Homework Issue...

I'm having trouble getting the boys to do their homework so I'm hoping someone might have some tips for us. According to the schools guidelines homework is an hour spread over a week, the boys teachers do Mon-Thurs so 15 minutes a night each. Each boy has a book to read, DS1 is in Yr2 and also has a spelling task & timestables and DS2 is in Pre-Primary and also has sight words. The first issue is that it takes them a lot longer than 15 minutes each night. DS1 carries on like a pork chop because he'd rather be playing and quite frankly I don't blame him... he's spent all day at school which is exhausting enough for him. He has ASD as well as a gut/bowel issue, which is still being investigated, like many kids he has his coping mechanisms for school and by the time he's home he is falling apart. DS2 also carries on like a pork chop mostly because he's tired, he has SPD.

A typical day starts at 6:30am, an hour later we are heading for the bus stop. Doing homework in the morning is not a possibility, we usually only have 5 minutes spare between being ready and needing to leave home. With the exception of Wednesday, they get off the bus at 4pm (Wednesday is 3:30). By the time we get home, they get changed in to home clothes, then unpack their school bags and have a snack it's around 4:30-4:45. Dinner is 5:30, shower around 6:30 then 'quiet time' until bed time at 7pm. Now there appears to be time between the getting home routine and dinner, however my hubby is rarely home to help out which means I have to try and do homework with them and cook dinner (I try and get as much prep as I can done during the day, but I am going to be going back to work in 2-3 months time). Dinner literally takes them close to an hour every night to eat and clean-up and showering/getting ready for bed takes around 15 minutes. If hubby is home by then he will sit and do the reading while I do the other bits of homework. This works great because hubby has some kind of magical power of them lol and they will sit and read without the carry on I get. However hubby is not usually home until well after they've gone to bed.... so through your tips at me please :D

Is it possible to have a snack ready to go (already prepped) we eat thinks like carrot sticks/ cucumber or fruit,
Our routine is in the door lunch boxes on bench and bags on hook out of uniform then homework then snack. Or snack while doing written homework. Reading is sometimes done as part of the bedtime story routine. After homework then it's playtime. We have gotten quicker as they realise they will get more at if they just get on and do it. Good luck...

Don't do it - seriously! If it's causing so much stress and conflict, it's not worth it (I'm a teacher ;) ) discuss it with their teachers and explain that for your family - it's not working!

THEN Give them a choice and reward them if they "choose" to do it - maybe a sticker chart with something after 5, 10, 20 sessions? Obviously, at some point they will need to do homework ( high school) but at least by then they should be more independent.

Snacks are ready to go, we tried doing snack then homework but it just didn't work. Between last snack at school and getting home from the bus is 2.5 hours, which is a long time for them. They are snackers, which is why dinner takes so long lol. They eat their snack while I unpack their lunchboxes then we try and get on to homework, but they just aren't in that 'school' frame of mind anymore. Which is part of the reason it takes longer than 15 minutes each night, another part being that the only homework which can be done independently is DS1's spelling and timestables (I check them after he's done them).
Reading at bed time doesn't work, we have a LOT of bed time issues as it is and homework is just another excuse for them to not go to bed. When it comes to them going to bed and doing their homework I'd rather they were in bed so they get enough sleep for the next school day.

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Don't do it - seriously! If it's causing so much stress and conflict, it's not worth it (I'm a teacher ;) ) discuss it with their teachers and explain that for your family - it's not working!

THEN Give them a choice and reward them if they "choose" to do it - maybe a sticker chart with something after 5, 10, 20 sessions? Obviously, at some point they will need to do homework ( high school) but at least by then they should be more independent.

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I like the reward chart idea, thanks! I have spoken to the teachers and explained that some nights we just run out of time, both are very understanding and have basically said that if you get to it great, if not not to stress about it. But I do stress about it lol.

I think homework is important. Because it sets up good work ethic.

We do homework together the second DS walks in the door. No screens or toys until it is done. Try and prep dinner the night before so you have the time to sit with then the second they walk in the door.

I promise you if homework is done before anything else they will do it. But make sure it's not a drag. And praise their efforts. Books are easiest read at bedtime.

Seeing some kids struggle now in highschool I can see the kids who never did their homework.

I also have friends who are procrastinators with poor work ethic who swear they wish they had been pushed to do homework more as a child.

Don't feel bad if you don't get around to it - there's a lot of research that shows homework doesn't impact on long term outcomes for children - especially primary children. And for children with ASD other research that disagrees with doing homework for them too.

But having said that - I try to think about it as helping them learn routines. Cause as older teenagers study has shown to have a moderate impact so there is some suggestion that it will help in the last couple of years of school. The reward chart is a good idea - also a visual schedule where he can follow the picture routine as to how the afternoon will flow and tick them off as he does each activity in the afternoon as well. In fact you could get the kids to help set the routine so they "own" it a bit - that could be the first 'task' each afternoon to 'set tonight's schedule' then If you know the nights dad will be home early they could choose to wait for him.

I'm sure you're doing a great job - try to take the pressure off yourself and just do your best xox

For me, with 3 in school, all who leave 'school at school', hate homework time!

So we get home, they unpack their bags, pack their lunches (except sandwich and fruit, which I do), get school clothes ready.

one by one I sit down to do homework while the other 2 have a snack. They take turns in who goes first.

DD1 has 1 long book to read + word lists and times tables (usually she reads the book in the car on the drive home and then read another book once home)
DD2 has 2 medium sized books + sight wirds
DS has 1 short book

Homework takes around 40 minutes to do. By 5 PM they are out in the backyard. 530 shower. Dinner on the table around 615 and we are done by 7. Kids have quiet time in their rooms until 730 then bed.

I'm pretty lucky. Dd1 has taken responsibility & makes sure hers is done. DS likes the challenge so far, but there are days when his is done in the mornings rather than the afternoon.

Dd2 is my biggest drama! I try to get it done as she walks in the door, or she reads to herself in bed. She's not supposed to read alone yet, but if she'll give it a go, it's better than nothing.

Would DS1 read to DS2? Maybe if it was a responsibility/big kid thing? Ds1 could read it as ds2's bedtime story? Maybe just every second night even? Reverse it on the other nights?

With sight words, can you make it more interesting , by maybe having them stuck to the fridge & every time he gets a glass of water, he reads 1 word? Or get a book he loves, read it to him, but tell him you need help with a few words?

Thanks everyone :) There's quite a few great ideas there for me to keep in mind :)

are they able to snack or read on the bus?

can you do homework on the weekend, rather than during the week?

They are allowed to eat apples on the bus, which they usually do. They both require assistance reading, so on the bus isn't ideal either.
Can't do homework on the weekend as DS1 has his spelling tests Friday usually.

I am cracking down on the snacking now though, because they were eating a lot and then not eating dinner, so now it's one snack only and then straight in to homework. It seems to be working ok for now.

Thanks :)