Story Corner: The Homework Party

Charlie, do your homework now!» his mother screamed at him. Charlie thought, “Well, it’s easy for her to say, she doesn’t have to do it. It’s so boring!”

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Charlie, do your homework now!» his mother screamed at him. Charlie thought, "Well, it’s easy for her to say, she doesn’t have to do it. It’s so boring!” He spent hours with his books, hoping that time would pass and it would soon be time for supper. While he was lying on his bed, busy staring at the ceiling, daydreaming, little goblins, no more than a centimeter tall, appeared in the window."Good evening, young man, will you please give us your homework so we can play with it?” asked one of the goblins politely.Charlie laughed. "How are you going to play with homework? It’s the most boring thing in the world! Ha, ha, ha... Go on, take it. You can play with it for as long as you like.”Charlie watched his little guests and was so surprised to see what they did. In less than a minute, they had formed teams and were playing with the pen, eraser, book, and pad of paper. With the sums, instead of moving the pen across the paper, they would hold the pen still and move the paper instead. They even had races to see who could do the sums the fastest. Then they dressed up as Father Christmas or a bag of cheese. Whenever the clock stopped, the goblin in the lead got to draw himself on the notepad.The notepad was filled with Santa’s and cheese. While learning to read, they used well-known songs. After that they staged a big concert to sing the songs.Charlie really enjoyed watching his little new friends; he even joined in with the singing. Time passed by so quickly that his mother was calling him for supper."Oh no! This is so much fun...” he groaned, as he got up to go for supper. "Of course it’s fun! I already told you. Why don’t you try it for a few days yourself? We’ll all come back to see you again from time to time.”"Deal!” agreed Charlie.So, every evening, Charlie started playing with his homework, inventing new and crazier ways to make it fun. He would dress up; sing loads of songs and other things too. Now and again, his goblin friends would turn up; although he still wasn’t sure if they had really come through the window or a result of his own imagination.Neither Charlie’s parents, nor his teachers, nor anyone in the whole school could understand the great change in him. From that day on, not only did he spend a lot more time doing homework, he did it perfectly, accompanied with lots of drawings. He was very happy, and was always singing. His mother told him how proud she was of seeing him work so hard, especially at something she knew he found boring.Moral of the story: Originality, creativity, and games, are the best ways to motivate yourself to doing the jobs which require more effort.