3 Tips For Helping Your Child Through Frustrating Schoolwork

Even for kids who love learning and going to school, knowing how to get through frustrating schoolwork can be a real challenge. And if you’re trying to help your child through this difficult time, knowing how to help and when to step back can be a challenge for you. But with all the time spent learning from home this last year, it’s important that you know how to help your kids stay positive and work through discouragement. 

3 Tips For Helping Your Child Through Frustrating Schoolwork
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To help you in doing this, here are three tips for helping your child through frustrating homework. 

Allow Them Time To Be Upset 

For many children, frustration sets in when they don’t understand something or are having a hard time coming up with the right answer. And if you yourself aren’t sure what they should be doing and you don’t have access to an online tutor to help, you might feel helpless. 

In a situation like this, Ann Dolin, a contributor to AdditudeMag.com, recommends that you allow your child time to be upset by the work that they’re struggling with. If you try to force them to keep going when they are obviously upset, both you and your child are just going to have a harder time focusing on what needs to be done. Knowing this, you should tell your child to take some time to let their emotions out and then gently bring them back to their work once they’ve worked through their feelings a bit. 

Express That Making Mistakes Is Okay 

All children want to feel intelligent. So when they are having a hard time getting their schoolwork right, it can really mess with their feelings of self worth. 

To help your child learn how to cope with this, Amanda Morin, a contributor to Understood.org, advises that you talk with your child about how helpful it is to make mistakes when doing their work. It’s through making mistakes that people learn. Without the struggle of the process, your child might not learn a concept as well as they could. So although it can be frustrating, try to celebrate even the wrong answers with your child. 

Break Up The Work Into Manageable Sections 

When the workload just seems like something that your child can’t take on in one sitting, Amanda Orenstein, a contributor to MindResearch.org, suggests that you have your child sit down and work on their schoolwork for a set period of time. Then, regardless of how far they’ve gotten, you let them take a break to do something enjoyable. Once they’ve had a chance to relax for a few minutes, have them get back to work. These breaks can make challenging homework much easier to manage. 

If you have a child that gets easily frustrated by their schoolwork, consider using the tips mentioned above to help them learn to cope with these feelings rather than being overcome by them.