My seventh-grader always has an excuse for not turning in homework or completing classwork. As a result, he is doing very poor work in several classes. Is there any way to make him more responsible? - Poor Grades
Answer: It's incredible how many middle-schoolers run into academic roadblocks. For some, it is the problem of dealing with longer and more difficult assignments from several teachers. Others do not have the basic skills or study skills to handle increasingly difficult work. And there are some whose social life has become so important that they neglect their schoolwork.
In middle school, there is a very close connection between the amount of work children do and their grades. A seventh-grader should be spending approximately one hour a night on schoolwork. Getting your son to study this much every night could turn things around for him, unless a learning disability is the reason for his doing poorly. If so, appropriate help needs to be found.
We frequently suggest that parents require their children to do one hour of work each evening in middle school. It should be done in a place where the parents can observe the child, and no interruptions for phone calls or food should be allowed. Parents can help their children establish the order in which they will do their work and go over directions. Then they should back away. If the children say that they have no homework, the time must be used for review or reading ahead in textbooks. At the end of the homework session, the work should be placed in your son's backpack. Even if he should elect not to turn the work in, he will still be learning.
While it is late in the year to start this regimen, begin it now and insist that it is followed during the week so it will be an established routine for next year. At first, it might be essential for your son to do the hour of work right after school before he engages in other activities. The reason that he will come to accept this study time is because it should result in success at school fairly quickly, and all students really want to succeed.