Helping Children Achieve in School

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

Parents have reason to be concerned about the school success of their children. Recent studies have shown that two out of every five children graduating from high school are functionally illiterate, meaning they don't have the skills needed to apply for, or successfully perform, a job in the open market that requires reading, writing, and computational skills. A more recent report published by the Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills reported, "Good jobs will increasingly depend on people who can put knowledge to work. What we found disturbing was that more than half our young people leave school without the knowledge or foundation required to find and hold a good job. These young people will pay a very high price. They face the bleak prospects of dead-end work interrupted only by periods of unemployment."

Too often, parents oversimplify what it takes for their students to succeed in school. Almost without exception, parents will tell me that if their children will just get their homework done, turn in their assignments, attend class regularly, participate in class discussions, and have a good attitude about school they will succeed. I suppose it is true that if all students did all of those things there would be a remarkable increase in the level of student achievement, high school graduation, functional literacy, and all of the other wonderful things we want for our children as a result of schooling. The problem with this lament is that it places the entire responsibility for school success on the child.

Children, as children, rarely appreciate the value of a good education; they rarely see the relationship between getting homework done, going to class, and having a good attitude about school with success and happiness as adults. For children, the moment is the matter of greatest importance; not being able to comfortably feed and clothe a family 10 or 15 or 20 years down the road. I believe it is quite safe to say that when you and I were young, how responsible we would ultimately be as providers and how happy we would someday be as members of the work force were just about the farthest things from our minds. While we were sitting in class dreaming about the fun things we were going to do after school and on the weekend, and doing our best to tune out the teacher who was doing his/her best to compete with our dreams, our some-day responsibilities as adults were of no (i.e., zero!) concern to us.

When I was a boy, unfortunately, I never enjoyed but one relationship with a teacher who, from what I can remember, was at all interested in me as an individual. In fact, I had a lot of super crummy experiences as a student in public schools. I came from a very poor home, and the educational system I went through expected, therefore, that I could not succeed in school. Unhappily, I never found myself in a school situation like that of the kindergarten child who, after 2 days in school, was asked "What did you learn in school?" Her answer: "I have learned that I am very, very smart!" On any number of occasions I was reminded of just the opposite by school teachers and administrators. Happily, my parents never told me that. I knew they expected me to succeed in school, get my homework done, attend class regularly, and at least meet all of the minimum requirements for advancement and graduation. Nothing was ever said about liking it. Nothing was ever said about how important it was to get a good education so that I would make a good living and be a good provider. My parents never argued with me when I complained about a crummy school teacher. They never tried to convince me that if I would apply myself more my classes wouldn't be so boring. I was simply expected to go to school whether I liked it or not, so I went.

I went to school and did what I was supposed to do for two reasons. First, my parents expected that of me, and secondly, I wanted to avoid the unpleasant consequences of not attending, or succeeding in, school. (We had a very active and unpleasant truant officer who tracked down non-attenders. Being caught was a very unpleasant experience.) Also, in order to maintain my eligibility to be a member of my high school golf team, I had to get at least a C grade in all of my classes. These are the reasons-the only reasons-I attended school and ultimately graduated from high school.

I hope by now you are getting my point: I went to school and I succeeded in school for reasons other than why it is important to go to school and succeed in school, but now as an adult, husband, father, provider, and member of the work force whose success is in large measure due to the functional tool skills I acquired in school, I'm glad I succeeded in school-though I hated it for 12 years. Granted, it's wonderful if parents and educators can do things to make schooling exciting and to make learning fun and meaningful. It's a wonderful thing if students have a good attitude about school, get involved in lots of school activities, and build happy memories of their years of public education that will enrich their lives. I certainly wish I could look back over my public school years and recall such wonderful experiences. Despite my unhappy memories of it, and how I felt about it at the time, I got through, not on the strength of compelling intrinsic motivators but via the force of propelling extrinsic motivators. Be careful to not let yourself get carried away with the charming though vacuous notion that to really succeed in school, children need to be intrinsically motivated to learn: to love learning, to be thrilled by knowledge. Baloney! By any measure, external motivation is a far more powerful force in the achievement of success-in any endeavor-than is internal motivation (whatever that is!). External motivation is what really gets things done in society. Were it not for external motivation few people would get to work on time, if at all. Very little of what keeps the wheels of industry and society moving would exist if only intrinsic motivators were operating.

