Homework Survival Tips

Dear Melissa, 
I have 2 children in elementary school, and it seems as if completing homework is a battle every night. Do you have any tips to make homework easier for our family?

credit: Envato Images

Ugh. I really don’t like homework! I did not like it as a child, and I dislike it even more now that I am a mommy, helping my own kiddos with their nightly homework. There is always the struggle of how much do you help, how much do you coach, how much do you let your kiddo “sink or swim”? Here are a few ideas I have rounded up to make homework less painful for all of us!

• Make a list.  Are you a list maker? I certainly am! Just ask anyone in the clinic. Every. Single. Session. I make a list (or rather, I work with the kiddo/patient to make a list for each session). There is just something tactile and satisfying by crossing off things on a to-do list. Even better if you are crossing off an unpleasant item. Lists are a great way to help your child manage their homework load in smaller chunks, have some control over the order in which to complete these chunks, and to stay focused on the task at hand.  
• Provide Structure.  In a 2011 interview with CNN, Ann Dolin (Author of “Homework Made Simple:  Tips, Tools and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework”) states, “The single best way to improve your child’s homework performance – and bring more peace to your home – is to insist on a daily schedule or routine.” Having a regular, nightly homework routine can help avoid battles of kiddos pleading, “Just one more___, and then I will start!” And don’t we all want to have fewer battles on the home front?  
• Know your child’s attention style and span.  Is he one who does best to get homework done as soon as he gets home from school? Does she attend better after dinner? Maybe break it up and do half before dinner and half after dinner? Is first thing in the morning best? We all have different learning styles and attention spans. Try to observe your child and see when his attention is best, then maximize the productivity at this time if you can.  
• Utilize the weekend when you can.  At my children’s school, we have various daily assignments, but then we have several assignments that we know about a week in advance, or certain things that need to be done several times a month. I know we all like a lazy Saturday, but sometimes adding a 20-30 minute homework session during the weekend can really free up a week day and make the week much more stress-free.  
• Plan ahead.  Science fair or the big game on Thursday night? But Thursday is also the night before the spelling test! Get science fair done a day or two early to allow more time for spelling on Thursday.  
• Build in “unproductive time”.  Watching TV, listening to music, or allowing your child to take an hour to get ready for bed actually allows the brain to rest while allowing it to process the events of the day. Both children and adults need downtime to recharge for the next day. If you feel like your child has no downtime, he/she is probably over-scheduled. Have your child rank activities in the order of importance and see what could be eliminated or reduced. (pta.org)
• Give your child space.  Repeat after me. “I will NOT be a helicopter parent!” Unless you plan on going to college with your child, then you need to step back and let your child do the work. The key to this strategy is:  Location. Location. Location. It’s best if your child can work on his/her homework in a quiet spot where you can breeze by every once in a while and make sure that the textbook is still open, and that she has not reverted to texting her friends. It is also better if you are not actually staying in the same room as your child. This forces your child to actually get up and walk to another room to ask for help, rather than asking for help on every problem. This helps both of you to set appropriate boundaries. And yes, it is OK if your child makes mistakes on homework sometimes. The homework was meant for your child and not for you! 
• Use fidgets.  Who says that one must sit “square in the chair” to learn? Does your child do best while standing? While laying on the floor or sitting in a bean bag? While holding a fidget item? While chewing gum? Over the years, I have had students utilize all of these techniques. If they work, they work. Choose your battles!
• If needed, push back on busy work.  As I discussed last week, many students simply are being given too much homework. The rule of thumb is that students should only have 10 minutes of additional homework per night for each grade level the child advances in school, starting with 10 minutes in the first grade. If your child is regularly spending more time on homework than this, have a talk with your child’s teacher to help determine if your child is having difficulty with attention and time management skills, or if the workload is simply too much.  

What tricks do you have to keep homework peaceful at your house? Have you discussed your child’s workload with his/her teacher? How was the response? Please share!

Resources:  

Cettina, T. How to help your kids with homework, (August 30, 2011), CNN. 

Foster, M. Homework: Too little, too much, or just right?, (March 2016), Children’s Therapy TEAM Blog.

