HOMEWORK AND HOME TEACHING: WHEN TO DO IT

Are You An After-Schooler?

A conservative estimate might be that 99% of parents of in-school-all-day-kids with Down syndrome are also “After-Schoolers.” Meaning that their kids attend school outside of the home, but the parents still have to teach them at home after hours. This is challenging for everyone, parents and kids alike. Home-schooling moms and dads are adept at this, so if you know any, you might want to pick their brains for ideas.

When To Do It?

Here’s the challenge: the ideal time to do homework or teaching is when your child is neither hungry, tired, nor in need of kinesthetic activity. (Needs to run around like crazy and bounce off walls.) “Okay,” I can hear you saying, “that’s never.” Maybe. But our job is to look for those ideal pockets of time and try to set the scene for success.

Eat, Pray, Love

Not really. How about eat, play, learn? In that order. If we look for pockets of time when we can prime our children for optimum learning, we can craft this plan better than we think we can. In addition to logical times like after “school-then-snack-then-play-time,” here are some off-the-wall ideas (which I’ve used):

• Teach your child while he’s in the tub. No kidding. Captive audience.
• Teach her while she’s eating. For some kids, this actually works, especially for eaters who dawdle; again, captive audience. For other kids, this would be a disaster. Fit the venue to the child. I once read an entire collection of children’s books on famous people (Einstein, Marie Curie, etc.) to Jonathan while he ate his lunches. He had no choice but to listen. Ha! Got him!
• Write out a large-print schedule (with picture prompts), post it, and do it. I love the article “I See What You Mean” by Patti McVay, et al. Make this “homework/home teaching” necessity visible. If it’s on paper, we gotta do it. I’ve created a Homework Board that you can print and use if you like. Notice that “play” is visually dominant! Here’s what it looks like:
  

  You Can Print This Board

• Keep it short. Break up the task. Move the body.
• Use some medium-speed Mozart (or similar) to get the brain into the Alpha (learning) state; put the volume on low so it’s barely audible. Studies back this up. You want the brain to do its “entrainment” thing: to persuade both brain hemispheres to get in sync with the order, rhythm, and beauty of the music, but you don’t want the child to actually be aware of it. That would distract.

As we head back to school next week, best of luck in finding those special Teaching Times!