My smart wife started this school year on the right foot with a rule that our son must finish his homework every day before he can watch any television. No ifs, ands, or buts; no video is allowed for him until he finishes his homework and either mom or dad go over it to ensure completion. (Videogames could be added to this rule for some parents; we only allow videogames on weekends anyways.)
Our short-term goals for this rule are to avoid late-night homework fights and complete his daily learning activities. Our long-term goal for this rule is to instill a sense of responsibility in our son. One of my favorite phrases is “taking care of business”, and this rule reflects that philosophy to take care of business before kicking back.
Of course, what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander, right? I’ve been learning a new programming language via CD videos on my computer (a highly recommended method), and I’ve been stuck on chapter four for two weeks now. I therefore resolve to not watch any more of my television DVR videos until I’ve finished my chapter four videos, and thereafter a daily video lesson each day before television.
Anyways, this rule is working for us so I thought I would share it with other parents and anyone who wants to strengthen their own learning discipline. Anyone else have parenting, homework, or learning tips?
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Sounds like responsible, effective parenting to me. There should be more moms and dads teaching their children the importance of education. We always restricted our children’s TV watching on school nights. At one of my sons parent/teacher conferences his teacher told me she could always pick out the students who didn’t watch a lot of TV. She said that they tend to have better social skills, have a greater interest in the world around them and an increased love of learning in general.
or just putting my feet up. I don’t know how old your child is, or how much homework he has, but hopefully he gets a chance to run outside, play with friends or do whatever he needs to to unwind before his tackling his homework.
Just one caution. It is said that school is a child’s work. I know that when I first get home from my day on the rockpile, I need some relaxation and diversion before I plow into the work that’s waiting for me at home, whether it be a bit of reading, watching the news, checking idahofallz.com
We’ve noticed our kids are a lot happier after an outing or one-on-one time with Mom or Dad than they are after watching TV. We limit our kids to an hour of TV or computer time a day. And if the kids hit that limit, Mom and Dad stick to it, too. Until the kids are asleep. Of course, it’s easy to do when your kids are 6 and under, and you don’t have cable or satellite in the house. And whenever I tune in calbe or satellite at other people’s houses, I don’t see that we’re missing much. . .
I agree. We started limiting our son to three shows a day, but because of the DVR and commercial skipping, we often lost track if he watched more. Limiting him to two shows a day has allowed us to keep easier track of his viewing, cut down on his overall viewing, and now it’s not a big deal for days to go by without him watching anything.
Much different than my childhood with a TV next to my bed.
Our son started the 10th grade at Skyline this year. Although he is a B student, we hardly saw him study last year. This year, the new rule is, he has to spend 1 hour STUDYING-whether he has an actual homework assignment or not- each evening. He may choose WHEN he does his hour. Sometimes he does it as soon as he gets home, sometimes he unwinds by playing a video game or dong myspace first. So far, he’s been pretty good. Thank God he has always been a self-starter and we never need to remind him to get assingments done. But we felt he needed to start getting into the habit of just STUDYING every evening, going over notes, reviewing, etc. to prepare for when he goes off to college and will need to know how to study on a daily basis.