Ways to Combat Homework Fatigue
The school year has just begun, but that doesn’t mean our children aren’t experiencing the spooky…“homework hate.” While it is easy for our children to feel overwhelmed, between sports, school, and Eye Level, our goal-setting tips are just what can help your children accomplish their goals and overcome “homework hate.”
Learning to set goals teaches our children a lot of different important and long-lasting lessons. Not only does setting goals teach our children how to take responsibility for their actions, but it also teaches our children how to become more independent but building self-confidence. When our children reach their goals, they learn to believe in their abilities and are more likely to set new goals in the future.
It’s important to start out small and make sure goals are attainable. Beginning with small, easy-to-achieve goals ensures your child will experience success early on, and this will encourage them to keep going.
To achieve this confidence, they may need some help from you in setting realistic goals. Younger children may come up with goals like sharing with friends, reading a book independently, or brushing their teeth for two full minutes. Older children should aim to set more complex goals like making honor roll. Note how these examples are also very specific. When their goals are too broad, it can be confusing or overwhelming.
EYE LEVEL OF ALEXANDRIA TIP: Instead of setting the broad goal of “do better at Eye Level,” set the more specific goal of “turn in every Eye Level Homework for a week,” or “study for my Eye Level test next Tuesday.”
While we like to keep track of homework and test grades at Eye Level, keeping track of other parts of your child’s life is just as important to their future success. Habit trackers and journals are great methods for children to start setting and accomplishing their goals.
Habit Trackers
For this method, we recommend using a large poster board or whiteboard to keep track of your child’s progress over time. After laying out your poster board and whiteboard on a flat surface, sit down with your child and decide which goals or habits they would like to track. You could either track one habit over a month using a calendar layout, or several habits over a week using a grid format. For each day the child achieves progress on their goal, they can mark off that box with a sticker, tally mark, or doodle. Once the week or month is up, take a photo of the whiteboard to keep track of their long-term progress before wiping it clean to start again. Habit trackers provide tangible evidence of progress over time.
EYE LEVEL OF ALEXANDRIA TIP: adding prizes or rewards when your child completes their goal is a great way to incentivize goal setting. Who can say no to a toy, special dessert, or extra video game time?
Journals
For this method, all you’ll need is a journal or notebook and something to write with. It’s important to remember to try not to dictate goals for your child. Instead, let them take the lead. They are much more likely to push toward their goals if they can take ownership of them. Dedicate the journal solely to goal setting, and have your child make short entries on a daily or weekly basis to check in with their progress. Make sure your child can easily see the progress they are making towards achieving their goals.
No matter what method you use, remember to cheer your little one on as they make strides toward their goals. The journey to them achieving their goals is equally as just as important as them reaching their goals. If you have goal-setting tips of your own, feel free to reach out to us to be featured in our November newsletter!