Newman, J. But I Want to Do Your Homework, (June 21, 2014), New York Times. 

Vatterott, C. Hints to Help Reduce Homework Stress, (accessed February 2016), National PTA

Wallace, K. Kids have three times too much homework, study finds; whats the cost?, (August, 2015), CNN.

Homework: too little, too much, or just right?

Dear Melissa,
My son is in first grade. We spend around 30 minutes on homework every night! Doesn’t this seem like too much homework time?

I, too, have often wondered if my elementary-aged children are receiving too much homework. It is such a tricky item to balance. We want our children to thrive academically. However, we also want them to be in extracurricular activities, spend quality family time together, and have their own “down time”. We also know our children need to be able to get to bed on time and get a restful night’s sleep. How in the world do we balance it all?

Let’s see what the experts and research studies show:
The National Education Association (NEA) reports that homework overload is the exception rather than the norm. They cite research from the Brookings Institution and the Rand Corporation, which concluded that the majority of U.S. students spend less than an hour a day on homework, regardless of grade level, and that this has held true for most of the past 50 years.

Upon hearing this research, you may be thinking, “What? My children seem to have way more homework than I ever did!” I know that was my first thought.

The general recommendation endorsed by the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association is the so-called “10-minute Rule”. That is 10 minutes per grade level per night, and NO homework in kindergarten (CNN, 2015). However, a recent study of over a thousand parents with children in kindergarten through grade 12 found that first grade students averaged almost 3 times the homework load at 28 minutes, and kindergarten students were averaging 25 minutes when they should not be receiving any homework at all.

So, it seems that there might be an average recommended amount of homework out there, but the actual amount of homework assigned by individual teachers and individual school distracts appears to vary widely.

What is the real problem with spending excessive amounts of time on homework? If kids are spending more time on academic work, then these hard-working students will be smarter, go to better colleges, and get better jobs, right?

A study of 4,300 students from high-performing public and private high schools in an upper-middle-class California community looked at the health effects of too much homework on our students. The average amount of homework for these high school students was 3 hours per night. In this study, 56% of students cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives. Additionally, this study found clear, negative physical impacts of too much homework, such as migraines, ulcers/other gastrointestinal problems, sleep deprivation, and weight loss. These students were also found to be at a higher risk of other serious disturbances, including drug and alcohol abuse, depression, and anxiety. (CNN, 2014)

So…Why so much homework? Why do we feel the need to “over-achieve” and push our children to get more and more academic work done in what should be their free-time? A 2011 article from Psychology Today reports that “study after study has shown that homework has little to do with achievement in elementary school, and is only marginally related to achievement in middle school.” Furthermore, this article uses the comparison of homework to a sewing machine. If a child spent 8 hours a day hunched over a sewing machine, then came home and worked on the sewing machine some more, we would be appalled at the inhumanity and mistreatment of children.

Perfectly in line with the general philosophy of occupational therapy, this same Psychology Today article goes on to cite the importance of play in a child’s development. Play promotes creativity, social skills, brain development, problem solving, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and the list of benefits goes on and on. Take away play, and you will also lose many of these play-based foundational skills, which are so crucial for academic achievement. In addition, a far stronger predictor than homework for academic achievement in children ages 3-12 years, is having regular family meals. Family meals allow parents time to “check in” with their children and further provide a platform to build language and problem solving skills.

So, if your family is overloaded with homework, talk to your child’s teacher and school administration. Share with them some of the research on this topic. Let’s start a movement to push our children to be well-rounded, creative, happy adults, rather than anxious grown ups who can recite learned facts, but have poor problem solving and flexibility/adaptation skills.

Enayati, A. Is homework making your child sick?, (March 21, 2014), CNN

Research Spotlight on Homework, (accessed March 2016), National Education Association

Vatterott, C. Hints to Help Reduce Homework Stress, (accessed February 2016), National PTA

Wallace, K. Kids have three times too much homework, study finds; whats the cost?, (August 12, 2015), CNN

Winch, Guy, How Much Homework Is Too Much?, (October 19, 2011), Psychology Today

Building Supportive Communities for Persons with Cognitive Impairment

This week, instead of answering a parent’s question, I decided to create a public service announcement about a topic that is currently all over my Facebook page.  "The Word."  

