Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Complaining about homework

I thought HelloBaby was saying more that the behavior deteriorates over the longer term, not that he's tired at the end of any particular day. Also, it seems like giving him more control about when would solve any problem of it being the wrong time of day.

Yep. After a week or two of nothing but free plays/TV/iPad/etc, his behavior deteriorates.

BTW, is it typical?

A lot of children benefit from having some structure to their days. This doesn't mean you have to regiment every minute, but just have some kind of rhythm to the day. Also, it may be a reaction to the very full days a lot of kids have during the school year; sometimes children who are too accustomed to having their days fully planned out for them don't know what to do with themselves when given a lot of latitude.

I would suggest giving him loosely-structured days, where there are a few fixed timepoints, or one or two small tasks to be accomplished (or fun events to be involved in), interspersed with one or two or three hour unstructured times.

With my own, I find that it's not so much free play that does it, as excessive screen time. Reading all day or building forts in the yard (or living room) does not make them cranky, just satisfyingly tired.

I also find that there was a difference when we went from one child to more than one. As much as having multiple children introduces the option of quarreling, they do entertain each other, which -usually- has meant net better behavior.

I cannot comment on the multiple sibling point, but I will concur wholeheartedly with the screen time observation.

DD has NEVER been a child who self-regulates screen time very well, and her behavior is also inversely proportional to the amount of such time spent with electronics.

Physical activity and meeting someone ELSE's schedule points really help her. She also voluntarily does a lot of other things all on her own as long as we limit that screen time. Always has.

You must tell the children that if they are not engaged, in the future will not be able to earn money. This should increase their motivation for classes.

I can't see this having much affect on a primary aged child. Besides I really don't think doing a workbook now is going to have much affect on his future earning potential.

HelloBaby- I'm going to suggest the opposite, probably unpopular view based on similar experiences at my house:)
We try to do some "homework" each day. We typically schedule it at exactly the same time. I lay the homework by DS's plate so he may finish directly after breakfast. It's about ten minutes worth of work, usually math for skill building.
If I tried to keep the homework only several times a week without a specific schedule, DS would find all kinds of reasons, excuses not to comply- we would spend our time together arguing and it may or may not get done. This way, it's simply built into the daily routine.
If we're doing a camp and can't do the "after breakfast homework routine" then I do try to get him to do it (not every day) if I can catch him on a good day. Otherwise, I let it go.
For my DS, routine (same time, same place each day) is important. If something is critical, I don't give him room to argue or to think of why he "shouldn't" do it.

Agreed in terms of academic gains, however in terms of self-discipline it may make a huge difference.

It may seem far off from where you are now, but if a child will take APs in high school, he should be in a bit of summer-work habit. DS15 will take two APs and an honors pre-calc in the fall, and all three have homework he needs to do now. The purpose, they say, is that there is a certain amount of curriculum to cover in the school year, and they need to be ready to jump right in in August.

Because he had a big issue with homework not getting done or not turned in last year, I am strongly encouraging dedication to this task this summer. (And i don't mean worksheets, I mean homework that was central to the course, like essays for a writing class) DS cupped his hand to his ear and said "what's that I hear? Is that a helicopter?" Thanks to Howlerkarma, I brought up the concept of scaffolding. That actually was well-received.

I just love adolescents!