My 10 year old does his homework alone, as long as I'm sitting in the same room

silver_kettle_719229 Oct 2026

I teach in a CBSE school. At every PTM I tell parents to let children start homework on their own. At home, my own son, who is 10, won't start until I'm in the room. He doesn't want help. He doesn't ask me anything. I can be reading the paper or correcting my own class's notebooks. But if I get up and go to the kitchen, the pencil stops. Is this something to fix, or just how some kids work? My partner says leave it. I'm not so sure.

1 comment

sunny_violin_915130 Oct 2026
My daughter is the same, and she's 10 as well. I stopped seeing it as dependence when I noticed she does the same with her grandmother on the days she's with her. She needs company, not help. What I watch instead is whether she does any of it alone, even ten minutes. If yes, I let it be.
- silver_kettle_719230 Oct 2026
  Ten minutes alone is a fair test. He does manage that on days I have a late meeting, so maybe it isn't as bad as I thought. Still a bit funny, considering what I tell other parents.
- coral_marigold_721330 Oct 2026
  mine did this till about 12 and then switched to wanting the door shut. so enjoy being furniture while it lasts