In my past couple of articles, I have discussed parents’ involvement in their children’s homework assignments. While some parents help very little, some parents end up actually completing the work for the child. Some parents do the work for the child because the child is academically incapable of completing it himself. In this article I would like to discuss those parents who complete the work because their children are too tired or busy. In this case, the parents need to revise their priority list.
Some parents actually comment that their child does not have time to study or complete assignments due to ballgames, ball practices, or other extracurricular activities. These activities may belong to the child or to a sibling of the child. Either why, the child’s academics slip due to being away from home or being out too late at night. Sometimes the parents complete the work for the child and let the child go to bed.
Other parents complete the work for the child because the child is busy with other activities at home. These activities include video games or playing outside. Either the parents do not have enough control over their child to insist that he/she complete the work or the parents do not want the struggle of having the child complete the work.
In both cases listed above, the child is capable but either not willing or not forced to complete his/her assignments. In cases such as these, parents are teaching their children that schoolwork is not a priority. Often teachers will see that children from these homes do not put a lot of effort into their work and do just enough to complete the work and be finished with it.
It is very important that parents teach children that education is important and comes before all extra curricular activities. Children should complete their assignments before moving on to other activities. The children should also be home in time to get a good rest and be ready for the next school day.
While I feel that it is important for children to participate in activities with others their age, education should come first. Often, too much emphasis is placed on sports and children find themselves at ballparks all hours into the night.
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