How can you motivate a pre-teen to study? Raisingkids.co.uk's Education expert, Elizabeth Cook, has some suggestions.

Raisingkids member's problem
My 12 year-old isn't doing her homework. We've arranged (with her school) for each teacher to sign a Friday report card to say if she's missed assignments.

She's skipping a lot of work (which we have discussed with the school) but we spend each weekend catching up on late homework and it's always a big battle. She knows she loses priviliges for skipping assignments but it seems she can't do her homework without having us around, either to explain it or often, do it for her. Is she just lazy, or could she have a learning disorder? If she has a genuine learning problem, how could it have gone unnoticed by previous teachers?

Elizabeth's advice
I've talked this over with Dr Spungin, our Parenting expert. We've both suggested some solutions, as we feel the problem's neither 100% academic or 100% about her attitude. Click here to see Dr Spungin's suggestions.

My first suggestion is to try and help your daughter manage her homework tasks more successfully. Why not ask the school to let you know her weekly homework schedule in advance, rather than wait until Friday to see what she has missed? Then you can ensure her homework is done on time, rather than waiting to do it all at the weekend.

Official guidelines suggests that Year Six (6th Grade) children should spend roughly 30mins on their homework every day. If you feel your daughter's teachers are expecting too much of her then discuss it with the school. Parents are expected to support children with their homework, but shouldn't be expected to teach them new concepts or skills. Homework should complement the work your daughter is doing in class. Therefore, it should be something she understands and is capable of completing. If not, then maybe she's also having difficulties in the classroom. In this case, her teacher will need to be told.

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