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As your children get older, or if you are returning to school, you might find that there is not enough time in the day to complete homework. I’ve just started back to school after an eight year gap, and I have experienced the stress in realizing that there are not enough hours in the day. I have five children and a full-time job. Here are some secrets I have found.

If you have younger children, find a place they can go play while you get some reading done. Our local mall has a play area with cushioned seats for the parents to watch. My boys like to go play there and it is entertaining for them. I can sit and watch them while I get some reading done for my science class. There are other places that you can take your children too, including the park. Just check around your neighborhood for ideas.

Take your homework with you wherever you go. You never know when you might have fifteen minutes at the doctor’s office to write down the answers to homework questions or read that last chapter.

Swap play times with a friend. Since I have to get homework done during the week for my class, I don’t have a lot of time during the week, but a lot more on the weekend. I have found that I can get a friend to take my kids for a few hours during the week and then take hers for her on the weekend. This gets her out of the house for a few hours, and gives me time I need during the week to complete my homework. Older children are a great help also. I’ve found that bribery works well too.

School is out for the day. The kids are home. They have had their after school snack. Now they want to play. When should they get their homework done? This answer depends on your kids and your schedule at home. Find the time that works best for your family.

Sometimes it works best to get the homework done and out of the way. Right after school, you can sit down with your kids and talk about their day. It’s a great time to pull out the homework and get to it.

After dinner you can clean up the kitchen table and plop down the textbooks. The kids have had time to play and relax after school. This might be the perfect time to engage their minds.

If your kids are early risers, getting homework done in the morning before school might work well for your family. They can eat breakfast and get ready for school. Instead of morning cartoons, this might be a great alternative. If you have extra time, sit down with your kids and help them finish up their homework. This will be a great prep to get them ready for a day of learning at school.

You don’t want to do the last minute homework dash. This can happen when your children don’t have a regular homework time. It can be easy to forget about homework after school. Next morning, as your children gather their things for school, they suddenly remember. This adds stress to your morning and gives unnecessary stress to your kids. Make sure that you find a time to do homework that works for your family. Consistently doing homework or after school reading helps develop successful study habits that will carry with them.

When one of my daughters was in third grade, my husband and I were sitting at parent teacher conference. I was a little surprised when my husband asked the teacher to give our daughter more homework. He didn’t feel like she was being challenged enough. I was also impressed, because I worked nights, and it left my husband in charge of overseeing homework. I knew he had been paying attention to what the kids were doing.

Is there such a thing as too much homework? I guess to answer this question you have to look at the reasons why you are asking. Is there not enough time in the day or week to complete it? Is the due date too soon after assigning the work? Is your child struggling to understand the subject?

Put everything into perspective. If you child doesn’t have enough time because they have other things going on every night, then you need to decide what is most important. This is your child’s education, and if their plate is too full, something else should go.

If the teacher is not giving a reasonable amount of time to complete the assignment, make sure you know when it was really assigned. Your child might be telling you a later date because they forgot or have put off doing the work. If it is really an unreasonable amount of time, talk to the teacher and explain the problem. They might think the assignment was easier than it really is, or that it didn’t require as much research. Your child might also have misunderstood the assignment and is making it more difficult.

If your child is struggling with the topic, find them some help and see if you can get more time to finish it. If you can’t provide the help, find a tutor or someone else that can help them.

Homework time can be as bad as getting your child to clean their room. They’ve been at school all day, and they don’t want to sit down and do any more work. How can you help your child avoid the hassle?

First, establish a specific time each day that is set aside for homework. Having a routine helps kids know what to expect, and they adjust better. Check your family schedule to find a time that can work consistently.

Next, have all items needed for homework in the same area for easy access. If your child uses a computer to type reports, make it available in any easy location. Keep a supply of pencils, crayons, paper, and markers – as well as a pencil sharpener, nearby so that your child isn’t spending homework time looking for supplies.

If you kids don’t have any homework, have them use the time getting some extra reading done. Also, help your kids keep track of deadlines for homework projects by writing them out on a calendar or another method of tracking.

Younger children will need help with their homework. It can be very frustrating if they don’t understand something and there is no one to help them. Make sure that you or someone else is available when they are doing their homework so they can get the answers they need when they need them.

Make sure your children don’t wait until the last minute to complete their assignments. It’s a lot of stress for them and you. I’m sure many parents have spent Sunday night helping their child finish up an assignment they forgot about. And speaking of forgetting, make sure they get in the habit of putting their homework away for school tomorrow. No parent likes the phone call asking them to bring something to school that their child forgot.