Relative to school success, no external motivator is more powerful than well placed verbal praise by teachers and parents, yet so little of that ever finds its way into the eager ears of learners. Dr. John Goodlad, an eminent American educator, in his seminal work A Place Called School, reported that, on average, only 2% of class time in the elementary grades is devoted to reinforcing students for performing well, and only 1 % at the high school level; this, despite research which shows that to optimize learning, students should be reinforced once every 15 seconds; that's more than 1000 times in a typical school day! This is altogether consistent with my research which has revealed that, particularly in grades 4 and above, well over 90% of the appropriate and laudable things students do are totally ignored, while they are several times more likely to be attended to negatively when behaving inappropriately than to be attended to positively when they are behaving appropriately. Under such conditions, how in the world can we expect students to be intrinsically motivated to learn and to love learning when extrinsic negatives and coercers are on the rampage, day in and day out, year in and year out!

Now, lest I be labeled completely anti-intrinsic, I'm going to take a moment and discuss intrinsic motivation, show it the respect it deserves, and define its rightful role in shaping human behavior. First, intrinsic motivators and reinforcers don't come into play until the act itself, that is, the behavior, becomes its own reinforcer. It isn't until the act of reading becomes so enjoyable that it motivates a person to pick up a book and start reading, then reinforces the person to keep reading, that intrinsic motivation and reinforcement have become functional. It's at that point that it is no longer necessary to use extrinsics, including incentives.

When I began my daily exercise program I used several extrinsic motivators to get me going and extrinsic reinforcers to keep me going, such as points I'd earn that could then be exchanged for money to buy a new golf club. Without them, I'm sure I would never have gotten that bed off my back at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning-particularly on winter mornings when it was pitch dark and many degrees below zero. In time, though, the act of running became its own reinforcer, and now I run because I love it! If I am going to be traveling, I plan ahead to be sure there is a time and a place to run my 4 to 5 miles. The act itself is now all that is needed. Sufficient intrinsic motivation is now provided by the act of running.

Second, though many things we do have matured to the point where intrinsics are fully operational, there will always be a need, in one setting or another, for extrinsics. Always! Don't become so idealistic that you begin thinking, "She/he ought to love school just for the joy of learning." When something is being learned by a child-especially the basic tool skills (the three Rs)-it is almost never an intrinsically reinforcing experience. Extrinsic motivators and reinforcers are generally the only things that get and keep behavior going long enough for that act-the behavior-itself to become reinforcing. They are simply the best means for achieving the most desirable ends. So don't discount their importance.

The most important variable in school success is parental involvement in the education of their children. Given all of this, what must be done to create an environment in which students succeed sufficiently in school to acquire the necessary academic tool skills that will in turn facilitate their success as adults in the home, the family, the community, and the work place? Contrary to what we are forever hearing in the media, it isn't money. There is very little reported in the scientific literature of education that shows a positive and direct correlation between how much money is spent on education and how well students learn. A recent report issued by the National Education Association showed that Utah had the lowest annual spending per pupil in America and New York had the highest, yet Utah has the highest or near highest (depending upon which study one quotes) overall literacy rate in America, far ahead of New York. Nor is the number of school days in the school year or the number of schooling hours in the school day the key to student's academic success. Though students in Japan (the country that is always thrown in our face as the educational model for our country-which is an insanely foolish comparison), spend 243 days a year in school, compared to the 180 day school years in America, it is not in the public schools where Japanese students acquire the tool skills necessary to ultimately compete and succeed in that society. It is a mountain of other sociological variables, including attendance at the private "juku schools," other-wise known as "cram schools," where they spend evenings, weekends, and holidays getting prepared for the national examinations, the results of which largely determine how well students will succeed as adults in society. (In the Japanese system of education, extrinsic motivators are virtually everything, and intrinsic motivators are virtually nonexistent!)

