report card Ive never seen that before!

IMO who cares what he reads at home as long as he is reading.. Home readers are only aids in facilitating reading not the be all and end all, besides he should have readers in the classroom anyway..reading should be fun!!! Sounds like he isnt lagging anywhere so I wouldnt worry too much about making him do it especially if he hates it as someone said attitude towards school is so important at this age...

Definately talk to the Principal about your concerns...I wish there were more parents like you who care so much about their child's learning:) You are doing a great job!! Honestly some kids need to express their energy in different ways so I wouldnt stop him from enjoying his time after school by being outside it may even help him to be more focussed and get into homework after he has done this.... Im all for seeing kids thrive through their strengths...

Hope it all works out feel free to pm me anytime if you want some advice!!!:)

[YMo7]

i agree with speaking to his teacher...

my dd (6) has a co-ordination problem and as a result HATES writing... she is very awkward when she writes and cries. on the other side of things, she knows the work and it very good at it and she is a fantastic reader...
we spoke to her teacher about this and she just said that if we can incorporate anything into making it fun but will also help her co-ordination then to do it. she simply said that if writing i a problem and makes her upset, then not to worry about it at home and that she will help her at school... so for instance... she has 4 'site words' (spelling words) and instead of doing look cover write check, she rolls the letters out with playdough sausages and spells them that way... 1. she doesnt have to write 2. she still does the work 3. its fun.

i know thats long but i wanted to give you an example that if you speak to the school then there should always be ways around things... maybe he could do maths while kicking a footy (i forget how old you said he was - very tired) eg. he could do 6 groups of 4 field goals to make 20 field goals (6X4=20)

HTH a little bit... sorry for the long post.

[miloand4]

Thanks for all the advice evyone. We have always incorporated maths and english into everyday things like counting adding and subtracting things we see and playing eye spy and we have a number plate game you have to make words from the number plate letters its always funny.I just really hate that its affecting his report card that doesnt seem fair to me> He brings home all the little tests that you do for spelling maths each week and always has 10 out 10 and gets all these certificates and then his teach says he is not doing well in class ??? I dont understand It is very frustrating