Helping your Child
with Homework
• [Link]
parent-workshop/
•
Proper Study
Decide on place with your child
Area
• Free from distractions, away from TV, noise,
people coming in and out
• Also a place where parents won’t need to use
space during homework time or move the
child to another space
• Make sure child has all needed materials in
study area, including filled out assignment
book/planner
Daily Homework Time
• Homework isn’t something to be done after
everything else or saved until the last minute
• Homework needs to be prioritized and
scheduled so children know it’s important
• Build homework into a child’s routine and
weekly schedule
• Rule of thumb: 10 minutes of
homework/night per grade level
Daily Homework Time
• Pre-planned time set aside each day for child to do
homework and all other activities stop during this time;
phones get left in another room also!
• Plan ahead by looking at child’s other activities and plan
daily homework time accordingly, also depending on how
long homework generally takes
• Have a written schedule with other activities and list
homework time on schedule each time (see schedule
handout)
• If homework gets completed appropriately before
homework time is over, child can move on to something
else
Daily Homework Time:
Challenges
• “Speeders”
• Children who speed through work to get it done with little or
no effort
• “Forgetters”
• Children who forget their homework at school and don’t have
materials needed for homework or forget they have
homework at all
• Solution: Mandatory Homework Time
• Children have to use entire homework time to do some kind
of school related activity, even if they’ve forgotten their work
• Children learn that there is no advantage to finishing quickly
or forgetting their materials at school
Children, not parents, do
the homework
Children, not parents, do
the homework
• When parents do homework for children, confirms
the child’s belief that he/she can’t do it on their
own and child will continue to feel overwhelmed
• Child may need encouragement and boost of
confidence to start, but avoid doing the work for
the child
• Be available to help the child or get him/her
started, but let child know he/she is expected to
do the work on his/her own
Children, not parents, do
the homework
• If child is struggling or tells you he/she can’t do it,
try:
• Checking to make sure child has all needed
materials
• Ask child to tell you what the assignment is and
read directions together, making sure child
understands directions
• Work on the first problem together, praise the
child’s efforts and let them work on other
problems independently
Children, not parents, do
the homework
• If child is struggling or tells you he/she can’t do it,
try:
• Be available to motivate and encourage your child
to keep working and answer specific questions
• Break the assignment down into small steps that
the child can do successfully
• Praise child’s efforts at working independently and
show confidence in ability to work independently
Children, not parents, do
the homework
• Check in as child is working on homework to make sure directions are
being followed and same mistakes aren’t being made over and over
and child ends up doing entire assignment incorrectly; check over
homework when complete- not for perfection but to make sure
directions have been followed as you did with check in
• If child still can not complete work almost entirely independently,
contact the child’s teacher. Homework is meant to be an
independent activity for the most part, and teachers and parents can
figure out solutions if this is not the case
• Game: give child 10 pieces of candy at the beginning of homework
time; each time they ask for help (when it’s not needed), they have
to give you a piece of the candy; child can eat whatever is left at the
end of homework time. Same can apply to staying on task: for each
time you have to prompt child to stay on task, they have to give you
a piece of the candy.
Motivation
• Consistently praise child’s effort, not the grade
necessarily
• Make your praise specific
• “Super Praise”
• One parent praises the child for something specific
• Parent praises the child in front of the other parent
• The other parent gives specific praise to the student
Motivation
• Give incentives as needed, but phase them out
over time
• Use a spinner with different incentives in the
spaces. As child finished homework independently,
spins the spinner and receives that incentive
(staying up 15 minutes later, gets to choose dinner,
etc.)
• Could also use spinner with points in the spaces.
Child needs to collect a certain number of points
for a bigger incentive and again gets to spin the
spinner after finishing homework independently
Motivation
Motivation
• Homework Contract (see samples)
• Younger children or children who struggle more
with homework should receive a reward more
frequently than older or more independent
students
• Grades K-3: reward every 3-5 days
• Grades 4-6: reward every 1-2 weeks
• Grades 7-12: reward every 2-4 weeks
Still not Working?
• Make sure your communication is assertive (no begging, bargaining,
arguing with child to do homework). Use the broken record
technique if necessary rather than arguing: continue to tell child that
it’s time to do homework rather than fall into the trap of arguing or
bargaining
• Emphasize that homework is a priority in your house
• Avoid referring to specific assignments as pointless or stupid in
front of the children (even if it’s true!)
• Avoid talking negatively about the teacher or amount of
homework in front of the children
• These reinforce negative ideas about homework and tell the child
they shouldn’t have to do an assignment
• Be consistent and back up words with action
Students with Attention
Difficulties
• Use a timer of visual timer to break homework time into
chunks, give break after timer goes off
• Forest App [Link]
• Stop Go!
[Link]
=
8
• Time Timers
[Link]
• Visual Countdown
Students with Attention
Difficulties
• Encourage child to look over work himself/herself when finished
instead of relying on parent
• Help child break bigger projects into steps in their planner
• Reverse planning https
://[Link]/mindshift/50947/how-reverse-planning-for-goals
-can-help-students-succeed-in-
school;
[Link]
ard-get-started
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• Help with time management and prioritizing
• Easier to start with easy assignments to warmup or start with
more difficult assignments when child has more energy?
Leaving larger or harder assignments until later may not help a
child with anxiety
Not Turning in
Homework
• Make sure there is a routine at home
• After homework time, help make sure work
gets in appropriate folder(s) and into
backpack, ready for the morning.
• Homework is not considered complete until it
is packed into backpack
• Have a checklist displayed at study area that
student checks off to make sure homework
goes into proper place
Not Turning in
Homework
• Make sure there is a routine at school
• Similar checklist on the student’s desk to remind them
to turn homework in first thing in the morning
• May work to have student turn in ALL work to teacher
first thing in the morning if there are different
classes/teachers during the school day
• Set a timer/reminder for students that goes off when
they get to school to remind them to turn homework in
• See if some homework can be emailed to teacher night
before when it is finished
• Talk with teacher to meet the child where he/she is in
the process: may have to take small steps to get
homework turned in and where it needs to be
Homework
Accommodations
• If homework continues to be an issue, discuss some
options for accommodations with your child’s teacher:
• Reducing the amount of time spent on a particular
subject or overall homework time (parent signs off
that child has spent the agreed upon amount of time
working on homework)
• Using audio texts to reduce amount of reading (
[Link]) for students with learning
disabilities
• Having students dictate responses rather than write
everything out (Dragon Dictation or Siri)
• Claro PDF [Link]
Homework
Accommodations
• If homework continues to be an issue, discuss
some options for accommodations with your
child’s teacher:
• Help with planning bigger assignments,
breaking them down into steps
• Reducing amount of print on a page
• Not penalizing for spelling errors
• Teacher provides study guides and class
notes, highlighting only what will be on the
test
Homework
Accommodations
• If homework continues to be an issue, discuss
some options for accommodations with your
child’s teacher:
• Extending deadline for work being turned in
• Alternate assignments that reinforce same
skill
• Teacher or peer fills out assignment book,
checks to make sure child has everything
needed for homework packed to take home
• Extra set of textbooks at home
Resources
• [Link]
ing/learning-at-home/homework-study-
skills
• Homework Without Tears by Lee Canter and
Lee Hausner
Contact us!
• Kara Bratton, LSEM Resource Center
Director
• kbratton@[Link]
• [Link]
parent-workshop/