Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Jack’s academic performance makes his father and me extremely proud. Jack gets awesome grades and meets new challenges as they arise. He makes sure his homework is completed, and he studies for tests. Most of what he’s learned so far came naturally to him, which helped make his course work manageable.

Lately, Jack is feeling more pressure with his schoolwork load. He has several unit tests, a speech, and a book report due soon. He is a perfectionist when it comes to his work. Making sure everything is just the way he likes it is causing some stress. As activities and time constraints get more demanding, he is in for a shock.

I’m doing my best to teach Jack about time management. I’m guiding him to focus on the project due the soonest and gathering ideas for the projects due later. I hope I can get him going in the right direction now and in the future. As his coursework gets more challenging and he grows older, he will need the time management skills he learns today. I hope this unwanted pressure sets him up for success in the years to come.

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Jack is half way through the fourteenth week of school this year.  It’s hard to believe it’s going so fast.  Jack is assigned homework four nights a week.  He must complete a math and phonics worksheet, code a small booklet with the days phonics lesson, practice daily spelling activities for the weekly set of words, reading and practicing a set of sight words as well as reading a story/paragraph of the week.  Most days he completes his homework in thirty minutes. All of this review is in preparation for testing on Fridays.

Jack started the year on the right foot.  When Jack gets home from school, he has a small snack and he gets started with his daily work.  I try to push him do his work very shortly after he returns home from school, otherwise the hunger pains, sleepiness or soccer practice may interfere.  At the beginning of the year, Jack was excited to sit down and focus on his daily work.  His favorite part of homework is phonics. He likes to code words and learn how to manipulate their sounds.  He enjoys math and science, too.  He asked many questions and showed a lot of interest in what he was learning.  I encourage him to review as much as possible to set him up for success.

Well, over the last several weeks Jack’s attitude towards homework has changed.  He still completes his work, but it’s a struggle some days to motivate him to get started.  I’m not sure if the start of the holidays has put him in a rut, other activities such as sports are taking up his “free time” or the fact that he’s been engaging in homework for weeks now and he’s feeling the monotony.

His first report card was outstanding.  My husband and I were very proud of his marks.  He isn’t regressing or confused when he is doing his work, but lately, encouraging him to sit down and concentrate has been a challenge.  I’m aware not every student likes homework, but it’s frustrating to see your child love something like schoolwork and all of a sudden refuse to look at it.  I know I’m not the only parent in this boat.  Several of my friends are facing similar issues with their children.

Jack has a long road ahead of him when it comes to homework.  I guess this bump in the road is another phase of life that a lot of parents face.  I’m hoping our struggles will soon resolve and Jack will realize his extra hard work is paying off with excellent grades.