Academics & Tuitions

Our class 1 daughter will only do homework if her brother sits with her. He starts class 12 in June

ochre_chai_4480

Our daughter has decided her 16 year old brother is the only acceptable homework partner. With him she's done in twenty minutes. With me or my partner it's an hour and tears. He doesn't mind, and he's patient with her in a way I didn't expect. But class 12 starts in June, his coaching has already begun, and his evenings are tight. I don't want to take this away from either of them, and I also don't want him losing an hour a day. How have families with a big age gap handled this?

5 comments

  • clove_pillow_4301

    In our joint family my son does homework with his thatha, not with me. With me he cries, with him he is quiet and finishes. I stopped fighting it. Maybe your son can sit for 15 minutes only, then you take over.

  • basil_sandal_2278

    Seven years between our two, so a similar gap. What worked for us was a fixed short slot, 15 minutes after dinner, with the elder as 'checker', not tutor. The little one does the work, the big one checks it at the end. Keeps most of the older one's evening free ❤️

  • indigo_bookmark_1392

    ours will only do homework with the girl next door who's in class 9 lol. some kids just work better with someone who isn't the parent

  • rose_kettle_7585

    Is it the brother, or just not-a-parent? Try someone else once before you build a routine around a class 12 boy 🤷

  • saffron_violin_3902

    For years our son helped his little sister with homework. It worked until his class 10 year, then we had to step in, and she took it as him rejecting her rather than a change of plan. If you keep it going, I'd agree an end date now, out loud, so she isn't blindsided later ❤️

    • ochre_chai_4480

      An end date is a good idea. We'll say 'till the half-yearlies' and see how it goes.

    • bronze_kite_9821

      I'd push back a little. Our 13 year old helps her brother sometimes, and the minute we made it a fixed arrangement it became a chore and the excuses started 😄 Kept informal, it lasts longer.

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