Schoolwork - My Child Rushes Through Schoolwork

By Stuart Ackerman  MSc.Ed.,B.A.

     When your child rushes through his or her work, the quality, accuracy and overall appearance of the work is compromised.  On the brighter side, at least your child is doing the work so at least the first part of the battle is over.  Now you must get your child to slow down, pay attention to detail, and fulfill the requirements of the assignment.

     You can prevent your child from rushing through his or her work by the following:

     Give your child a self-editing checklist for writing pieces.  This checklist requires that your child proofread and edit his or her work.  You can use a checklist for content, grammar, and punctuation.  This will force your child to create a better piece of writing.

     When helping your child at home with homework, have your child carefully read over the directions, complete the work, and check it over.  Make sure your child consistently follows these three steps when doing work.

     Focus on one strategy per week.  For example, as you follow the other suggestions on this page, try to also focus on one aspect of your child’s work that he or she can improve (e.g. neatness, sentence structure, paragraphs).

     Have your child use a computer to complete assignments.  The use of a computer will make your child’s work look better.  The spell checking tool and the ability to use pictures will give your child enough confidence (because the work will look good and probably have better content) to not want to rush through work in the future.  Praise your child when he or she does not rush through his or her work.  Post these assignments in the house to show your pride.  This will reinforce your child to be more conscientious about his work.