I was listening to the daily screaming matches between my brother-in-law and his 5-year old about doing her homework.
“Why do I have to do homework? I don't want to do homework! I already did enough homework! I HATE HOMEWORK!” -crying ensues-
“I don't care what you want, you need to finish this NOW!”
etc. Literally every day. The 5-year old also brings up some good points, like “Why can't I just do this in school and not take it home?”
Pretty much every tactic has been tried. Throwing away toys, giving them candy, taking away TV, explaining that doing the homework will help them learn, telling what what they'll get to do when they're done, doing the homework piecemeal and letting them play with their toys in between problems, etc. Nothing works.
But has anyone actually answered the “why do I have to do homework” question honestly?
“You have to do homework because in this country, we need kids to be obedient workers. If you didn't do hours of homework every day, you wouldn't learn how to fit in with capitalist society. I don't like making you do your homework, but if you want to have the best shot of leading a normal life, you need to learn to do hours of meaningless, tedious work and bring it home with you.”
They say be honest with your child. It's probably an awful idea. Has anyone actually tried it?