Getting a student with special needs to write down homework assignments and bring home the necessary materials can be hard. Actually doing all that work can be harder. But turning the completed work in? That shold be a piece of cake. Yet often, the papers your child labored so hard on will end up tucked in a desk drawer or a bookbag or the back of a locker, earning zeros despite all your efforts. How can you make sure your child actually turns that homework in? Here are some steps to take.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Less than it takes to actually DO the homework
Here's How:
- Make sure homework gets into the bookbag. Watch as your child puts the homework in his folder or folders. If necessary, have one folder for homework only. Watch as your child puts the folder or folders into his bookbag.
- Check it twice. Before your child leaves in the morning, go through the bookbag and make sure the homework is still there. If your child bristles at having her things gone through, get up early and do it while she's sleeping. You want to make sure you can say without doubt that the homework went to school.
- Make sure the homework gets to class. Homework that gets to school but stays in the locker doesn't earn points. If your child has too many folders and leaves the wrong ones locked up, invest in a large notebook for all subjects and dividers with pockets into which homework can be placed. If it's not your child's style, let him know that once homework delivery is no longer a problem, you can discuss a change.
- Make sure the homework gets to the teacher. If your child has an IEP, have someone specifically collecting her homework (instead of her being expected to find the homework and give it to the teacher) included as an accommodation. If your child has an aide, make it the aide's job. If your child has an inclusion teacher, make it the inclusion teacher's job. If your child's on her own, let the teacher know that your child does do her homework but sometimes misses cues to turn it in.
- Keep checking. Contact the teacher on a regular basis to make sure the homework is being turned in. Ask him or her to call or e-mail you immediately if there's a problem. A chart the teacher can check to indicate whether or not the homework was received is also a possible strategy, but sending such a document home with a child who has delivery issues is probably not the ideal way to communicate.
- Recognize improvement. Give your child a small reward for turning in homework regularly, and a bigger reward at progress report or report card time if the teacher says homework has been done faithfully.
Tips:
- If your child hates being checked up on, use less checking as a reward.
- Desirable school supplies might be a good reward for a marking period of good homework delivery.
