My 8 Year Old Keeps Forgetting His Homework

@ladym33 (10979)
United States
November 12, 2012 9:31am CST
My 8 year old son keeps forgetting to bring home his home work, sometimes he tells me he has forgotten and sometimes he tells me that he does not have any. The teacher does not give homework on Fridays so I didn't even look in his back back until today and there was a note from the teacher and 3 different missed homework assignments all stapled together in his back pack. Of course it was too late to do them this morning so I wrote a note saying we would do them tonight. Now we will have 4 assignments to do after school today. Last year he missed 11 assignments in a row. Normally I would have suspected something was up but prior to that the teacher sent home a note saying that since they kids were working on a special project there would not be any home work for a while. Apparently the while ended way before I thought it did. What would you do about this homework problem if you were me?
6 people like this
18 responses
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
12 Nov 12
This happens alot to the young kids. maybe teacher needs to step in an make sure he brings it home. id have a talk with his teacher.
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
12 Nov 12
I will do that, but in 3rd grade they want the kids to start being more grown up and more responsible.
@lacieice (2060)
• United States
12 Nov 12
I would talk to the teacher and get your son a notebook that the teacher can use to write down his assignments every day. You can check it when he gets home and, if he doesn't bring home the necessary items to do the homeowork, and if it's possible, send him back to school to get what he needs. Perhaps, after a while, he will realize that he must do his homework every day.
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
12 Nov 12
The actually do have a notebook that they are supposed to bring home every night and have the parents sign but many nights he forgets that as well. I guess when I go to pick him up if he doesn't have his homework or notebook in his back pack that will have to park the car and go back in and get it. It is starting to get cold out so hopefully after we have to go back in to the school a couple of times he will gt the hint that he is not going to get away with forgetting any more or claiming he does not have any.
@ersmommy1 (12588)
• United States
13 Nov 12
Due to bullying issues we are homeschooling our 9 yr old daughter this year. So I would handle things a bit differently. I would sit down with him at either the beginning of the week or the end. We would make up a homework chart. Something similar to a bingo card. Since the teacher doesn't give homework on Fridays make that the free spot. Put a sticker on it. Then put a sticker on each day he brings homework home and completes it. At the end of each week when he completes the row he gets a reward, whatever you and he decide. Hopefully he will find it fun, and start bringing those assignments home! I hope you find this helpful!
@asliah (11137)
• Philippines
4 Dec 12
hi, i also observe that to my niece,there are times that they forget her homework because she will play first with her friends when she came from her school,that is why her mother will always check her notebook if she have an assignments to avoid panic in the morning before she go to school.
@mikyung (2232)
• Philippines
13 Nov 12
I would remind my kid the night before and upon going to school. Kids really need to be contantly reminded and supervised apart from their teachers reminders. Set those reminders like a play thing. I would suggest that you may give him some incentives initially when he remembers his homework, etc.. Thanks. Hope it works.
@joycseer (845)
• Malaysia
13 Nov 12
Hi ladym33, checking up regularly on your children's homework would help. Well, kids usually does not like homework. But, we need to train them to build up a habit to complete their homework by explaining to them the importance of study. Otherwise, when they grow up, the one who is going to suffer in a competitive world is going to be themselves. Parents cannot be there to support them forever, so they must study smart and do well in studies in order to be survive in this competitive world. Although they are young, but they are big enough to understand. At my time, i started to go nursery or kindergarten at the age of three. However, kids nowadays are much smarter, so being eight years old is not a problem. All that matters is his heart. If he has the heart and goal to achieve something, i am sure he will overcome his problem on homework. =) I guess, you may want to sit down and have a private chat with him to understand his condition whether any hick ups in his studies or any matters that arises in school which causes him to neglect his homework.
@youless (112091)
• Guangzhou, China
13 Nov 12
My son had the some homework problems occasionally. In the past he tried to tell me there was no homework. Later it was found out that this was a lie. And of course the teacher knew how to deal with it and I also told him not to do this any more. And sometimes he couldn't find his homework book and at that time I would go out to buy a new homework book for him. I hope he can understand it is important to finish the homework. Maybe his classmate took it in a mistake, but no matter what I couldn't check his homework and I couldn't sign my name on it. The teacher may not be satisfied with it next day and therefore I told him that he had to do his homework again in the new homework book. So he will learn he has to check his bag carefully before he leaves school. And sometimes he forgot to write down the homework and at that time I could call his friend's mom. And I would ask her what the homework was. It is important to keep in touch with other parents
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
13 Nov 12
When my son was that age he kept "forgetting" to bring his homework home because he didn't want to do the work. Heck, he still does it and he is almost 13 yeas old. I would get on him about it now, because it is just going to get worse the older he gets.
