Homework Tips For Parents

Recently a friend and I had a conversation about student learning and homework.  My friend said that her child’s teacher did not want parents to “sit and do” homework with their child.  The teacher asked the parents to allow the child to work alone while completing the homework.  I of course operating under the traditional paradigm of parental involvement totally disagreed with this.  In my mind, I felt that parents should sit with the child and not necessarily give answers but facilitate in order to ensure understanding. After our friendly discourse, I decided to research the concept of homework.   I must say that Google is a perfect tool when trying to convince a person that you are right and they are wrong.  After searching the internet, I realized that the resolve of our debate lay somewhere in the middle.  Most of the research and articles had the same reoccurring themes.   Here are some tips to help support your child’s homework completion.

 Understand the different types of homework.

Not all homework assignments are the same.  Homework assignments can typically have one or more purposes.  Some homework assignments are for students to practice and reinforce learning or help the student master a specific skill.  Some homework assignments are preparation assignments, which are assigned to prepare students for a future lesson.  Some homework assignments are extension assignments.  Extension assignments are assigned in order to have the student apply skills they have already learned to new situations.  Integration homework assignments usually require the student to apply many different skills to a single task such as a book report, project or writing assignment. Talk with your child’s teacher to understand the purpose of the homework they assign.

Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework.

Children need to work in a place that is free from distractions and noise.  Dedicate a space in your home where your child can do their homework.  It is helpful to have a desk where they can store materials needed to complete homework such as paper, pencils, calculators and dictionaries.  This area should be clean and free from clutter so that students can organize their materials.   All televisions in or around the designated workspace should be turned off so that your child can focus on their assignments.  Cell phones, computers and other technology should be put away unless they are needed to complete the homework assignments.

Help your child with time management.

It is important that children manage their homework time efficiently.  Establish a set time each day for doing homework.  Ensure that your child has enough time to complete assignments.  Do not let your child leave homework until late evening.  It is best to do homework immediately upon arriving home in order to ensure that they have enough time to complete the assignment.  Do not let children wait until the last minute to prepare for test or complete projects.  Children should review notes and assignments daily in order to prepare for tests.

Reinforce the importance of homework.

Emphasize to your child the importance of completing homework and making good grades in school.  Your attitudes about school and grades will be reflected in your child’s attitude. Your beliefs about schoolwork will directly influence your child’s homework habits.

Provide your child with guidance not the answers.

Many parents make the mistake of being hoverers.  A hover is a parent that hovers over the child while doing their homework.  Hovering hinders the child from understanding the assignment.  Too much parental involvement can prevent homework from having a positive effect as well as prevent the teacher from knowing if the child has mastered the skill. Let your child work alone but be in the vicinity in case your assistance is needed. When they ask for help, instead of giving them the answer, ask guiding questions that help them find the answers on their own.  Show your child how to use resources such as dictionaries, internet sites, computer apps, textbooks and notes to help them complete homework assignments. 

Be the example.

Research shows that when children witness their parents reading or studying they are more likely to pick up those habits.  When your child does homework, you do homework.  This shows children that the skills they are learning are related to things that adults do in the real world.  Homework time is a perfect time for parents to balance checkbooks, read newspapers or magazines, read online sites and other materials. 

Check homework once the child is finished.

Homework is sometimes counted as a grade.  Parents should go over homework assignments once the child has finished their homework to make sure that they have completed the assignments correctly.  Teach your child to do a self-check of assignments before bringing them to you to check.  Have the children correct errors.

Communicate with your child’s teacher.

In order for children to be successful in school, it is important that there is a school-home partnership.  Talk with your child’s teacher in order to know the teacher’s expectations, grading requirements and ways that you can support learning at home.  Many schools provide parents with online websites that allow them to monitor their child’s progress.  These website are usually linked to the teacher’s email.  Check your child’s progress daily.  If you see that, your child is struggling contact the teacher immediately.  

                                                                                References

Education, U. D. (2003, May). Retrieved from www.2.ed.gov/parents/academics/involve/homework/homeworktips.pdf.

