Middle school expert advice from connie collins q: my seventh grader doesn't always turn in his homework. What can i do? a: most seventh graders have not yet developed the ability to understand long range consequences, so it's not that he doesn't care, it's just that the reality hasn't sunk in yet. As for helping him get his work turned in, there are several things you can do to help him remember, but he is the one who will have to accept the responsibility for actually giving his work to the teacher. I strongly urge you not to take his homework to him if he forgets it this will prevent him from taking responsibility. The first step is to have a calm conversation with your son about what he sees as the problem. Questions you might cover are: where does he put his homework when he finishes it? he should have a pocket folder in his binder dedicated to each subject where he can put his work.

Does he have an assignment notebook so that he knows exactly what the assignment is and when it is due? is he carrying his binder to each class and not leaving it in the locker? i encourage you to meet with his counselor, all his teachers, and him, to discuss what is going on and to work out a plan for helping him learn to manage his homework. With everyone working on the plan, the chances are much greater that your son will turn in his work. Connie collins, professional school counselor, worked for 35 years in public education as a teacher and counselor at the middle school and secondary levels. Collins worked daily with the parents of the students in her various schools, and has facilitated several parenting groups. Collect this article the transition from kindergarten to first grade is a big one. While perhaps not as momentous as starting kindergarten, children have a lot to adjust to when starting first grade.

First graders often spend more time at school and deal with increased academic demands, especially in terms of homework. That means that, while your kindergartener often had little or no homework, homework expectations for your first grade are ramped up: first grade homework often consists of multiple parts, including language arts, math and independent reading, and teachers may assign homework daily or in weekly packets. Beginning first graders are sometimes put off by having more homework than they did in kindergarten. While dealing with a more intense academic program during the day, children may not be inspired to do their homework after school, and, homework can become a struggle.

But the good news is that parents can help! use the following tips to help avoid homework battles. Make homework more manageable by allowing first graders to do small bits of work at a time. If your child has weekly homework, decide which parts will be completed on each night.

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Remember to pile on the praise and make your child feel great about all the hard work he is doing! work together on homework homework is not only a time for first graders to practice what they are learning in school it rsquo s also a great way for families to communicate about what is going on in their lives. When doing homework, ask your first grader to tell you more about what she is learning in school. Make doing homework a time when you are completely focused on your child: if homework is associated with special family time, your child will come to look forward to it. Homework will just become harder if it becomes a high stress situation for you and your child. be consistent find out from your child rsquo s teacher what strategies are being taught at school, then reinforce those strategies at home. For example, if first graders are practicing addition using hands on manipulatives, find beans or blocks to help your child solve addition problems at home. Whenever possible, use the same language and materials that are being utilized by the school.

Oftentimes first grade homework includes a requirement to read for a certain amount of time each night. But first graders are often beginning readers and may not yet be able to decode many books independently. If you are reading to your child, ask him to read easily decodable words, or sight words he has learned, in the book. First graders can often decode leveled reading books independently, but many first graders find those books boring compared to those they are used to being read by their parents. If this is the case, write your own easily decodable book for your child to read and illustrate just get a few pieces of paper out, write the words and have your child read and draw a picture! some kids become much more inspired to read when reading becomes interactive.

As a child i was very turned off by math, i still am! when i taught first grade i saw this with some children too. The problem may be that he doesn't understand the math concepts taught at school. Many children will deflect their lack of understand by joking around or tuning out. I would suggest providing an opportunity for him to express, if this is the case, his lack of understanding with math concepts. Once he is comfortable letting you know he has trouble, then i think the two of you can work together to forge a path to greater math achievement. If he doesn't tell you, then just let him know you had trouble with math, even if it isn't true. Here are some great ideas to do at home and relevant to our lives: answers from portland on august 13, 2013 my question for him would be what is hard about this for you? maybe he needs some company for moral support.

Maybe it would help him to do it differently say, writing them with his finger in some flour on a cookie sheet. Sometimes, he needs to see the word and the letters in order to remember how to write them so be sure to have the words written down for him to reference in regard to letter direction, etc. We find that if small helps don 39 t work and it 39 s just stubbornness, an early bedtime helps.