Homework Drama: Here’s How You Can End It for Good!

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Homework Drama: Here's How You Can End It for Good Nicole Santamaria Contributor Miami Moms Blog

Are you at the beginning of the school year and already dreading the after school time because homework is driving you, your child and your family crazy?

Homework is causing all sorts of drama resulting in tears, wine, and chocolate.

At the end of the day, we all want the same things: a peaceful end of the day where we can connect with our family and recharge.  Right?  As a mom of 3 and an OT for over 20 years, I have heard it all when it comes to HW.    

  • It’s too hard! 
  • There is too much of it
  • It takes my child forever to sit down and do it! 
  • My child is always forgetting something at school
  • My child is always losing the done homework!
  • I feel so guilty about homework
  • What is my role here?

The list goes on and on.

I can pretty much with a hundred percent accuracy say that neither the schools, administrators, teachers, parents or kids want this.  Nobody wants parents drinking wine because of homework.  Nobody wants kids missing extracurricular activities, skipping the park, bike rides, or missing family dinners.  But I am fully aware that this is the reality for too many families.  

Homework Drama: Here's How You Can End It for Good Nicole Santamaria Contributor Miami Moms Blog

Since homework isn’t going anywhere let’s just find a way to do it and get on with the rest of our day.

So what can we do about it?  Take a deep breath get a new perspective on how to coach your kids through homework.  We can also improve the skills that are actually keeping your kids from:

  • Completing homework in a timely manner
  • Keeping track of all the things that come with homework
  • Checking in on your values (they may be sabotaging your efforts to end homework drama)

These skills are called executive skills.  The beautiful thing about executive skills is that they can significantly improve!! The ones that specifically mess with homework are time awareness and a lack of systems that keep track of all the things related to school.

Getting our kids to be aware of time is key to starting and finishing the homework.  Improving time awareness also helps them begin and complete lots of other things like getting dressed, brushing teeth, picking a book, everything!

Homework Drama: Here's How You Can End It for Good Nicole Santamaria Contributor Miami Moms Blog

Teaching our kids how to use systems definitely helps them keep track of what goes to school.  It will be a life skill they will use throughout their education and beyond.  Can you say organizing closets, packing a suitcase, organizing Legos and Barbies?  Yes, everything!

Checking in on your perspective and coming to terms with how you feel about homework and what is actually happening can help you prioritize and negotiate what is important for your family.

I know this is a reality for too many families and I 100% believe we can end homework drama.  If you want to dive deeper into this subject, you can access a 4-part video training on how to end homework drama here.