10 Things Every Parent Should Demand Before Deciding to Retain Your Child

  

  I receive calls from many frantic parents who are upset because they have received letters stating that their child is failing or is in jeopardy of being retained. In the old days, they called it being “held back”.  I ask all the parents who call me with this situation the same question, what interventions were put in place to help the child?  Many people associate academic interventions with students who have learning disabilities or Individualized Education Plans (IEP). Targeted classroom interventions can benefit all kids and should be put in place before considering retaining any student.

     The definition of an intervention describes in a nutshell, what should be happening in the classroom for struggling students.  By definition, intervention means to intervene or hinder a course of action.  In this case, the course of action is the student failing.  Interventions should be put in place to prevent the student from failing.  Only after targeted interventions have been put in place and effectively implemented, should parents consider retaining a child in their current grade. There is a vast amount of research on the pros and cons of retention.  I strongly advise parents to research this topic so that they can make informed decisions.

              10 Things Every Parent Should Demand Before Deciding to Retain Your Child

1.  Communication

Every parent should expect that their teacher communicate with them whether the student is making good grades or failing grades.  If your child is failing then you should be aware of it.  Most school districts require that teachers document parent communication before failing a child.  If you notice that your child has failing grades on their report card, immediately contact the teacher to set up a meeting.  Ideally, teachers should make parents aware that their child is failing before the end of the quarter. Many school districts have online database systems that allow parents to access their child’s grades and information about classroom assignments.  All teachers should have email addresses.  Communicating via email allows you to keep documentation of conversations.   You can also send notes to school or leave messages with the secretary.   It is never acceptable to fail a child without attempting to contact the parent.

2.  Intervention Plan

An intervention team should be assembled to figure out what strategies can be put in place to help the child achieve.  This team should include the parents, the child’s teachers, the appropriate specialists (school psychologists, speech pathologists, nurses) and any tutors or mentors who work with the child.  The intervention team should identify areas of concern and then create targeted interventions that will help the student achieve in the classroom.  It is important to identify the cause of the student’s failure.  Students who are failing due to lack of participation or behavior require different interventions than those students who are failing because of lack of ability.   The intervention plan should include short term and long-term goals, an action plan to implement and monitor these goals as well as a method to monitor the effectiveness of the plan.  If you realize that the plan is not working then a new intervention plan should be created.

3.  Targeted Interventions

Interventions are not effective if they are not targeted to meet the needs of the individual learners.  Studies have shown that no two learners are the same so therefore there is no such thing as a “one size fits all” intervention.  Interventions should be research-based and targeted to meet the needs of the child. Targeted interventions include things such as having the student pulled aside for small group instruction or individual instruction, providing students with audio versions of assignments and texts, peer tutoring, differentiated instruction.  There are many different interventions that when coupled with effective instruction can help the child succeed in the classroom. 

4.  Documentation of Intervention

Before retaining a student, a teacher should have documentation of all of the strategies that have been put in place to prevent the student from failing.  The documentation should include work samples, phone logs, report cards and data on the interventions.    

5.  Data

In order to assess the effectiveness of the plan, a teacher must collect data.  This data can include teacher observation notes, grades on class assignments and assessment scores.  Parents should not rely solely on state standardized test scores.  Proficiency cut scores vary by state.  In some states, students only need to get 30% of the test correct to be considered proficient meaning proficient really equals failing.  State test are summative tests which means students take the test at a certain point of the year to determine what they do or do not know.  Often times state tests result are received too late to implement interventions.  Data collection should include formative testing which occurs while instruction is taking place and is ongoing.  There are companies who publish short curriculum based assessments that can be done on a regular basis as well as give the teacher standardized results.

6. Implementation of the Plan

Every plan is only as effective as the implementation of that plan.  Once a plan has been created, it has to be effectively implemented.   During the initial meeting, the details of how the plan will be implemented should be put in place. Parents should schedule conferences periodically to discuss the implementation of the plan and the data that has been collected.

