Homework: blues to smiles

Homework is the bain of my existence. Ok, so thats a tad dramatic, but seriously, I HATE it, and I hate having to be the " mum" and tell Jumeirah to do it everyday. I kinda dont agree with it, after spending all day at school the last thing she should be doing is more work, but it has to be done and so I have to work it into her afternoon. And everyday its a stress and drama as I have to pull her away from play with her two best buddies whilst they get to continue play.

SO!

I decided to make a change in our little afternoon routine that would be great for all of us.

When we get home, I sent all three outside to play, with a plate of afternoon tea. They played for a full hour, Jumeirah was a bit surprised that I didnt call her for homework, but she wasnt about to argue with me to do it :)

At 4.30, I called all of them in for a bath, and whilst they were in there washing the floors and walls for me (*sigh*) I set up a homework table for ALL of them.
Its no secret that Im worried about Jared and school next year but I dont want to spend his days harping on about learning so I figured a set time for him would also work well.
And Amahli begs me for her "homework" every afternoon so I knew she'd be sweet.

Once out of the bath, calm, clean and relaxed, all three came to the table to find homework books to do. Jumeirah got started straight away, and surprisingly, worked quickly and efficiently to complete her homework.
For Amahli I had set up a simple cutting activity that she could work on herself, complete with glue sticks, so she was happy as a pig in mud. She also had a colouring in page and for the first time, she sat and completed it with such detail I was so surprised. ( I know lots of teachers dont like colouring in pages but they can really be a good thing. They allow practise of working within a space, colour choice, patience, and being able to complete a task... all things they need for school.)

For Jared, I had created a few pages for him to work through, two a day, one maths styled and the other letter/drawing style.

I just created these as word docs and they were fairly simple ( if you want copies of these let me know and Ill try to work out how to get them on here so you can print them off for yourselves).
Todays pages were a simple addition sheet which he loved and used bugs to complete, the other was based on  a drawing which took some coaxing but he was able to complete it.
All three sat quietly and completed these "homework" sheets, chatting occasionally to each other, but each was well engrossed in their own work.

It was a real brady bunch moment for me... sitting amongst my kids whilst they worked happily and I loved that they were so keen. Who knows how long this will last for but the plan is that three days a week we try this system and see how it goes!

How do you do homework?? Does it work?