Dr. James Coleman, a noted sociologist at the University of Chicago, reported in 1966, as a result of a mammoth in-depth study on what it is that accounts for school success, that school success is highly correlated with none of these peripheral things. As Dr. Coleman and others since have found time and time and time again, the most important variable for school success is parental involvement in the education of their children. As noted by Dr. Benjamin Bloom, Professor Emeritus of the University of Chicago, and an eminent educator and educational researcher, "A home has the greatest influence on the language development of the child, his general ability to learn, and his motivation to learn well in school." In saying this, I don't want to create the impression that schools are of no value whatsoever. It isn't a question of value or no value, it is a question of how much value. In this regard, the role of parents has a value greater, generally speaking, than that of the schools. Of course, when the best of what parents have to offer is combined with the best that schools have to offer, then success is all but assured. As noted further by Dr. Bloom, "It is clear that when the home and the school have congruent learning emphases, the child has little difficulty in school learning. But when the home and the school have divergent approaches to life and to learning, the child is likely to be penalized severely by the school-especially when school attendance is required for 10 or more years."

In this chapter I do not deal with what schools should do to increase their effectiveness in behalf of children, though there is much to be done there, not the least of which is to make schools more positive places to be! At the moment, schools are inordinately coercive, punitive environments children want to escape, particularly at the upper grade levels. That is a matter of considerable discussion in society generally which I prefer not to treat here other than to say that education has the right goal, that is, to get students to love school. Unfortunately the goals say nothing about the methods necessary to achieve them, even though we know exactly what these methods are and how to employ them.

In this chapter, I pinpoint what the research in education and learning has taught about the role of parents and home in the education of their children. What this research has taught us is not at all difficult to understand. Putting these findings to work, however, demands a high level of rigor, management, consistency, and endurance on the part of parents, but it is altogether worth it considering the consequences to children of their succeeding or failing in school.

The research on the topic of school success is broad and deep. In this chapter, I highlight six things parents should do at home to enhance their children's success in school. They are:

1. Talking with children, and the proper use of language.
2. Encouragement to learn.
3. Reading daily to and with children.
4. Sharing of parental aspirations for their children.
5. Providing direct help with studies.
6. Organizing time and space for study and homework.

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

1. Talking With Children, and the Proper Use of Language

In this regard, parents are encouraged to speak intelligently and intelligibly, and to speak in complete sentences, using correct English ("He doesn't" rather than "He don't"; "She doesn't have any" rather than "She don't got none"; "They aren't" rather than "They ain't"; "They were" rather than "They was"). Parents should talk to their children daily about matters of substance such as current events, great ideas, and the accomplishments of great people.

It is also important that parents speak to their children in the conventional language of the dominant culture. In America, that's English. Despite the many controversies that rage across America about the importance of preserving cultural and ethnic diversity, in these United States, if people hope to succeed in school, in society, and in the work place, they must be able to communicate fluently in English. In saying this, I am not speaking against cultural or ethnic diversity nor the languages and dialects they represent. I think it is wonderful to be fluent in as many languages and in as many dialects as possible. How much richer all of our lives would be if we could communicate fluently with people of other countries and dialects. In my work I travel broadly and whenever I am in a country where a language other than English is spoken, I'm reminded of how much richer my life would be on these visits if I could speak directly with the people rather than always having to rely on a translator. But as we look across the United States and identify those areas of the country where students tend to have the greatest problems succeeding and staying in school, and prospering in society at large, we find that to a remarkable extent those are areas of the country where languages and dialects other than English are spoken in preference to English.

I'm not going to take time in this chapter to address the several dimensions of this issue and the controversies that surround it. Rather, for emphasis, I'm going to restate the original point: If you want to enhance the probability of your children succeeding in school and society, you should spend a lot of time talking intelligently to them, preferably using good English.

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

2. Encouragement to Learn

Despite the fact (and it is a fact) that there is a good deal about getting educated that isn't pleasant at the time learning is taking place, children should be encouraged to learn and encouraged to respect the learning environment. As I mentioned earlier, I can't look back on my 12 years of public schooling with much delight or pleasure, but despite that, and despite the fact that I came from a very, very humble home in the poorest part of town, I never ever heard my parents speak critically about my teachers, my schools, or my schooling. If I complained, which I seldom did because I knew it wasn't going to get me anywhere, my mother would respond very simply: "Just do your best, Glenn. Now get your homework done." I don't recall my mother or my father spending 30 seconds during the 12 years I was in public school ever telling me how important education was. And I'm glad they didn't because I'm sure it would have been a monumental waste of time. What they did do, however, was tell me about the lives of individuals they knew and I knew which exemplified the value of applying oneself to getting an education. I can remember my mother telling me about our family doctor, Dr. Hunt. Dr. Hunt was a wonderful, wonderful man who was immensely gracious, generous, and charitable to our family, a man who made endless concessions to assure that we got proper medical treatment even when the dollars weren't there to pay for it. He accepted vegetables from our garden. He traded labor with my father who was a house painter. And most of the time, I suspect, he just smiled, wished us well and didn't bother to send a bill. I was very fond of Dr. Hunt, and as mother and I would walk home from his office, she would tell me stories about how Dr. Hunt had worked his way through school and had become a great success in life in the service of others despite the odds against him. He, too, had been born into, and grew up in, poverty but despite all of that he worked hard, studied hard, and made a success of himself.