7.  Small Group Instruction and/or Individual Instruction

Every student can benefit from small group instruction and/or individualized instruction.    Parents can request that their child be pulled out for small amounts of time during the school day for small group instruction.  Small group instruction includes no more than five students.   During this time, concepts that the student did not master can be re-taught or practiced.  Teachers can also build small group instruction into their daily lessons.   Effective schools will have this type of specialized instruction in place for struggling students.  This small group instruction can be done by instructor assistants, other school staff and volunteer tutors that work in the building.   Parents can also request additional instruction to take place before or after school.     

8.  Progress Reports

I often tell parents documentation is the key.  Parents can request that their child’s teacher complete daily or weekly progress reports. Parents and teachers can communicate by writing notes on the progress report.  These progress reports can provide a snapshot of the student’s performance on a daily or weekly basis.   Progress reports allow parents to receive feedback about effort, behavior and progress on daily assignments.  As well, it allows parents to have record of progress to make decisions pertaining to retention of the child.  Parents should also require that their child keep all graded papers in an organized binder or folder.  Parents should keep a binder organized by date with all communication, student assignments and test scores.  This allows parents to see progression as well as tell the story of what is being taught in the classroom.  Students can also track their own progress in addition to the tracking that is being done by the teacher.  This helps the student be an active participant in their learning experience.

9.  Monitoring of Intervention Plan

As I said above a plan is only as successful as the implementation of that plan.  Parents should expect that there is a procedure put in place to monitor the effectiveness of the plan.  The plan should include specific timeframes to regroup to determine if the plan is producing the necessary results. The meeting should contain the same persons who developed the intervention plan.  During this meeting, the group should analyze the data that has been collected.  This data should include teacher observation notes, grades on class assignments, assessment scores and work samples.  The group should assess whether the student is achieving based on classroom grades and curriculum based measurements.  If the intervention plan is not producing results then the team needs to evaluate if a new plan needs to be put in place. 

10.  Cooperation

Parents should expect full cooperation from the staff at their child’s school.  In order for struggling students to receive the necessary support, there must be collaborative planning between the parent, teachers and school administration.  As the old adage says, “it takes a village to raise a child”.  The village has to move past the point of blame and focus on helping the child.  Teachers and other school staff should be willing to fill out necessary paperwork in a timely manner, attend meetings and work with parents to implement the intervention plan.  Parents should expect to feel involved in the process and should feel as though their voice is being heard.   All parents should understand their rights as a parent.  Most school districts post this information on their district websites as well as other pertinent information.  An informed parent is a powerful parent so be sure to read the information posted on the district’s website so that you understand what to expect from your child’s school.  Parents must also provide the support to teachers so that the plan can be implemented.   If you feel that, you are not getting the support you need begin by contacting the principal.  If the issue is not resolved, contact the appropriate district personnel using the complaint procedure established by your school district.

Brandi Steagall

Nia Educational

Five Benefits of Reading to Your Child

Five Benefits of Reading to Your Child

I often receive calls from frantic parents who are looking for ways to help their children become better readers.  When I make the simple suggestion to read aloud to the child each day for twenty minutes, some parents give a look as though they are offended that I assumed they were not already reading with their child.  I have concluded that many parents are embarrassed to admit that they are not regularly reading with their child. I do not fault those parents who do not regularly read to their children. Some parents are unable to do this because barriers such as work schedule and other responsibilities do not permit them to do so. There are also those who are unaware of the important role that reading to their child plays in the child’s growth and development. There are many organizations that promote the act of reading to children, but these organizations do not do a good job of explaining the importance and the benefits of reading to children.  Parents should read to their children daily for a minimum of twenty minutes.  Children who are read to benefit in many ways.  Below are five ways that children benefit when parents read to them.

