Hard work and Parent Child Contracts: Being Proactive to Stop the Homework Whining

My son is a bright boy. He is resilient, knows all about animals and there habitats, and a playful boy, acting our crocodile attacks on zebras with accurate animals noises included. But when it comes to his fine motor skills, he has really improved, however he won't be a calligrapher. Maybe via graphic design?

And I know with the latest technology, iPads are the future in "writing" reports, worksheets, and nearly all assignments. Especially by his high school days. My grandchildren probably will have a 3D Pinterest board titled "I don't know what this is:" that beams pictures like a hologram from their iPad v25. And the hologram will be of a Pencil!

But there's something to be said for hard work and perseverance. See my recent bank confusion and perseverance success here. And when we talk about homework and school tests, we don't praise the grade, we praise the work! We say "Good grade, your hard work studying (or reading or just doing homework everyday) really paid off." 

It's the end of the first week of school and his penmanship is legible... the teacher can "read the answer" which has always been our goal. When he brought home an assignment to complete yesterday, he was still falling into some bad habits. I bring the corrections to his attention: 

- "start words all the way to the left,

- use Capital Letters!

- we didn't finger space here did we?"

So what's a mom to do? Be PROactive an flip the script on my kid. I hate lecturing, because it doesn't work since kids can't follow the long train of thought... And I just get exhausted. So instead I make it a positive learning tool. 

For example: last year my older son  struggled to remember his homework responsibilities, so I wrote up a contract which we referenced nearly every day the first month of school - see the homework contract here. Instead of being REactive to his complaints at homework time, I anticipated the whining and instead I was PROactive by having him read the contract, outloud. After we put back packs down and changed our clothes, he'd come to the kitchen for snack time and he'd start reading te contract which was taped to the wall by his seat as he waited for the food.

So this year he knows the homework routine, and now we can focus on the details of what's expected in his work.

I found this graphic on the Internet which highlights Good Writing Habits. My color ink is Out on our inkjet, so we brightened it up the ol' fashioned way, with markers.




areyousureaboutthatblog Being a Better Writer, Starts Here...

This fabulous and small reminder will be where last years homework contract resided. And he'll have to read it everyday out loud before snack. Hopefully this ingrains the expectations to help in his results - better penmanship!

"What good writers do..."

 • They think about their topic.

 • They write neatly.

 • They use a Capital Letter at the beginning.

 • They use punctuation at the end . ? !

 • They use finger spaces.

 • They read it over and over.

 • They ask if it makes ? sense.

I hope this helps with our penmanship. Even tho iPads are the future of "writing" I think that this exercise in hard work, I get better results teaches my son to persevere!(? I hope!).

We've always said a few regular "reminders" for Older Sons penmanship:

• Write Slow
• Make your most BEAUTIFUL letters
• When Assignments come home - we write the letter or the word 5 times, NOT 20!
• We tell our son AND the teacher that "the teacher has to be able to read it to grade it!"
• Please review your sheet and YOU find where you can write it Neater!

Well - at least the teacher thinks his work is improving!

areyousureaboutthatblog Teacher even likes his improved penmanship

The days are long, the years are short. Make Mistakes, Breathe, Reflect and Laugh.Out.Loud.