The Homework Standoff (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781911837480)

The part that could work finished at half past three.

A classroom supplies a great deal that a kitchen does not. A beginning that was not their decision. An ending they did not have to negotiate. Somebody neutral asking, whose good opinion they do not need at bedtime. And no audience who loves them, watching a thing go wrong.

Take all of that away and ask for twenty more minutes, at the worst hour of the day, from the part that is left.

A short book about the hour after the worksheet comes out. Why twenty minutes becomes seventy, and how to stop at fifteen without it costing anything.

What is in it:

Five things a classroom provides that a kitchen does not, and why removing them changes what you are actually asking for.

Why sitting opposite them the whole time is received as surveillance, however it is meant.

Why the comparison to a sibling converts a worksheet into a statement about who they are in this family.

Reading the question out loud, which is often the whole blockage. A question read aloud by somebody else is a different question.

Doing the hardest one first, together, and then leaving. Starting is nearly all of it, and starting is the part they cannot do.

Writing the note to the teacher. Two lines, sent the same evening, telling them you have sent it. Most people will not do this and most teachers wish they would.

Reading records, and what the daily reading is actually for.

Talking to the school: what is worth saying, and why most parents do not.

Words for the worksheet, and two that cost the evening.

And the part underneath: how much of what arrives at that table is your own school, turning up without being invited.

Nothing here about whether homework is a good idea. You may have views. So do a great many teachers. None of it is any use at twenty to five with a worksheet on the table.

The teaching is the school's job. What happens at your table is a different thing, and it is the only part you can change.

"Fifteen minutes, then stop."

For the parent, not the child. Sixty-four pages, small enough for a coat pocket.

This book supports everyday emotional awareness. It is not a screening tool and it is not a substitute for professional guidance.

Everyday Signals: short guides for the hard bits of an ordinary day. No quick fixes. No hype. Regulation before optimisation.