1.    Reading to children helps build vocabulary and language skills.

Literacy development begins long before children enter school.  The quest for literacy begins at birth. As children grow, they use their environment to build their oral language vocabulary.  Research has shown that vocabulary is not learned through direct instruction.  Vocabulary is learned through exposure to language. By age three, children have acquired an oral language vocabulary of about 1,000 words.  By age five or six, students may have 5,000 or more words in their oral language vocabulary. The major influence on the size of a child’s vocabulary is the quantity and quality of the exposure they have had with oral language. Reading aloud is an effective way to develop oral language and expose children to the high quality oral language needed to build their vocabularies. Reading aloud to children teaches them new words and concepts. Children who are read to have highly developed language skills, larger vocabularies and are able to communicate more effectively.

2.  Reading to children builds the experiential background knowledge necessary for comprehension skills.

For a moment, think of the human brain as a file cabinet that stores memories, experiences and knowledge.   These files keep the knowledge that we have acquired organized in the human brain.  These organized knowledge files are called schema.  When we have to comprehend or understand a concept, we have to rely on the schema or experiential knowledge we have stored to make sense of the concept.  If we have no stored schema for a concept, our brain naturally develops one that will be stored with our other knowledge files.  As we learn more and have more experiences, we are constantly refining and altering the knowledge we have stored.  As you read to children, they are constantly activating prior knowledge, constructing new knowledge and refining and expanding prior knowledge.   Reading to children allows them to build the experiential knowledge necessary to have good reading comprehension skills.    

3.   Reading to children helps develop thinking skills.

Being read to and discussing books builds thinking skills.  The quality of the child’s thinking skills is determined by the quality of discussions and questions presented to the child as they read with their parent.   While reading to the child, parents should ask open-ended questions that require the child to make inferences, draw conclusions and express their thoughts and understanding of the book or concept.  Parents should be sure to include non-fiction books in their child’s library.  Reading non-fiction books in addition to fictional stories, helps develop students understanding and thinking skills.

4.  Reading to children helps them develop a sense of story.

Reading to children aids in developing a sense of story.  The term “sense of story” simply means that the reader understands the types of language that is used in stories and as well as story elements such as plot, setting and characters.  As children are read to regularly, they become familiar with story elements and are able to better comprehend and retell the stories.   As they develop their sense of story, they are able to create and write their own stories.

5. Reading to children provides pleasant association with books.

If you were to ask the average child or adult about reading, many would respond that they dislike reading.  Many people associate reading with tasks that they dislike.  Many people only read for academic purposes (reading for school assignments) rather than recreational purposes (reading for enjoyment).  Reading to children helps children have positive association with books and encourages recreational reading.  Research shows that recreational reading improves literacy skills.  As children are read to regularly, they begin to have a love for reading and stories.  Children who are read to will less likely look at reading as a negative and cumbersome task.  Children who are read to, can readily tell you their favorite book and are more likely to develop interest in topics they have learned about through books that have been read aloud to them. 

Written by

Brandi Steagall

Nia Educational

Ohio Third Grade Reading Guarantee: 7 Things Every Parent Needs to Know

Ohio Third Grade Reading Guarantee:  7 Things Every Parent Needs to Know

In 2012, Ohio state legislators passed legislation that aimed to improve literacy rates among Ohio elementary students.  The goal of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee is to place greater emphasis on reading instruction and reading intervention for students in grades K-3.  Third grade students must score at least a 390 (a score of 400 is considered passing) on either the fall or spring administration of the Grade 3 Reading Ohio Achievement Assessment. Any third grade student who does not reach the cut score by the end of the third grade will not advance to the fourth grade.  Here are seven things every parents needs to know about the Reading Guarantee

1.       All public school students in grades K-3 must be screened.

The Third Grade guarantee requires that schools screen all students in grades K-3 by September 30 ^th  of  each school year.  Each district must adopt an assessment tool to diagnose reading skills for students in grades K-3.  The Ohio Department of Education provides a diagnostic assessment that school districts may use to screen students.  The ODE also provides a list of approved assessments that districts may adopt.   Students who are enrolled in nonpublic schools are exempt from the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.

2.       .Students who are identified as reading below grade level must have an intervention plan put in place.

