From what age should I require the child to complete her homework?

Question

She started getting homework when she was 2 years 3 months old. How to encourage a 2 year old toddler to complete colouring a sketch?

Now she is 3 years 2 months old. Now she gets the homework of tracing lines and alphabets. Her daily homework constitutes of tracing nearly 24 lines on an a4 sized page.

She and I do the homework together. She traces one line, I trace another. I do NOT hold her hand while she writes. After tracing 10 lines she tells me that she is bored. I do NOT force her to complete her remaining homework.

Whatever homework she does, I ensure that she does it properly. This means that I constantly require her to hold the pencil properly, keep the paper in a proper angle, stop at short distances and then start again so that she gets the time to see what she is tracing actually and whether she's going off track or not.

Well, doing homework properly requires patience from the child. And I can very well understand that tracing lines or alphabets 24 times can be utterly boring.

So, from what age should I require her to complete her homework even if it is boring?

P.S This is the same child who colored the goat blue. At what age should I tell my child to colour within the lines?

P.P.S She doesn't color with me at home at all now.

Answer 1

If you go by the research, not until high school at the earliest, possibly later. Unfortunately, schools follow the research less often than you might think, so I would just hold out as long as possible, and replace homework with learning activities she chooses herself.

Answer 2

Instead of requiring her to do her homework if she doesn't want to, you might offer incentives. "If you can write twenty more lines the correct way, we can (go out to ice cream / play a game of cards / go to the park / watch 15 minutes of TV)"...whatever reward works for both of you.

That way she learns to see homework as an opportunity to get rewarded rather than a trial and source of possible punishment. Gradually increase the amount of work she has to do in order to get rewarded, but remember to make the rewards better as well. If she doesn't want to do the work, she shouldn't get the reward, so don't use things you plan to give her anyway.

If it helps, you could think of it as a way to introduce her to our working world early...nobody says "you have to sit at this desk all day and work or you'll be punished"...they say "if you sit at this desk and work we will pay you." Everyone responds to positive reinforcement.

Answer 3

4 is probably a good age to start giving homework. Possibly 10 - 20 mins per day. This could include flash cards or tracing. Our daughter goes to Kumon and does Math and reading homework.