When should older children do their homework? Straight away when they get back from school, or after dinner?

[LittleBella]

Or in the morning before school?

I always let the DC's chill out for about an hour before mentioning homework. They currently only have about 10 mins worth usually. But a friend of mine with teenagers said I was MAKING A ROD FOR MY OWN BACK because when they are older, they won't do their homework - when they get in from school, they are still in school mode and should get it over with. If they sit down and relax, they won't want to do it for the rest of the evening.

So, what do you think? Should I take pre-emptive action now and get them into the habit of getting homework done asap or ignore her?

Amen pointydog

I think the problem comes when homeworks become longer/more demanding. It's all very well sitting down straight after school and doing something that takes 10-30 mins, but if it's a project/essay that is going to take longer than that it will be different I think.

Ds1 just thanked me for encouraging him to finish off all his outstanding homework yesterday, so that he can relax and chill today!

Blimey, how old is he roisin? Can he possibly be a teenager? Do they do thanking?

Well ds does his as soon as he gets in, mainly because if he didn't he wouldn't get motivated enough to actually sit down and do it. He is in yr 10 but, I think really that all kids are different so with someone else it might be more effective for them to recharge their batteries beforehand.

Ds does always have a snack first though before he starts.

I think for secondary school it is useful to help them transition to independent study by sitting down and helping them to prepare a study timetable.

Work out how much time they will need a week, let them allocate it onto the various days, taking account of other commitments such as sports and music. Then once they have drawn up the timetable make sure that they are sticking to it!

[reading thread coz i never got into habit/discipline of doing my own homework so have no idea how to 'teach' it to my dc]

If ds has a big project on, he does the prep work when he gets in, research etc, he goes to homework club too, so gets a bit done there and he will work on it over a few days.

It depends on the child/ren and the family setup.

In the summer I attempt to get the homework sorted as soon as we get home, and then they can go out and play. In the autumn I allow them out first whilst it's still light.

Then there's the variables - afterschool clubs; evening activities; whether we need to pop anywhere after school; whether the homework needs doing on the computer (three rebels, one computer).

Add to all that DS1 now has a paper-round, so that takes priority, straight after the bus journey...

DS1 and DS3 tend to do their homework when I ask them too, if they've not already completed it.

DS2 is a different story altogether...and I'm still working on that one.

Depends on your kids. Some people really benefit from a break and some are better off just getting on with it. Your knowledge of your kids will tell you what's right, not what your friend does.

My ds's do homework as soon as we get in from school, then they have the rest of the evening to play.

Very occasionally I need to work in the afternoons, and dh is in charge. He either tries to get them to do it after dinner, or in the morning before school, neither of which work atall. Homework isn't done properly/ they can't be bothered/ writing messy.

But every child and family routine is different, so you maybe should just and see what works best for your dc

My children always had a chill out time after getting in from school and doing thier homework. School can be very tiring and teenagers need to relax.

Depends on the family set up. Clearly, if a family doesn't eat until 8 p.m., letting the children wait until after the evening meal is probably not a good idea!

We eat relatively early, at 5 p.m., and this works really well. The children have time after school to relax, have a snack etc, do an after-school club or whatever.

Then after tea there is still all the evening left to do homework, music practice and still have plenty of time left to just be children.

Sometimes they choose to do some/all of their homework before tea, but that is up to them.

Most homework is done on the night it is set, except for longer pieces of work or projects.

I think i totally depends upon what works for you and your children. My children are in years 8 and 11.We have a routine where i make them a reasonable size snack when they get in .( say soup and bread.or a piece of cake and ice cream) Whist they eat we chat about their day , then they do homework. I don't tell them to go do it, they just get on with it because we have done it this way for so long. Their dad is usually in for dinner around seven, so we all eat a proper meal together then. They like it this way because homework doesn't mount up and doesn't hang over their free time.
On fridays it is totally different because they usually have lots of friends over or go visit friends homes until 9 ish .If during the week they are meeting up with friends they usually do it straight from school and will do their home work later.