Coping with homework
Kenzie has been in school for a full year, and he is still completing his homework and reading. Kenzie’s constant tired state after a school day can be a challenge.
Kenzie’s schoolwork is much more difficult than that of other students. This is something I need to remind myself constantly. He must focus on the teacher and not allow background noise to distract him. He has to concentrate and focus ten times more in a noisy classroom with many different sounds all going on at once. This must be exhausting for him.
It’s hard to get him to do any homework or other activities after a long day at school. I keep reading to weekends to give us more time together. I always make it fun by turning things into interactive games.
You will know that Kenzie and I spend our days playing and discovering new things if you’ve been following our journey since the beginning. I believe that learning can be fun, and you will learn more when you enjoy what you are doing.
Kenzie was very young when I started using games to teach him about colors, animals, transportation, etc. Through games like hide-and-seek,’ spot differences’ and hide-and-seek, he learned sign language and was able to use it from an early age.
I try to make learning fun, even though the level and content of his education have changed. I bought a variety of activity books and games to help him practice his numbers and writing. We play them together. He likes to take turns. I get to spell or write a word, and then he does. He sees this as a game rather than “work.”
When I count numbers, we play games depending on how many red cars or sheep there are, etc. I incorporate this into all games we play so that he doesn’t even realize he is counting.
Reading is important to me, so we read a book every night before going to bed. It was much easier to do this when he brought storybooks home from school. We would just read them at bedtime. Now, he also has reading books where he must sound out the letters and read words. It’s harder to make him enjoy this because he sees it as “work.”
We try to make it a part of his daily routine to help him focus. This means we do this after dinner but before quiet time. I praise him a lot when he correctly spells or writes letters because he loves to be praised, and he loves to achieve something.
We read bedtime stories to him, but now he can choose one of his own or one from the school. We always make reading fun and interactive. Kenzie loves it when we use funny voices to portray different characters.
Kenzie loves books that involve him, like pop-ups and opening doors in the book. He learns better by doing it himself.
We will have to see how this goes as he grows older, and games with his mother are no longer cool. Now, I am making the most out of my time with my four-year-old.
