Creating Success with Difficult Students, Part Four

Creating Success with Difficult Students

PART FOUR: Things to Try at Home.

By Troy L Parrish, MA LCPC

        Working with students at home primarily involves the completion of homework. Research continues to demonstrate that homework indeed is helpful in gaining learning from the educational experience and that students that do the homework learn more. However, the amount of homework clearly needs to manageable and doable within an hour or one and one half hour. This time limit can be tough with the amount of information that students are being exposed to continues to increase and the material they are trying to cover grows, but this limit has been demonstrated to be just as effective as longer sessions and will decrease the likelihood of resistance from a student who is already having some difficulty with school.

        The first place to start concerning school work at home is the organization of that school work. It should be relatively easy for the student and parent to know what the homework is, when it is due and if the student has completed that homework. A good organizational system will also allow a parent to communicate with the teacher and know if the homework is being turned in. In addition to organizing the homework itself, the time and place homework is completed should be relatively structured as well, with the place being consistent, neat, orderly, and with minimal distractions. The time should be early in the afternoon, preferably right after school and a small break upon returning home. This time frame will allow parents to check to see if the work has been done and time to resolve any question that may have come up when the homework is being completed. Often, this organization and structure is sufficient to resolve homework issues as the child is being held to account for their work.

        A second intervention is the communication of the behavior that occurs during the day in the form of a daily report card that is sent home. At home some type of reinforcement for positive behavior and consequences for overtly negative behavior can be utilized. In the event that the student has more than one teacher, a single report card can be used with space for each teacher to check or write their comments.

        In the event that this type of structure is insufficient, the addition of some form of behavioral modification program can be used to increase cooperation. . A behavioral modification program is an incentives program that is established with the understanding that certain behaviors will get specific rewards and typically involves a chart and tracking behavior and rewards. These programs are most effective when they are behaviorally specific, behaviorally concrete and usually involve a few behaviors on which to focus. In the case of homework, a child would be expected to be in the appropriate seat at home at the appropriate time and to complete the assigned homework to the best of their ability. If they have questions, they can ask if a parent is readily available or they can set that question aside until the homework is reviewed. It is important with difficult students that they be held to account for the work they are assigned and they should be readily aware that this accountability is going to happen. As noted in part two of this article, the presence of positive reinforcements are critical to success as parents who focus on the negative consequences only will have less control over the homework situation. A simple way to look at this is that at any job you may have had you were far more motivated by positives than be negatives, children are no different. It is usually advisable to get some guidance in establishing your first behavioral modification program either from a reputable book or a counselor (either at school or privately). Behavioral modification programs done poorly often backfire and create more problems than they help.

        In the event that the homework seems excessive or overwhelming for your student and you are having to do combat for several hours a night to get the work done, consider talking to the school to get some accommodations for the amount of work expected from your child or some additional help with the concepts being taught in order to relieve some of the pressure at home. It is desirable to make the homework experience as pleasant as possible in order to win as much cooperation as possible. It can also be helpful to have a second set of books at home in the event your child neglects to bring home the needed text book.