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It’s probably one of the age-old challenges for teachers, parents and tutors alike—the average student just doesn’t like doing homework. But the fact remains that homework is a crucial part of the learning process and needs to be done. Growing up, most of us didn’t like homework, but we recognized or learned quickly that it was a necessary part of schooling and we did it.

Whether students lack the motivation, don’t care about their grades or don’t see the real value in it, the excuses for skipping out on homework are numerous. If homework time turns into a fight every night in your house it’s time to get to the bottom of it. Talk to your child and find out why homework is such a struggle. They may have never really thought at length about this, and making them put it into words may lead to some important revelations.

In the meantime, here are some of the classic excuses for trying to get out of homework, and how you can try to work around them.

What’s the point?

Students who use this excuse are having a hard time seeing the relationship between homework and the real world. They need to be taught that homework goes beyond practicing the material learned in class and is also a lesson in responsibility and time management. This cycle of assignments and deadlines put them in practice for their eventual career and builds responsibility skills.

Homework turns into an argument!

Homework is one area where students can exert control and ignore their parent’s instructions. Whether they realize it or not, students often use homework as a power play when they feel like they don’t have control over other areas. The best way to address this is to give your child some more control. A good way to do this is instead of giving complete control, offer your child choices, so either decision is a good one: “You can choose from 3 topics for your history essay; which one do you want to do most?” Or: “Do you want to start with science or math homework first?” Giving children a choice and then following through with it teaches them that their opinion matters, and helps boost their own motivation.

It’s just one assignment. No big deal!

Students don’t always realize the impact a single “zero” can have on their overall grade. Show them some simple math to demonstrate that one missed assignment can do some serious damage to their grade, or if you can check grades electronically, log in to see how the grade changes after assignments.

I lost my homework!

Some students just have a harder time staying organized than others. Make it easy for your child to keep all important papers in their right place, whether he or she needs to put all homework into one folder, have separate binders for each class, or some other arrangement. Staying organized avoids students getting frustrated before they even start their assignments.

It takes too long!

This may be for a number of reasons. Often, homework takes longer than expected because the student is distracted, or multi-tasking. Make sure your student isn’t watching TV, texting or surfing the Internet while working on homework. This goes a long way toward time-management lessons and skill building. However, remember that some students may have a real issue with the material that does make homework hard to get through in a timely manner, and would benefit from reviewing it with the help of a tutor.

Source: Kruger, Susan. “Homework: What to Do When Students Don’t Do It.” www.soarstudyskills.com.