End Homework Struggles Today

Do you find yourself in a nightly homework battle with your kids?

This is a place I’ve been in many times with my son after school.

He is currently in second grade and comes home to us with 12-14 pages of homework every Friday. Naturally this large amount of homework can easily turn into a battle.

I’m sure this is a scenario that many other parents are familiar with. We, as parents, are frustrated because of the pressure for our children to succeed in school and complete their assignments. Our children are frustrated because they are tired from a long day of school and now have to spend hours more working on homework.

As a mother, I was at my wits end this year with homework overload and wanted to find a way to make my son’s life a little bit easier after school so we could get back some family time and much needed play time for my kids.

I was able to come up with some ways to help him get through his homework and noticed a big change. Putting an end to our homework struggles meant less tears and less frustration from me.

Make sure and check out what we did below to improve our homework struggles. I promise you will see a positive change during homework time within the week!

5 Easy Ways To END Homework Struggles Today

1. Negotiate

Is your child coming home with pages of homework a week?

I know firsthand how frustrating you can be. But, I am here to tell you that you can take some control back and negotiate.

Call your child’s teacher and tell them your concerns with the amount of homework they are getting. Explain your family situation and ask if anything could be cut out of your child’s homework. Ask if there is something in your child’s homework packet they want your child to focus their time on.

We have been so lucky this year to have a wonderful teacher that is willing to negotiate with families based on their needs. After talking with his teacher our son can now only do his nightly reading and spelling words/sentences and one page of math to get full credit on his homework.

This is still a lot of homework, but less than he had before. It has made a huge difference already!

2. Snacks

I don’t know about your kids, but my son Jonas always comes home super hungry after school. He likes to get his homework done right away so I give him some snacks while he is doing it.

One of his favorite after school snacks is Goldfish crackers. He loves all the different fun flavors and colors they come in!

3. Music

Put some background music on for your kids and you might find they work a ton faster. Since my son loves video games we put on video game soundtrack music while he does his homework.

Not only does this help him work faster, but Juliana, our toddler, is entertained too. She loves dancing around the house while he does his homework.

4. Proximity

Sometimes sitting next to Jonas while he does his homework makes all the difference. He isn’t getting distracted because I am there asking him the next question and helping when he needs it.

If I’m not sitting there sometimes he gets stuck on a homework question and instead of asking for help gets distracted. I find it goes much more quickly if I am in close proximity to keep him on the task.

5. Manipulatives

Make homework fun with hands on activities and manipulatives! Sometimes bringing out something your kids can touch or drawing a picture for them helps them understand hard homework questions.

Jonas loves this when he is working on his addition & subtraction facts. We used his Goldfish snack crackers to help him solve his problems. They work great as a manipulative and homework snack too!

It’s a fun and easy way to put a smile on your child’s face while they are doing their  homework.

What are your best tips for helping kids with homework struggles? Have you tried any of these homework tips? Did you notice any improvement? I would love to hear about your homework experience in the comments below.