I doubt that while telling me these things mother thought for an instant that she was encouraging me to learn, but the net effect of it was that I was being encouraged to learn. I was able to identify with Dr. Hunt's humble beginnings, and it occurred to me that if Dr. Hunt could do it I could do it despite being poor and not really liking school. All of the negatives were really beside the point. I suspect that the best encouragement to learn is not found in verbal admonitions nor lofty logic. Rather, I suspect that encouragement to learn is better found in acquainting our children with people of high character and admirable bearing who achieved what they did by applying themselves to scholarship. Parents, introduce your children to great people, living and dead.

I can remember the encouragement to study and to learn I received by reading the biographies of Booker T. Washington, Albert Einstein, Madame Curie, and other outstanding people. Despite the fact that Booker T. Washington had been a slave, came from abject poverty, and endured almost unbelievable privations to get an education, he achieved monumental success and his name is etched in history as one of the great educators of all time and of all people. Despite being classified as a misfit and one for whom education would never play a role of any value, Albert Einstein will be forever remembered as the greatest physicist who ever lived. And despite the almost primitive circumstances under which Madame Curie conducted her seminal research on the properties of radium, conditions which ultimately cost her life, she will forever be remembered as one of the great scientists of all time.

Telling children to do well in school and verbally pouring over them floods and floods of logic about how wonderful, useful, and beneficial it is to get a good education will probably dampen the desire to learn more than irrigate that desire. Surround your children with literature, regale them with stories of good people and events, take them to exciting places like children's museums, and rent videos of exciting people doing exciting and wonderful things. Do things with your children that are aimed at piquing their curiosity about the world around them, inspiring them to better things, motivating them to pattern their lives after the lives of great people. Visits to museums, attendance at cultural events, and trips to the library are just a few virtually cost-free experiences that can enrich children's lives and point them in the right direction.

Help them find heroes who are honest-to-goodness heroes. I was thrilled recently to hear a news broadcast reporting the effect that a Supreme Court Justice had on the life of a 12-year-old black student in the South. The boy lived with his mother in a seemingly hopeless situation, but because of a special interest shown to him by a great man whom the boy had never met, his education took on new meaning. He said, "I was getting C's, but now I get B's and A's." Isn't that a wonderful thing! To see a boy's life awakened by the interest of a great man, a great model, a hero! I see very few people running up and down the playing fields or courts of the athletic world today who qualify as the heroes I have in mind. I don't see many of the youth idols in the entertainment world who qualify. I'm sure you know what I mean so I won't labor the point. Unless we as parents do something to elevate the quality of our children's aspirations, they will almost surely sink to aspire to the lowest common denominators, many of whom are daily in headlines of the sporting and entertainment news as drug abusers, sexual deviants, and rebels without a cause, many of whom are at cross-purposes with the law. If there are any personalities in those worlds who are noteworthy and bear adulation, seize upon them as means of encouraging your children to learn. In a word, enrich your children's environment and let the environment encourage them to learn.

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

3. Reading Daily to and with Children

It has been proved beyond any doubt that only 15 to 20 minutes a day spent reading to children will have a remarkably profound and positive effect on how well children succeed in school. One researcher concluded, "There is no doubt in the research that the best way to encourage children to read and to help them become good readers, is to read with children everyday for at least fifteen to twenty minutes ... It will make a tremendous difference in the child's later reading success." And remember, of all the basic tool skills, reading is paramount. Children watch between 3 and 5 hours of TV a day. Substituting 20 minutes of that with reading is not asking too much.

In addition to the beneficial effects on the child's reading ability, the togetherness between child and parent in such a warm, happy, conflict-free relationship does wonders for bonding children to their parents. It's not expensive, it's not time consuming, it's not exhausting. It's a win-win situation no matter how it's sliced!

