The Home Learning Environment

It’s easy to become a parent or guardian… …but it takes a lot of work to be a Mom or Dad!

HOW CAN PARENTS CREATE A HOME ENVIRONMENT THAT SUPPORTS LEARNING? Provide a place where children can study in the same place every day. Provide a quiet place to study. Convert a room into an Special Study Area. Provide suitable ventilation, light, and temperature. Make child’s SSA clear of clutter, noise and distractions. Interactive Activity #1: Ask your parents to formulate groups. Provide each group with a piece of chart paper. Ask them to identify one recorder and one reporter. The recorder will write down the group’s responses on the chart paper, and the reporter will share the group’s responses at the end of the work session. Ask them to brainstorm ways they can create a home environment that supports learning, prior to sharing the bullet points provided in this slide. Give them an opportunity to share their responses.

Maintain An Adequate Supply Of Materials In Your Special Study Area Markers Crayons Pens & Paper Colored Pencils Scissors, Glue, & Construction Paper Pencils Dictionary

Children require a home environment that provides emotional and physical support. Children and adolescent require a stable environment that provides emotional and physical support. Let parents know that it is important for them to be physically and emotionally available to their children. Working parents struggle with the challenges of having limited time to spend with their children after work. Let them know that it is important to focus on quality time rather than quantity time together. They should set aside a special time to spend with their children.

Hard economic times have affected families across the world Hard economic times have affected families across the world. Children are not immune to the stresses related to these hardships. Parents should talk with their children about the stressors affecting the family and elicit feedback from their children to gain their perspective, opinions, concerns, and suggestions to combat these stressors. Protect children from stressors related to life’s challenges or tense relationships in the family.

Maintain a positive and open atmosphere in the home. Communicate with your children daily. Let parents know that it is important to talk with their children everyday. They should use: Open-ended questions: These are questions that require critical thinking and are opportunities for children to elaborate on a given topic. They should not be able to provide a one or two word response to these kind of questions. Questions should begin with why, how, if, then… Close-ended questions: Questions that warrant a one or two word response.

Establish a routine for: meals homework leisure sleep Routines help provide a structured environment for children. It also alleviates some of the stresses of having to engage in power struggles with them. Families should create daily routines together and help each other maintain those routines regularly. Once everyone has had the opportunity to express their opinions about what the routines should be, their more likely to engage in the daily rituals without being nagged or prompted to do them.

Monitor the use of: Video Games The Internet Internet Cell phones Let parents know that children need assistance with budgeting their time. These activities are appropriate and fun for children, but not at the expense of doing their homework or daily chores. It’s also important for them to be physically active through sports or recreational activities to avoid increasing childhood illnesses like obesity and diabetes. Cell phones

Improvement in education… …starts in our homes and neighborhoods. Parents can monitor their children’s academic progress by conferencing with their child’s teachers or visiting the parent portal.

Parents have the potential to be “learning facilitators”—                                               teachers at home. Parents are their children’s first educators. Modeling favorable behaviors is an excellent way for parents to encourage their children to become productive citizens in our society.

Parents can learn and teach their children study skills.

The Road to School Success Students who do their Homework -and do it well - do better in school. The more time students spend on homework, the better they do in school.

According to the National PTA, first graders should spend 10 minutes a day on homework. The time should increase by 10 minutes a day for each grade: 1st = 10 minutes 2nd = 20 minutes 3rd = 30 minutes 4th = 40 minutes 5th = 50 minutes 6th = 1 hour 7th = 1 hour 10 minutes 8th = 1 hour 20 minutes 9th = 1 hour 30 minutes 10th = 1 hour 40 minutes 11th = 1 hour 50 minutes 12th = 2 hours .

Two-thirds of American high school students do not spend even an hour on homework each day. Television viewing ranks far ahead of homework as the choice of high school students in their after-school time.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), before children complete elementary school, they will have watched 8,000 to 100,000 episodes of television violence.

By the time children are 18, they have watched 40,000 to 200,000 acts of violence.

Rules Governing Television Identify forbidden shows. Limit television viewing time. Children should spend more time on homework than on watching TV. Homework should be completed before extended TV viewing. You are half way through the presentation, maybe a short break is appropriate at this point.

WHAT ARE SOME REASONS FOR HOMEWORK? To reinforce classroom learning To promote self-discipline To teach time management To cultivate positive work habits To allow parents to get involved To help students become independent learners Ask your parents to provide responses, prior to displaying the bullet points.

HOW CAN PARENTS HELP WITH HOMEWORK? Talk to your child about homework. Show an interest in your child’s homework. Do not do homework for your child. Encourage your child to seek help when needed. Interactive Activity #2: Ask your parents to formulate groups. Provide each group with a piece of chart paper. Ask them to identify one recorder and one reporter. The recorder will write down the group’s responses on the chart paper, and the reporter will share the group’s responses at the end of the work session. Ask them to brainstorm ways they can help their children with homework, prior to sharing the bullet points provided in this and the next three slides. Give them an opportunity to share their responses.

Help your child organize homework assignments. Establish rules for homework. Share your ideas on homework with your child’s teacher. Make a “Homework Sign” to signal work time.

Allow children to unwind and get a snack before studying. Allow children to take short breaks that involve physical activity in between study sessions. Suggest that your child study difficult subjects first.

Suspect something if your child doesn’t bring homework home at least once a week. Use homework time to do “parent homework” along side your child. Provide immediate positive reinforcement: “Great job with problem 2!”

Do not yell or blow up when children argue over homework. Never use homework as a punishment. Refer to the M-DCPS Homework Policy for suggested times spent on homework assignments. If children are spending an inordinate amount of time on homework, that’s a clear indicator that they probably are also struggling with their class assignments. Parents should make an appointment to conference with their child’s teacher to discuss the challenges their child is experiencing. Another reason for children spending too much time on homework is that their may be too many distractors in their home environment. Electronic devises like televisions, cellular phones, and video games should not be available during the time children are doing their homework. Computers may be needed to facilitate research projects, but parents should monitor that children aren’t surfing the web or playing while doing their homework. Homework Encounters

WHAT IS CONCENTRATION? It is paying close attention. It is a shortcut to learning. It is a skill anyone can learn or sharpen. It is the ability to shout out distractions. Ask parents to provide responses, prior to revealing the bullets.

WHAT CAUSES POOR CONCENTRATION? Children Need A quiet place to study No visitors during study time Close supervision Physical Causes ADD affects 3 to 5% of all children

Concentration Problems The concentration problems of most children can be traced to environment and habit. Parents can remove some distractions and teach children to block out others.

WHAT IS TIME MANAGEMENT? Making the best use of one’s time

5 Steps to Effective Time Management Help your child learn the importance of time. Discuss the benefits of organizing time. Allow your child to do small chores at home according to a time schedule. Give your child family experience in planning use of time. Teach your child to budget work time in school.

“Your child does not ask of your ability or inability, he only asks of your availability.” — Mary Kay Ash

“A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, what sort of house I lived in, or what kind of car I drove; but the world may be different because I was important in the life of my child.”

Local Parent Resources Check with your Take Stock in Children local program, staff, and website for more information on parenting resources in your community.