@hmkoct5 (2065)
• United States
12 Nov 12
My husband is a teacher, so I know how this goes from his point of view. Does you school have the ability to look at your son's academic progress on line? Like for ours, we can log in every day and see what they are doing, what they are missing, see what their grades are, etc... It is really helpful! If you school district has that, you can log in and see for yourself whether he has homework or not. You could also ask the teacher to email you everyday he has homework, but that is a lot of work for the teacher. Basically, I would tell my son that if he forgets homework, he loses a day of electronics for every day he forgets his homework. It's funny how quickly the behavior changes when you threaten electronics! lol! I still do this with my senior!
@ARIES1973 (11426)
• Legaspi, Philippines
13 Nov 12
You should check his things to see if there assignments given. Another thing is you should have the number of your teacher so that in case your son forgot about the assignment, you can ask the teacher instead. Have a nice day!
@Shavkat (136864)
• Philippines
13 Nov 12
Children have the attitude of not doing homework, they still think of playing. I know it is tough, but we need to be patient to deal with this. The regular checking of the notebook for any assignments.
@edvc77 (2140)
• Philippines
13 Nov 12
I suggest you check all the notebooks of your son or if there is an aasignment notebook check it. Have a nice day!
@Sindelle (824)
• United States
13 Nov 12
I'd explain to him how he needs to do his homework. Then I'd tell him what the punishment is if he doesn't do his assignments. Also everyday I'd make his teacher sign his assignment book verifying whether he has written down his homework or not. If he decides he's going to start forgetting his homework book then I'd see if you can start emailing the teacher. Also I'd tell him that if he doesn't bring the book home signed by the teacher you'll start contacting them. They used to do this all the time for the forgetful students when I went to school. It seemed to be fairly effective. Additionally I'd consider rewarding him for good grades as well. Not for homework but maybe his report card or major test scores. This would just be to motivate, encourage and reward him for his overall effort. I hope whatever you decide to do helps. I'm sure its very frustrating.
• China
13 Nov 12
I was this kind of kids when I was at his age. I had an aversion to the loaded homework, I just wanted to play as much as every minutem.My mom,however,alway punished me. you know how I was hate the school,the teachers and the endless homework. So try to communicate with your son about it, and make sure your son dislike to do assignments owing to its difficutlties or his lack of playing time.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
12 Nov 12
My son knows that if he doesn't do his homework, that he will be forbidden to do anything except have a snack and go to the bathroom before he is allowed to do anything else. This mean absolutely no TV, no playing, no phone, NOTHING!!! But since he does his homework, I allow him to do these things as long as he keeps getting his work done.
@WakeUpKitty (8694)
• Netherlands
12 Nov 12
First of all you can not blame an eight year old for foretting his homework. My kids are at a new school and already at the age of 4 years old they have homework. The teacher is giving it to them each Tuesday, it has to be delivered back at school on Mondays. Personally I find it strange to give kids of this age already homework. Seems to me they have less and less opportunities to be a kid (it's not surprising many kids are labelled with adhd etc). I gave my youngest 2 (7 and 9 year old) a "diary" to keep them remember. Each morning they read what to do. But still I have to remember them too plus check the made homework. Must admit my daughter is more precise if it comes to making her homework as my son is. Although I must say for both it's not really interesting (way too easy so not stimulating). I think the teacher should keep an eye on the kids taking their homework home, just like the parents do by taking it back. I don't know how much work these assignments are but kids do need time to play next to school as well. I would tell the teacher to check if your son is taking it home (in the bag inmediately) and tell straight away that work should be done at school (I wonder what they do at school nowadays anyway since education didn't improve since the past 40 years, only get worser plus kids go to school for more hours) and you will not spend more as .. minutes a day.
@Pegasus72 (1898)
12 Nov 12
I am not sure how your school works but we have today off for Veterens Day. You need to check his pack every day, and if need be stay in contact with the teacher through email, or phone to stay on top of your son. Good luck we have been through this before, with our youngest son.
@Mavic123456 (21898)
• Thailand
12 Nov 12
Maybe his mind is somewhere else so he tends to be forgetful. Maybe his mind is set to playing so he can't concentrate. Does he forget only his assignments? Does he forget also his things? Does he always lose his pencil or other personal belongings? Is he always late in school or in other scheduled activities. If the answer is yes, no offense but maybe you should a developmental pediatrician to have tests on your son. No offense again please dont take any offense maybe he has ADD (Attention Deficiet Disorder). but for the missed assignments maybe you can talk to his teacher to tell you if he has an assignment or assignments. Make a checklist of the subjects to be given and checked by his teacher/s. You will check this list when your son gets home. Just a checklist where he has an assignment it will be tiresome for the teachers to write the assignment for your child but a simple ticking maybe a bit helpful for you and her too.