It’s a stressful battle that breaks out in many homes each school night. And for many parents, figuring out effective ways to help their child do homework without nagging is a struggle. 
 
In this blog, we will break down five ways to reduce the nightly drama and ease your family’s frustration surrounding homework. 

1. Discover your child’s homework personality. 

Helping your child get organized and stay focused is key to helping with daily homework without nagging and begging. Of course, every child is different. It can be helpful to identify your child’s “homework personality.” Are they a Last Minute Lucy or Hot Headed Harry? 

Take this quick quiz to discover your child’s homework personality. Based on the results, you will learn a simple but powerful executive function hack to help.

2. Stick to a routine for homework. 

Are you already begging or battling with your child to set aside their devices and get their homework done? If so, it may be time to develop a daily routine. 

When you establish a set time for homework every afternoon (and stick to it!), you can often eliminate the daily homework struggle altogether.  

Elementary school students usually focus best about 30 minutes after getting home. Older kids may prefer to start closer to or even after dinner. 

3. Set a spot and eliminate distractions. 

Should your child do homework in their room? In the kitchen? At a desk or on the couch? Many parents are surprised to find there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It really depends on your child’s personality. 
 
Does your child focus best when surrounded by the hum of activity? Then they may do their best work at the kitchen table while you’re preparing dinner.  
 
Is your child easily distracted from the work in front of them? Then they may need a quiet homework space in the dining room, home office, or their room— away from the TV, cell phones, and other distractions— for stress-free, successful studying sessions. 
 
Focus less on figuring out the “right” place to do homework and, instead, work together to figure out what’s best for your child’s personality and routine. 

4. Introduce tools that keep your child organized.

No matter your child’s personality or executive function skills, organizational systems are critical for keeping papers and deadlines straight without adding to your own mental load as the parent. 
 
Some of my favorite tools for helping with homework without nagging include:

• A launching pad by the door where children can stash everything they’ll need for school the next day (from bookbags to sports equipment to musical instruments) 
• A whiteboard for writing down a weekly to-do list and tracking daily homework assignments 
• A hanging accordion folder behind a closet or bedroom door for filing papers neatly and out of the way

5. Use “weird windows” in your child’s busy schedule.  

Today’s students are busier than ever, so many have to get creative if they’re going to find time to study or get work done. 
 
Teach your child to maximize their efficiency by using “weird windows” for homework. This means using those snippets of time that might be spent on Instagram or TikTok (while waiting for the bus to take them to a lacrosse game, for example) to chip away at assignments or study for an upcoming exam. 
 
Learning to make the most of weird windows not only helps students get work done around a busy schedule now but also strengthens executive function skills that will set them up to excel into adulthood.