The new law requires that an intervention plan be put in place for struggling readers within 60 days of the diagnostic test. The plan must identify the student’s specific reading deficiency as well as give a description of the intervention services that will target the student’s identified reading deficiencies. The interventions must be “research-based” reading interventions. Research based interventions are strategies that have proven through research to be successful in improving reading among low-performing readers.

The plan must describe the process that the school will use to monitor the implementation of the student’s instructional services.  The plan must also describe the reading curriculum and interventions that will be used to help improve the child’s reading skills.  The curriculum must provide for reliable assessments, and provide ongoing analysis of each student’s reading progress.  The law requires that the plan include a statement that informs parents that unless the student attains the appropriate level of reading competency by the end of Grade 3, the student will be retained.

3.       Parents must be given the opportunity to be involved in the creation and implementation of the intervention services.  

Districts must send notices informing parents about the Third Grade Reading Guarantee and the potential for retention if students fail to demonstrate reading proficiency on 3^rd grade testing.  Parents must be notified in writing if the child is reading below grade level.  Parents must be made aware of the current strategies being used to improve the child’s reading level, which research based interventions will be used to help improve the child’s reading level and what supplemental services and supports will be given to the child to assist in reading improvement. 

4.       Students must receive intervention from a credentialed reading teacher or specialist.

The Third Grade Guarantee requires that struggling readers be assigned to teachers who hold a reading endorsement on their teacher’s license and a passing score on the corresponding assessment for that endorsement.  Students may also be assigned to teachers who hold a master’s degree with a major in reading or a teacher who has received evaluation ratings of “above value-added” for the last two school years. Teachers who have received a passing score on a rigorous test of principles of scientifically research-based reading instruction may also be the teacher of record for the identified student. Districts that do not have enough staff that meets the credentialed teacher qualifications must submit a plan to the Ohio Department of Education outlining how they will meet the teacher requirements for the plan.  The department of education must approve all plans submitted by the school districts.  Districts may include in the plan the option to contract with another school district or private provider that has been approved by ODE to provide intervention services. If the plan submitted is rejected by ODE, then the district must use a private provider than has been approved by ODE to provide intervention services

5.        Districts can use alternatives other than retention for students who do not meet the third grade reading requirements.

Districts may retain third grade students who score less than a 390 on the Ohio Achievement test.  If the principal and teachers of the student believe that other evaluations of the student have demonstrated that the student is academically prepared, then the school may promote the child to fourth grade.  Schools have the option of promoting students who are not reading at grade level to the fourth grade if they plan to provide that student with intensive reading intervention during their fourth grade year.  

6.       Students who have been retained under the third grade-reading guarantee must receive 90 minutes per day of intensive reading instruction and research based interventions.

Students who are retained under the requirement must receive 90 minutes of intensive reading intervention from a credentialed reading teacher.  Students should receive interventions such as:

·          Small group instruction;

·          Reduced teacher-student ratios;

·          More frequent progress monitoring;

·         Tutoring or mentoring;

·         Transition classes containing third and fourth grade students;

·         Extended school day, week, or year;

·         Summer reading camps.

Districts must establish a policy for the mid-year promotion of a student retained under division who demonstrates that the student is reading at or above grade level.  Districts must also give parents the option of working with outside service providers.

7.        Some students are exempt from retention

     Some students regardless of performance on third grade testing are exempt from retention.  Students who are limited English proficient students who have been enrolled in U.S schools for two years and have had instruction in English for less than two years are exempt from retention.  Students who are identified as having a learning disability and are receiving services under an individual disabilities plan or a 504 plan that exempts them from retention will not face the possibility of being retained.  Students who receive services under a 504 or IEP plan who have received two years of reading intervention but still demonstrate a reading deficiency are also exempt from retention. Students who have been previously retained are also exempt from retention.  Any student who is promoted despite their reading deficiencies must have intense reading intervention during their fourth grade year.     

Please forward any questions or comments to:

Brandi Steagall

Nia Educational

bsteagall@niaeducational.com