I need all your tips, tricks and ideas - both to help my kid get started on and finish her work, and to help me get through it. Because currently it’s painful for both of us. I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin, sitting with her and trying to make myself stay focused so I can help her stay on task.
What does your evening look like? How often do you take breaks and what do you do during the break? Do you have any fidgets, wiggle chairs, etc., that you keep in the “homework area” for them to use while they’re doing their homework? Anything you’ve learned almost always derails things?
What we’ve tried so far (she’s in 4th grade):
- Do one entire item (ex: worksheet, reading passage, spelling list) then take a break and do something fun - this works for some things but others we’re sitting there for 20-30 minutes struggling to finish it
- Set a timer and do as much as she can in 10-15 minutes then take a break - this works well at the start each evening but each time it’s more of a struggle for both of us to come back and do more homework. I feel like it may be too many transitions for our tired, end-of-day executive functioning abilities (or lack thereof).
- Earn a small piece of candy for each question answered, math problem solved, etc. - This works well for math, but I don’t like to use it before we eat dinner, and usually we do at least some homework before dinner.
I just want to help her find some skills she can use to tackle “have to do” things - because as we all know it’ll be a daily struggle even as adults (at least during the work week).
have you tried something to focus before starting a task?
I like a small bit of a not very addicting game before I start something, so I can get in the zone, and assess where my head is.
Just an easy sudoku or bejeweled- something you can knock out in under a minute. I started doing this around 14ish and it helped with school a lot.
If they’re younger, you being there to keep them on track is important, but asking them to assess how they feel based on that little game could be a great self assessment tool.
We’ll have to try this. E we do have a “brain break” when she gets home from school, but some kind of puzzle game to get her brain back in gear might be really helpful.