by Bretonrae

Created on: January 31, 2009   Last Updated: February 09, 2009

How to get a defiant child to do homework

What happens to the natural desire of the child to learn? Most of us have noted the difference in the desire to learn when we compare the very young child to the fourth grader? Are we actually training children to dislike using faculties so important to maturity?

The dissemination of the knowledge base to be studied is important. The presentation given by the teacher is of primary importance. Artwork, print size, clarity of the material on the page and ease of access to key teaching elements are critical to the student's ability to learn the material from his textbook. If these modes of presentation fail to connect the student in a relevant way to the body of knowledge, the child is already challenged before homework is assigned. When he finds it difficult to study and to succeed during school time, he will most likely balk at the idea of extending these activities to his home environment. If he gets behind his classmates relative to the acquisition of the subject at school, he has another problem. His sense of belonging to the peer group is in danger and he may be ridiculed by those he spends his daytime hours with socially. He feels the loss of appreciation by his teacher, and his friends even though some of those friends at school may, also, have problems with the subject. He can become defensive, defiant and perhaps saddened by his seemingly insurmountable daily failures. He needs help so that he will not always be on the outside looking in. Parents can support the child by working with the teacher in building a bridge to learning. Homework may further complicate his anxieties by bringing parental pressure to do homework he simply doesn't understand or feels anxious about trying to learn. Often parents are stymied by how to handle the child and to fulfill the teacher's expectations.

It is important that the child be helped to overcome his inability to control his emotions in regard to learning. That's it. If teachers and parents help him tap into the joy of learning that he had early in life, he will succeed in learning and being productive at school and in the required homework. Parents must review their own attitudes about the child's difficulties and search out the cause of defiance relative to the relationship they have with him. He can succeed. Certainly, the proper study habits including homework bolster the student's ability to absorb,internalize and put to use what he learns.

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