What was once referred to as the R-word is currently now more appropriately referred to as a “cognitive impairment” or an “intellectual disability”.  

In the month of March, many parents and friends of individuals with intellectual disabilities are “spreading the word to end theword”. I have seen many comments on social media from parents and family members of individuals with intellectual disabilities, stating how the R-word is hurtful and puts a stigmatized label on their child. And they certainly have a point. All children have strengths and weaknesses, and using this word in a derogatory manner is insensitive, mean, and inappropriate.  

Some people make the somewhat valid comment that it is just a word. And how many words are we going to keep adding to the long list of politically incorrect words? In response to this, I say that if a parent of a child with special needs – who is already struggling with the added pressures and medical challenges that this adds, on top of the already difficult and daunting task of raising a child – if this parent asks you to not use this word, shouldn’t you just say, “Ok?"

How do we end the use of the R-word?

I have many therapist friends who would never use the R-word. But I also have many friends who are well educated, well-meaning engineers, accountants, scientists, lawyers, etc., who still use the R-word. I honestly don’t think they know that it is hurtful. So besides not using this word ourselves, how do we “spread the word to end the R-word?”  

The Mighty is a lovely resource that I follow regularly on Facebook to see what parents of children with disabilities are talking about across the nation and around the world. They recently had an article titled “22 Respectful Ways to Respond When Someone Uses the R-word." While I am glad it is out there, most of the 22 responses seemed a bit long-winded and not really appropriate for when I am having a casual dinner with friends, and want to gently inform without preaching. So, please, go look at the ideas that The Mighty collected, but I modified a couple of these ideas and added a couple of my own to create a shorter list here: 

• Don’t you mean _____?  (silly, foolish, absurd, annoying, pointless, etc.)
• Um… Did you realize that the R-word is kinda the new N-word? Yes, people used to use it without thinking, but now people consider it very hurtful and offensive.
• Wow...That word went out in the 80’s, along with New Kids on the Block!  
• Lets substitute the word "ridiculous" for that R-word. 
• I’m pretty sure the appropriate label for that is “intellectual disability” (for when a person is truly talking about a disability and not randomly throwing around the R-word to be hurtful).

Please help us in this endeavor! If you have a quick and respectful comeback to help stop the use of the R-word, please share! Let's get a long list, and spread awareness so that we can ALL work to “Spread the Word to End the Word!”

Want to read more on how to “Spread the Word to End the Word,” follow the links below:  

Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign

Shaklee, E., 6 Arguments for Using the ‘R’ Word…and 6 Reasons Those Arguments Make No Sense, The Mighty, (September 24, 2014). 

22 Respectful Ways to Respond When Someone Uses the R-word, The Mighty, (February 19, 2016). 

Spread the Word to Stop the Word Campaign, Special Olympics of Northern California 

Fighting the R-Word Worldwide, Special Olympics International

Writing Grasp Skills

Dear Melissa,
I am a preschool teacher. It seems as if every 4 year old in my classroom holds the crayon differently. How do I best help them to develop a proper pencil grasp?

This is a question I get from a lot of teachers, parents, and even fellow therapists. Actually, I probably get this question most from my fantastic speech therapist colleagues who are trying to squeeze a bit of OT into their speech therapy sessions. Now that is dedication to your clients!

First, let’s take a look at: TYPICAL GRASP DEVELOPMENT

Palmar/Gross Grasp (1-1.5 years of age) 
For this grasp, the whole marker is placed in the palm of the hand. The arm is in neutral and the whole arm moves the marker with the whole hand wrapped around the marker.

Pronated Grasp (2-3 years of age)
Child will begin to hold the marker in the fingers rather than in the palm of the hand. His/her elbow is generally elevated off of the table.

Immature 5 Finger Grasp (3.5-4 years of age) 
The marker is positioned more in the child’s finger tips, but all of the fingers are used to help guide the marker.

