5 Tips to Help Your Dyslexic Child with Homework
Fall 2021 • Mom2Mom
Nicole Holcomb Founded Dyslexia Mom Life, a podcast for parents of children with dyslexia. Here, the educator and attorney gives her best tips for setting of a productive work space.
By Nicole Holcomb
For many moms (me included) raising children with dyslexia, homework is their least favorite part of their day. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a better way.
Children with dyslexia work so hard at school and often come home exhausted and some days feeling defeated. Our children know at an early age that their classmates are able to read, write, and spell with ease. Why is it so hard? Why can’t she remember how to spell her name? Why can’t she read the passage for her science assignment? By the time our kids get home from school, they are mentally and physically exhausted. They just want to rest, reset, and recharge. But, here we come with the backpack . . . and the battle begins. The homework battle.
The five homework tips in this article will help you find more success with homework. When you have a plan to train for a marathon (yep, homework is the long game), then you will find more daily success. If you just wing it, then you and your child will be more frustrated with homework. No one wants that.
Will there still be days where homework is difficult and ends in yelling and tears? Yes.
Will there be days where your child is too exhausted to even attempt the homework? Yes.
Will there be days where you and your child will be finishing homework after bedtime? Yes.
But, when you implement the five homework tips below you will find that homework is more manageable and not something you dread each day.
5 HOMEWORK TIPS FOR YOUR CHILD
1. Get your homework space ready.
You should plan to help get your child’s homework space ready each night as long as needed. For children with executive functioning difficulties, you may have to set up the homework space for many years. Our daughter has a desk where we keep her homework supplies for easy access, but we still do most of the homework sitting together on the couch.
Why help set up the homework space? Well, if your child uses the little bit of energy they have left getting their backpack out, pulling out homework, finding a pencil, then looking for their agenda . . . well, you will either have a child procrastinating or frustrated trying to find his agenda, pencil, homework folder, etc.
Will there be a time when your child will be able to get organized for homework? Yes, that is the ultimate goal. But, you know your child and know when they are ready. It may be that your child needs this done for them, so they can focus on the homework task. If you aren’t sure if your child is ready to be more independent, spend a week with your child getting organized to do her homework. If she seems frustrated with the task, you can step in and assist as much as you think is needed. We are trying to reduce anxiety and frustration before homework begins.
2. Review the homework and decide how much help to provide.
Once you have the homework space ready to go, take a few minutes to look over the homework. What needs to be done that night? Where will you need to provide the most support? Are there any tests or projects due in the next week that need to be spread out over the week?
When you are at the early stages of remediation, you will want to read the instructions to your child and ask them to explain what needs to be done. You don’t want to set your child up to fail, because she couldn’t read the instructions.
Be available to help. Be patient. Be present. I make it a practice to leave my cell phone in the other room during homework time, so that I can be 100% present and aware of when she gets stuck and needs a little help. But, I also provide space for her to work independently.
3. Let your child decide where to start.
One thing you can do to help ease your child into the homework is ask your child what he would like to start on first. You can talk about what assignments must be completed that night, including work on projects and studying for tests. This will provide your child with the opportunity for decision-making and a little control over the homework.
4. Take a break and get moving.
When your child is pushing back on homework, I have found the best thing to do is give a short break. Get your child up and moving. This will get her brain ready to focus again. Try jumping rope, riding a scooter (yep, our daughter rides her scooter around inside the house), bounce a ball, shoot a few hoops, or go out and jump on the trampoline for 10 minutes. Be sure to set a timer for the break and let your child know how long of a break she can have before getting back to the homework. There may be times when you complete a task and take a short break, then complete another assignment and then take another short break, etc. You will know when this is needed. It’s much better than pushing too much to the point of a meltdown. Then, nothing gets done.
If you feel yourself losing your patience, this is a good time to check-in with yourself. This may be a good time for you to take a few deep breaths too. You got this!
5. Decide when it’s time to be done.
You are your child’s best advocate. You are her cheerleader and guardian angel. When it’s time to call the homework done, then call it! There are times when the teacher doesn’t realize your child is spending an hour on an assignment that should have taken her 15 minutes, according to the teacher. If your child is too tired to read for 20 minutes, then read to her or have an audio book for her. There are always options to help her practice skills.
For some kiddos, they prefer to do homework in the mornings before school when they are fresh and rested. If your child is having trouble with fatigue and frustration with homework at night, change the time of day that homework is completed and see if that helps.
Your child will not remember you pushing her to finish her second grade math homework that day, but she will remember your compassion, patience, and support. The goal is to not sacrifice your relationship with your child over homework.
You got this! Homework is part of the day, but it doesn’t have to be the worst part. When you organize the homework space, review the homework, give your child the choice of what to do first, take a break and get moving (as needed), and decide when it’s time to call it quits, you will find that homework can be a time for you to support your child and help put him at ease. Home is more peaceful when you are not battling homework every single night.
