February 27, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 9 Even if your child thinks homework is useless or stupid, it still has to be done. Fortunately, there are ways to help kids complete homework assignments -- and give parents peace of mind. Educator offers tips to end ‘Homework Wars’ Don’t try to change your child’s opinion about the value of homework. Instead of berating your child for having a bad attitude or sermonizing about responsibility, concede this: “You do seem to have a lot of Year of the Snake arrives It is the Year of the Serpent: 4711 on the Chinese calendar. One quarter of the world’s population celebrated this holiday, including Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Mee Lon Yee of Ramsey is pictured speaking to fifth graders at Brookside School in Allendale about the customs of the holiday. Houses are decorated with colorful flowers, large bowls of oranges and candies are displayed, and children receive red packets (hung bao) with money in them. Foods such as chicken and fish are cooked whole, symbolizing togetherness of the family. She wished the students Kung Hay Fat Choi (Happy Prosperous New Year) and Seah Nen Fie Luk (Happy Year of the Snake). homework. It seems that you don’t have any time for anything else.” When a child believes you understand his or her perspective, he or she won’t consider you a “cop” from school. Start by listening. After you have established trust, here are some things to discuss: “I know you believe homework is stupid, but it exists. So we must somehow do it.” “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could discover a way to get the homework done and still have some personal time left over?” “What if I could show you a way to cut your homework time in half?” You may have to spend a little time selling this, but persevere. There are almost no kids who wouldn’t like an easier way to do things. What you have to do is help your child organize and learn how to do home- work. Begin with organization. Set up a study area in your home and stock it with all the tools needed for homework. Sit down with your child and a large calendar to analyze his or her commitments. Plot out all the activities, lessons, sports, jobs, and other activities your child has. This may reveal that your child is doing too much. Once all of the activities have been written onto the calendar, begin to plan certain times for homework every night. Work with your child to make this schedule. Don’t try to cut down the number of homework hours yet. That will come with practice. Simply plan for the number of hours now being (continued on page 10)