英语博客：Daily homework.

　　"Did your teacher give you your homework packet?" is a question I ask my children often. Every week they get a set of papers that are stapled² together, each paper being either a math sheet or a reading and writing sheet. For the longest time, I couldn't get my youngest son to do his daily sheet. The teachers expect the students to do one sheet each afternoon at home. If they concentrate, it hardly takes any time, but, obviously, the longer you wait to do it in the evening, the longer and harder the homework seems to become. I remember those days of putting off the essay or the written exercises, just hoping that by some miracle they would disappear. Oh, the frustration³. The way I got my son to do his homework every day was by using a strategy that included three things. First, he wasn't allowed to play on the Wii until he had done one page. Secondly⁴, I would always be near him to help him, encourage him, push him a little if needed. And third, I would praise and congratulate him once he had finished. After a few months of this, he adopted the habit of always getting his job done. I think that being consistent is really one of the hardest things in life, especially if you haven't managed to turn your obligation into a habit. At least, that's how it is for me. These homework packets are cute, obviously simple; afterall, he is only in the first grade. On most pages there are cute characters drawn⁵, to make the sheet look friendly and fun. And a lot of the exercises are in the form of a game, or a puzzle. You find things like dot-to-dots, crossword⁶ puzzles, and counting pennies exercises. It's great to see my son's progress, and I realize that it was worth using strategies to get him to 'dig in' and get the work done.
Grammar notes.
Use of 'used to' and 'would' to show past habitual⁷ actions, + related vocabulary: to dig in, strategy, to adopt a habit, to staple¹.
1. That boy was a great student when he was in my class. He used to dig into any new information and tasks.
2. The special ops comander would always outline his strategy of surprizing the enemy.
3. They used to adopt these unhealthy eating habits, like having icecream or cheesecake just before bed. But then, the doctor told them that they couldn't continue that way.
4. The secretary would always use too many staples⁸ on the documents; it was difficult to turn the pages.

1 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

2 stapled   

v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The letter was stapled to the other documents in the file. 这封信与案卷里的其他文件钉在一起。 来自辞典例句
• He said with smooth bluntness and shoved a stack of stapled sheets across his desk. 他以一种圆滑、率直的口气说着，并把一叠订好了的稿纸从他办公桌那边递过来。 来自辞典例句

3 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

4 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 crossword   

n.纵横字谜，纵横填字游戏

参考例句：

• He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。
• Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸，我还没做字谜游戏呢。

7 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

8 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句