We need suggestions on helping our 10 year old/4th grader staying focused on and completing homework. We also need help keeping papers organized. We also get notices from school saying she has incomplete work or work missing yet when talking to her….she’s clueless.
Re: homework help
What has helped for our son is having everygthing color coordinated. For example social studies is green, the book cover is green, his folder is green, and his notebook is green. All folders and notebooks are kept in one binder that is arranged in class order. The binder is also able to hold his assignment book and supplies. Having everything in one place is really helpful. He gets to class prepared and this helps him to focus on the task at hand getting his work done. Things are not perfect and he still occassionally forgets something. This system though helped him go from having over 50 percent of his assignments late or missing to less then 10 percent!
Some kids need more support than others. To be successful in school can require a great deal of support until the child is ready to manage it on their own. These days we ask some pretty complicated tasks of yet fairly young children.
Organization is one of them. My advice would be to help her go through her papers every night. Help her to straighten them out and put them in folders or her binder. Some kids just can’t stay on top of it on their own. But this will help her to build the habit and to see how it’s done.
It’s also true that some kids need a parent to sit right by them every night as they do their work. My own son was that way. I could read or work but he needed to be “grounded” by my presence. It helped him to keep on task.
As to the missing work in school, give the teacher a call. Indicate your willingness to help your daughter with these tasks but your daughter isn’t always certain of what exactly is missing. Ask if it’s possible that when she’s missing work, could the teacher e-mail you exactly what’s missing. Ask where in the classroom work is written down and where your daughter should be keeping track of these assignments.
It also helps to have a “homework buddy”. Do you have a friend whose child is in your daughter’s class? Does your daughter have a friend she can call at night who will know the work?
Good luck.