December 14, 2017
Teaching My Little Man The Value of Hard Work

Dear Dr. Laura:

I work in education and my job allows me to work from home.  My son is six years old and in the first grade.  Every day, when he comes home from school, he sits down with me and does his homework while I finish up my work day, and then he reads to me for twenty minutes.  In the mornings, when I drive him to school, we practice his spelling words.  We do this every day like clockwork and he does not even ask to go play with his friends until his homework is done.  This allows us to be together while he works so I can help him if he needs it, and he feels very grown up because we are both "working."  Once he's met his responsibilities, he can play for the rest of the afternoon and evening or just be able to enjoy his time without having homework hanging over his head.

Even in first grade, he is a very good student and he is learning habits that he will hopefully carry all through his schooling years.  You taught me the value of this when you mentioned an article that compared students in Asian countries to American students.  The big difference was that in Asian countries, students worked on their schoolwork while parents were nearby, while American students tended to go to their rooms to do homework, where there is no help or supervision, and there are many other distractions.

Amber


Posted by Staff at 10:59 AM