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

4. Sharing of Parental Aspirations for Their Children

Children need to know that their parents expect them to succeed. These expectations don't have to be stated in long, pompous, eloquent dissertations about why you expect them to succeed at school. That sort of grandstanding would never have impressed you as a child and there is very little reason to suspect that it will impress your children. And for goodness sake, when stating your aspirations of your children, don't couch those aspirations in self-serving language. For example, avoid saying things like, "I want you to do well in school so that you can be a credit to the family name," or "Academic achievement is a great tradition in our family, and we expect you to keep that tradition alive," or "It's embarrassing for me to go to parent-teacher conference and have to endure the agony of your poor grades as I visit with each of your teachers." This kind of stuff generally turns kids off like a light, and if the kid is angry with you about something, it just might provide him/her with the idea that, "Ah hah, now I know how to really get even with you!" (Kids often think that way, you know. It's called counter coercion, or getting even.)

Rather, declare your aspirations in language that strokes the child. For example, "I want you to do well in school because I want you to be happy and someday have the things you want and need to be happy." For children, material things have more meaning than do high sounding ideals and long range goals. Reference to material gains can be used as motivators to learn. Several years ago when our children were all at home my wife and I were anxious to impress upon them the relationship between learning and economic success so we spent an evening as a family in an activity that proved to be exciting and which had long range effects. Rather than telling our children about the economic value of an education, we illustrated it in a role-playing situation that went like this.

We first had the children think ahead in their lives to a time when they would be on their own as parents of their own families. We asked each of them to describe what they would like their circumstances to be: What kind of a car would you like to drive? What kind of a home would you like to live in? What kind of clothes would you like to wear? and so on. We wrote their responses down on large sheets of paper using a wide felt tip marker, one sheet for each of our six children. As you might imagine, they described circumstances fairly similar to the circumstances in which they lived, since as their parents, we had provided them with the only model they really knew. We then asked them to estimate how much money they would have to earn to enjoy the kind of lifestyle they had described. Again, we wrote their estimates on their respective sheets of paper.

When teaching your children, use concrete examples, not abstract rhetoric.

Earlier that day, I had gone to the bank and borrowed (I wish I could say I withdrew!) an amount of money equal to what it cost us per month to support our family and our lifestyle. I got the money in several different denominations all the way from hundred dollar bills down to pennies. I put the money in a paper sack and shook it up so that bills and coins were all mixed together. The children didn't know that the paper sack beside me contained all of this cash. (No play money! At times like this, you must go with the real thing!) Also earlier in the day, my wife had accumulated all the monthly bills. She also prorated, on a monthly basis, other costs such as insurance payments, projected medical costs, projected clothing costs, and so on. These were put in individual envelopes and put in a separate sack.

After we had completed our estimates, I passed the sack of money from child to child. Each one was invited to reach in and pull out a handful of money. You can imagine the excitement that filled the room as the children filled their laps with fists full of real money. They were euphoric! When the bag was empty, my wife then passed around the sack with all of the bills in it and each child took a handfull of bills. Then I followed behind with an empty sack into which they put back the money it took to pay the bills. Of course, you can imagine what happened. Euphoria gave way to the hard realities of life. Ultimately, every dime that was in their laps was now back in the sack. By now, we had their undivided attention and proceeded with a discussion of how much money I earned and how much education and training I had gotten (endured!) that put me in a position to be able to earn that money. We then shared with them some U.S. Department of Commerce figures about what kinds of incomes people can expect to earn based on varying levels of education. Then we asked the children, "What must you do in terms of education if you hope to achieve your aspirations in life?" (Notice, we talked about their aspirations not our aspirations, though our aspirations were, in fact, their aspirations.) Needless to say, each of the children had gotten the point and each of them responded reasonably and maturely. That lesson had a profound effect on our children, one they speak of even to this day. Each has achieved or exceeded that point in life they had envisioned that evening as a family at home.

I don't want to imply that this was the only thing we did to share our aspirations with our children, but it does illustrate the kinds of things we did to help our children identify with our aspirations. We translated our aspirations into language and experiences with which they could identify; thus, our aspirations became their aspirations and from that point on, our job was to help them achieve their aspirations.

