Jen, an autism teacher and parent, shares five strategies for each: parents should set a consistent homework time, create a distraction-free space, gather materials first, teach the routine explicitly, and talk with the teacher about adjusting expectations. Teachers should use leveled assignments, color-coded folders to track progress, and remember that homework must be individualized.
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If you struggle with homework as a parent or as a teacher, this video is for you. I am Jen. I am a K-12 self-contained autism teacher and I'm a blogger here at The Autism Helper, and I have 3 kids and I understand the homework struggle both from the parent perspective and from the teacher perspective. Of almost 20 years parenting and 20 years in the classroom, I'm gonna tell you, sometimes the worst struggles come from homework. So let's talk about how we can get rid of those struggles and get successful. Let's start with parent tips. Tip 1: Make it as structured as possible. Set a homework time. Make it as specific as you can be and as consistent as you can be. I know that your schedules don't always allow for consistency, but perhaps it's as soon as we get home, we have a snack, we do homework. Or perhaps it's at 7 o'clock, we do homework. Or right after we eat dinner, we do homework. Whatever it is, stay as consistent as possible in the time and the expectations of what you're asking of your child. Tip 2: Set your child up for success in their environment. Make sure that you've removed all distractions. Perhaps you've got a specific homework spot. That would be what I would recommend. Homework can be tricky because we don't want to focus on it, right? It takes energy to do that. Well, especially if there's distractions like a TV, music, an iPad, a phone nearby. Get rid of those distractions and your child will be more successful. Tip 3, make sure they have everything they need in their environment before sitting down. How many times do we sit down and we're like, oh my gosh, we forgot a pencil, I gotta get up, and then your child's poof, gone, right? Well, that's because they weren't engaged. We lost our focus because we had to go get something. We weren't ready to actually start the assignment. So before we actually sit down and start homework, let's make sure that we've gathered everything that we need do a quick once-over glance over their assignments and make sure that you've gathered everything necessary. For my own kids, we keep a homework basket. We've got pencils, pens, sticky notes, markers, a ruler, a calculator, just basic stuff in that basket. They grab that, they go do their homework. 99% of what they need is in there. If there's anything specific that they might need, they'll have to go get that or they'll have to have reviewed that and then gather it beforehand. Tip number 4: Give it time to work. Anytime that we're teaching a new routine to our kids, we need to explicitly teach that routine, walk them through step by step for several weeks, and then slowly watch it become second nature. And you've got to give it time. It's gonna take a couple weeks for this to become routine for your child and for them to know what to expect, especially especially if you're breaking old habits. Tip number 5, last one for parents: be honest with your child's teacher. If this isn't working, if you can't find success, if it's taking hours on end, if the behavior is just too much, if it's just not working for you and your family, have open and honest communication with your child's teacher. Ask to brainstorm with them to help find ways to make your child successful at home. Chances are your child's teacher has a lot of strategies that they can share that work in the classroom that maybe you can implement at home, or maybe you can meet halfway, maybe it's a reduction in the amount of work. You know, there's just so many options out there. We shouldn't have our kids suffer, especially if they're showing us that there's something wrong. So we should be communicating with our kids' teachers if we are having difficulties. All right, teachers, your turn. Tip number 1, be consistent. Just like parents, it is important to be consistent in what we are expecting of our students. Consider using something that is very consistent in nature for homework. For example, I use the Autism Helpers leveled daily homework. I find that there's a level for every student that I have. Additionally, it is very similar in nature, so what I'm expecting Monday is very similar to what I expect on Thursday or Friday. It is worksheet-based, I print it off all for the entire year and I send it home one page at a time. Let me show you. I keep all of my homework copied for the year. This is something that I actually do in the spring to prep for the fall, but I wanna just give you a quick little sample. This is a sample level of 0.5. Check that out, it's simple tracing and coloring. All of my students are super successful with this system. But it's very similar in what to expect. Easy to implement. Tip number 2: Have a homework system in place so your parents and students know where to find it and what to do. So, for example, we use the folder system. Let me show you. We use a simple folder system. Every child is color-coded and they have a specific color folder. They are given homework every day. And that is put in the "Please Return" side. So this child has homework on this side. When they're done with their homework, they put it in this "Please Return," and then as it's graded, we put it in the "Please Keep at Home." We simply put a sticker on it when it's done. Number 3, let's be mindful of what we're asking students to do. Let's make sure that it's appropriate, and let's make sure that it is time considerate. Those 2 things will help make homework successful. We don't wanna overload our students, and we wanna be mindful that they have a life outside of school and homework. Number 4, share resources with parents. If parents say that they need help, don't hesitate to send them visuals to show them timers and strategies that are working in the classroom. Make sure that we're really listening to parents too. If they're sharing concerns, that's something that we should take really seriously, and we should evaluate if what we're asking of our students is appropriate, and considerate of their abilities and their time. Tip number 5 for teachers: there is no one-size-fits-all. You won't find it. You don't find it in instruction, and you're not going to find it in homework. And that's the beauty of teaching special education, is that we individualize. We should be doing the same for our homework. My homework mantra is do whatever works for my students and for my families. I work with my families to find a solution that works. Sometimes my kids have homework, sometimes they don't. It just depends on where they are. That's okay. We're supposed to differentiate, and we're supposed to individualize. I want my students to have independence and also generalized skills. I never ask them to practice new skills because I want them to gain that independence at home. I want them to do that mastered skill at home so that way parents aren't teaching We're just reinforcing concepts. And with that mantra of do whatever works for your families, you will find success.
