Is Your Child Old Enough for That?

By Dorothy Foltz-Gray

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girl working on homework
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Hot button: Homework hours

Bill Perkins is just as eager as son James to shoot hoops together when he gets home from work. But his wife, Annie, says it's homework first, not the home court.

Solutions: Explain your motivation
"I just said to my husband, 'Before you ask James, can you check with me about homework first? I want to make sure homework is the priority,'" says Annie. "My husband was fine with that. Now asking James about his homework is the first part of the conversation, not the last. And that totally motivates him to get the homework done."

Children need to know that even when Dad wants to play, he and Mom agree homework is the priority. "Parents have different styles of doing things," says Grolnick. "And that's just fine. But parents do have to be on the same page first before they have a conversation with their child."


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