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

5. Providing Direct Help With Studies

Although I have many years of education beyond public schooling (in fact, about as many years in college as was spent in public schools), I was always taken aback by the number of questions my children used to ask about their homework that I couldn't answer! It made me wonder how I ever earned a high school diploma to say nothing about the college degrees I subsequently earned. I suspect it is because parents so often find themselves in this predicament that caused Dr. Benjamin Bloom to observe, "The home has least influence on specific skills taught primarily in the schools." In other words, the most important role of parents relative to the school success of their children is not the teaching of specific subject matter skills. What, then, is the responsibility of parents relative to "providing direct help with studies?" Certainly, in most homes, parents can help their children achieve mastery with the basic tools of learning, particularly math facts related to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing; helping children appropriately practice their spelling words; helping them learn their lists of basic sight vocabulary words; helping them interpret current events; and so on.

Studies have shown that if parents will spend as little as 30 minutes a day with a child in drill and practice exercises alone, academic achievement increases dramatically and significantly. Using flash cards, word lists, work sheets, timed take-home tests, etc., parents don't have to know the answers themselves to be able to help their children learn what they need to return to school prepared to succeed in their next day's work. Learning is achieved an hour at a time and a day at a time. Children who return to school having fully learned the assignments for the day are armed not only with knowledge but with confidence that they are prepared for what lies ahead. It's a great self-esteem builder. When I was a classroom teacher I could spot almost immediately those students who were ready for the day's work. They came into the classroom with a spring in their step, there was a sparkle of anticipation in their eyes, and they typically said such things as, "I know my spelling words, Mr. Latham. I studied them with my mom last night until I got them all correct."

Where parents can help they should help, but in instances where they are unable to provide the help their students need in terms of content, they should find someone who can help: a knowledgeable friend, a tutor, a fellow student, or a teaching aide of some sort. It is not at all unreasonable to go to these lengths to help students master a subject. In classrooms across America it is typical to find 30 to 40 students-and even more-in a classroom with one teacher. Studies have indicated that in a six hour school day the total amount of time a student receives one-on-one instruction from teachers is about one minute and 30 seconds. That's the way it's going to continue to be so long as the American public school system is structured the way it is. That is certainly the way it's going to continue to be into the foreseeable future, not getting better but very likely getting worse.

Rather than wringing our hands in despair and cursing that dark and dismal future, it is up to us to assume important responsibilities relative to our children's school success. One of those responsibilities is for us as parents to provide direct help with studies, or to find someone or something else that can do that in cases where we cannot. Nothing is going to be gained by sloughing off that responsibility with the excuse, "That's what we have schools for. That's why I pay taxes!" True, we do pay for schools, and we pay for them dearly with hard-earned dollars, but all of that is beside the point if your child isn't learning! Whether you paid your fair share of taxes or not, if the child hasn't learned and you as a parent are in a position to help the child learn, you have not done your share. That is realized only when you have put forth every effort at your disposal to assure your child's academic success. It's more important than watching prime time television (or television at anytime, for that matter!), going out on the town, visiting with friends and neighbors, attending a sports event, or about anything else.

The grim reality is before us and is well documented, as I noted at the outset of this chapter when I quoted the Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. For emphasis, I repeat that here: "What we found was disturbing: more than half our young people leave our schools without the knowledge or foundation required to find and hold a good job. These young people will pay a very high price. They face the bleak prospects of dead-end work interrupted only by periods of unemployment."

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

6. Organizing Time and Space for Study and Homework

It is a rare student who is sufficiently self-motivated to go directly home from school to a predetermined place in the house and complete his/her homework. Getting homework done is almost always a function of direct and consistent parental influence and supervision. The research is crystal clear on that point.

When we talk about organizing time and space for study and homework we don't need to think in terms of an elaborate setting or arrangement. A kitchen table is a very good study area. It's worth noting that the kitchen is one of the most reinforcing areas in the house since it is in the kitchen that people enjoy so much pleasure and satisfaction in the form of primary reinforcers: Food! The kitchen table is a very good study area. It's better if the television isn't on or radios aren't blasting away with their cacophony of beats and screams, bangs and twangs; but if they are, you'll gain more headway with your kids by having them turn them down rather than turning them off. Somehow or other kids have evolved (or maybe devolved is a better word) to the point were they can maintain their thought processes despite noxious noises masquerading as music. Of course, if your children are agreeable to turning this stuff off so much the better. If they're not, rather than fighting, compromise; turn it down to a reasonable volume. In addition to workspace, it is important that a study schedule be established. Usually, an hour to an hour and a half each evening set aside for homework will be enough to keep a student on top of his or her studies. Obviously, establishing a schedule must take into consideration other things going on in a child's life: piano practice, a part-time job, extracurricular activities at school, and so on. But for the most part, the lives of our children are predictable enough that a reasonable amount of time can be set aside each day devoted entirely to homework. Many parents come to me in a quandary over how they can get their children to do their homework. Here is a strategy I have found to be very effective, and which I have parents of students of all ages using. It consists of a six-part program as follows.