NOTE:  Many children begin to favor one hand or the other as early as 1 year of age, but hand dominance is often not firmly established until 3-4 years of age. If hand dominance has not been established by shortly after 4 years of age, then the occupational therapist will engage the child in a variety of fine and gross motor tasks in order to help determine the child’s true preference of hand dominance.

Static Quadrupod Grasp (4-5 years of age)
Only the thumb and the first 2-3 fingers touch the marker, but the hand is generally static, and the writing motions come from the whole arm rather than just the fingers.

Dynamic Tripod/Quadrupod Grasp (5-6 years of age)
The marker is held by only the thumb and the first 2-3 fingers, with the marker placed in the web space between the index finger and the thumb. The motions from the marker are coming from the fingers rather than the wrist or the whole arm.

So you think you have a kiddo, either at home or in the classroom, who is demonstrating a grasping pattern that is immature for his/her age. What can you do? First of all, if the child is over the age of 7 years old, the common rule of thumb amongst occupational therapists is that the child’s grasping pattern is already fairly fixed, and that changing the grasp after this age will just lead to more handwriting struggles rather than improved handwriting skills. Trust me, I know many doctors, lawyers, and even occupational therapists who have “wonky” grasps! But, if you are writing/coloring with a child who is under the age of 7, attempting to fix an immature grasping pattern can dramatically improve writing speed, accuracy, and fluidity. So let’s get to work!

GRASP INTERVENTION  
The following pictures depict several “problem grasps”. Many times children will wrap their entire thumb around the pencil, hold the pencil with too many fingers, or attempt to hold the pencil in the palm of their hand, especially when fatigued. Here are some examples of problem grasps and how to approach modifying them:

Thumb Wrapping or 5 Finger Grasp: If the child is showing an immature grasp by putting too many fingers on the pencil, or wrapping his/her thumb around the pencil, give the child shortened crayons or shortened pieces of chalk so that only 3 fingers will fit on the writing utensil instead of all 5 fingers. The following “before” and “after” pictures show a pre-school child coloring on the same turtle picture. Simply changing the writing utensil greatly and instantaneously improved the child’s grasp. But, a word of warning: if you give the longer crayon back to the child, he/she will immediately go back to the more immature grasp. Therefore, it is important to keep lots of writing/coloring tools that promote the more mature patterns.

Thumb Hyperextension:  If the child is holding the pencil so that his or her distal thumb joint is bent backward (hyperextended), then you can make a really simple tool using hair ties to place the pencil back in the web space between the index finger and the thumb where it belongs. This will encourage the thumb to curl slightly around the pencil, providing more stability and control, rather than having the thumb bent backward with less contact on the pencil. Simply loop two hair ties together, place one of the loops of the hair ties around the child’s wrist and the other loop around the child’s pencil. Again, this will help position the pencil correctly in the web space. Once the child becomes more comfortable with the pencil in this position, you can then draw a “happy face” in the web space of the dominant hand and remind the child to “let the pencil sleep on his pillow.”

Other general grasp solutions:

• Pencil grippers:  There is no one pencil gripper that is best for a particular child. I keep a selection at the clinic, and it is generally just trial and error.
• Vertical surface:  Use a chalk board or tape a worksheet to the wall. This helps put the wrist in a proper extended position and keeps the elbow from being raised off of the table.
• Slant board:  Sometimes a child needs to sit at a table and can’t always use a wall. In this case, a slant board resting on the desk top can also work like a vertical surface, when using a wall is simply not practical.
• Resistance:  Chalk and crayons are more resistive than markers, and much more resistive than Expo markers on a wipe off board. This resistance helps the child slow down and control their fine motor movements.
• Strengthen:  Not just strengthening the hand and fingers, but strengthening the whole arm as well. Consider animal walks and crawling obstacle courses to strength the whole arm, as well as play-doh, tongs, clothespins, and sidewalk chalk to strengthen fingers.

OK all of you parents, teachers, and OT’s out there, let me know how you help your little ones hold the pencil correctly! I would love to hear your ideas! share@childrenstherapyteam.com