“What happened to our bonding time?”

When your kid was in preschool, save for the occasional parental-involvement projects, you had most evenings free to chill out with the little one after work.

Once he enters Primary 1, you’ll find yourself poring over his worksheets almost daily – and you’re likely to get frustrated when he runs into a stumbling block.

Rahimah Jupri, a preschool teacher in her 30s, initially felt stressed about using up “quality time” to do homework. Her daughter, Siti Umairah, who’s studying in Primary 2 at Shuqun Primary, brings home schoolwork in English, mathematics and mother tongue on alternate days.

So she has encouraged Siti to attempt the questions on her own first and ask for help only for the more difficult ones.

“It instills independence and confidence in her. She knows that she cannot depend on mummy all the time,” says Rahimah, who does the same for her elder child, who is in Primary 5.

“Why can’t he finish his exams on time?”

To young children, the concept of time is, at best, a suggestion. That’s why many have problems keeping to the time limit when doing their schoolwork.

Mugilan Parathi, seven, lost precious marks in his mid-year exams because he couldn’t complete them on time. That’s also the reason the Primary 1 pupil of Concord Primary brings more schoolwork home than his classmates, according to his form teacher.

To help speed things up, his stay-at-home mum Balu Parathi, who is in her 30s, puts a clock in front of her son while he’s doing his homework, explaining to him that he has to complete a certain number of questions by the time the minute hand moves to the next numeral.

Although this method is effective to a certain extent, little Mugilan has some way to go because he still needs to kick his “daydreaming” habit.

Empowering your child to decide what he prefers to do first might be able to help him work at a faster pace, school counsellor Debra Collins suggests on Greatschools.net, an American non-profit initiative for parents with schoolgoing children.

For example, he can attempt questions that he likes or finds easier first. Or if he wants to play first, let him do so and get the distraction get out of way before settling him down to school work.

Get a copy of the Dec 2009 issue of Young Parents  for expert advice and local tips to make you a better mum or dad. Young Parents, published by SPH Magazines, is available at all newsstands now. Check out more stories at Young Parents online, www.youngparents.com.sg.