• A task area. I have found it useful to designate the homework area as a "task area." Children understand that a task is something that has to be done, and designating the area as a task area helps characterize homework as something that has to be done. In fact, I've even had parents make up a sign that says, for example, "Mary's Task Area" and that sign is hung on the wall or put in a conspicuous place when it is time for Mary to do her homework. Attached to the sign might even be a picture of Mary busily doing her homework.
• A homework schedule. This is a schedule, outlined on paper, which specifies the time of each day during which homework is to be done. In some cases, it can't always be done at the same time every day or for the same length of time, so variation is noted on the schedule.
• Timer. This can be a kitchen timer or clock on the wall that keeps track of the amount of time the child spends on task. If the child has to leave the task area to go to the toilet or answer the telephone or whatever, the clock is unplugged then reengaged, or the timer is reset to accurately account for the amount of time spent on task. The parent should similarly note when the child begins the homework so that adequate accountability is enforced.
• Outline/checklist of homework studies. Before the child begins the homework, he/she shares with the parent what it is that must be done. In some cases, this outline/checklist can involve written teacher-input as the child goes from class to class during the day. This is typically a good thing to do in instances where children are not completely honest or forthcoming with their parents about what they are supposed to do or what they are to have ready for the next day.
• Sign-off sheet. This is a sheet on which both the child and the parent sign-off that the work has been completed and completed to standard. When the child finishes the homework, he/she signs the sheet as completed and takes it to the parent for review and sign-off. If something more needs to be done than what the child had in mind or had completed, the parent specifies this, and the child continues with the work until parental expectations are met, at which point the parent signs-off that the work is done, and the child can enjoy the pleasant consequences of achievement and success. Figure 23.1 is an example of what a sign-off sheet might look like.
• Consequences. If the child completes the work and meets all of the expectations, he/she will have earned valuable privileges, as has been stated so frequently in this book. If the child has not met expectations then he/she has deprived himself/herself of these privileges. In addition to the immediate consequences that can be earned (for example the use of the bike or of the car), students can also earn additional points toward the "purchase" of some highly desirable future event such as parental help in purchasing an item of clothing, a toy, a computer or whatever. Be careful that these delayed reinforcers are not too long in coming; otherwise, the child loses interest and the strategy ceases to be effective. In addition to the earning of privileges and even material things, be certain the child receives a lot of verbal praise and recognition for remaining on task in the task area, completing the work assigned, and acquiring the skills.

To help formalize both expectations and consequences, some children respond very well to "behavioral contracting." This is a take-off on legal contracting in which expectations in the form of goals are written down, consequences in the form of privileges are specified, and responsibilities are clearly stated. Figure 23.2 is an example of a behavioral contract. Though this contract is used for homework, the form can be used for any number of behaviors. But don't go overboard with contracts. Never have more than one or two in operation at any one time. Also, remember that a contract can be amended, but all amendments must be discussed and agreed upon by all parties. Amendments should be made only when it is absolutely necessary.

For a final word about homework and consequences, I turn to the advice of Dr. Howard Sloane as found in his excellent The Good Kid Book:

Whether or not the child does his or her homework is "optional." The parents should never reprimand, cajole, urge, threaten, or do anything else of this nature to get the student to work.

You should be very matter-of-fact or businesslike about homework. It may take a while before you note any effects. The attitude must be "Here are the consequences, take it or leave it." Other than setting up the program, you leave all responsibility to the child.

Figure 23.1 - Homework Record

Avoid any argument over the program with the child. If he or she does not like the rules or regulations set up, just say that this is the way it is, take it or leave it. If the child continues to argue, tell him or her you have things to do and leave. Do this consistently.

I've had so much success with parents using this simple six-step strategy that I recommend it to you without hesitation. I realize when saying this that some adjustments might need to be made given individual circumstances, but for the most part it's a strategy that can be adapted to any home setting. I recently used it with a Navajo family. The 5th grade son simply had no use for school or school work. But once the program was put into effect and the boy began enjoying the many benefits of compliance, as well as earning extra points for additional reading, he was hounding his mother for "more homework!"

Frequently, parents ask me how this strategy can be used in homes where both parents are working and aren't home when the children get home. The system is still applicable. Rather than parent involvement occurring before the fact, it occurs after the fact. For example, the outline/checklist of studies is reviewed after the parent gets home, even after the work is done. The child must still initial the sign-off sheet when tasks are completed, which is then checked by the parents. Consequences remain pretty much the same, with "costs" being levied as children avail themselves of privileges they have not earned.

For example, if the work wasn't done as the child indicated by signing-off, and he went ahead and rode his bicycle, he would not only deny himself the privilege of riding his bicycle for the remainder of the day but would also forfeit the right to watch television for the rest of the day. Under these circumstances, assuming the program is managed appropriately, the child quickly learns what the consequences will be for an appropriate or an inappropriate response.

Table 23.1 is a home learning questionnaire prepared by Dr. Bloom. It contains 12 questions to help parents determine whether they are providing an environment that will lead to academic success for their children. I encourage you to give careful thought to each of those 12 questions and then do everything you can to ultimately be able to score a +2 on every one of the 12 questions.

Shortly after taking office as the Secretary of Education in the George Bush administration, LeMar Alexander made the following three suggestions that bear reprinting here. As you read these, you will see they relate closely to what is covered in this chapter. Consider them with care and act upon them.

1. Start with your own children. Have you spent 15 minutes in a conversation with your child today (the national average)? Read to this child? Discussed right and wrong and religion? Played together? Gone somewhere together? Listened? Hugged? Checked on homework? School attendance? Monitored (and limited) TV watching?
2. Find out how children-especially yours-are growing up today. Go sit in the back of a classroom, quietly, for three hours (ask permission first, of course). Visit the juvenile judge, the hospital neonatal care center, the police station. Watch six hours of cable television in one day, including MTV. Visit your child's teachers, and then compare notes.
3. Ask your school principal these questions: Is this school drug-free? Violence-free? What are your goals? Your academic standards? Do you have a report card that measures how well my child is learning English, math, science, history, geography? How are the social needs of the children met so they do not become a barrier to improving academic achievement?

In this chapter, I have described several things parents can do to create in their homes an environment that will facilitate their children's success in school. In a word, parents must be actively involved. As was noted in a report issued in 1992 by the Sylvan Learning Centers and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, "Parents, you cannot drag your children off to kindergarten and expect to pick them up 13 years later ready for careers, for college and for the rest of their lives."

Though there are endless numbers of things parents can do to promote their children's success in school, the list of "Twenty-five Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in School" is as good as anything I've seen. I include it here for your consideration as Table 23.2.

Figure 23.2 - Behavioral Contract

Adapted from Sulzer-Azaroff and Mayer Behavioral Analysis for Lasting Change, Holt Rinehart and Winston. At the end of this chapter is a blank copy of this form for your use.

In concluding this chapter, I return again to a statement by Benjamin Bloom which I believe is of utmost importance and deserves a second mention:

"It is clear when the home and the school have congruent learning emphasis, the child has little difficulty in his later school years. When the home and the school have divergent approaches to life and to learning the child is likely to be penalized by the school especially when school attendance is required for ten or more years."

My hope of you as a parent is that you will work diligently to improve the learning environment in your home and at school.

Intro  ::   Step One  ::   Step Two  ::   Step Three  ::   Step Four  ::   Step Five  ::   Step Six  ::   Review

NOW TO REVIEW

For children to succeed in school, parents and educators must work together. At home, there are at least six things parents should be particularly attentive of:

1. Talking with children, and use language properly.
2. Encouraging children to learn.
3. Reading daily to their children.
4. Sharing with children their parental aspirations.
5. Providing direct help with studies.
6. Organizing time and space for study and homework.

Table 23.1 - Does Your Home Encourage Learning?

Table 23.2 - 25 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in School

Resources

• Behavioral Contract (PDF)
• Does Your Home Encourage Learning? (PDF)
• 25 Ways to Help Your child Succeed in School (PDF)