Homework Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities

Education sector has advanced in the last couple of years. Old teaching methods and practices have been abandoned for modern ones. The new ones that are being used are more effective for teachers to use. Homework is the most important task in every learning institution across the world. This is because it sharpens students’ skills and help them remember what they have learned.

A research was conducted and it showed that students need to study at least one to two hours a day at home. This is going to help in increasing their knowledge and skills. Homework is what teachers use to gauge how students are performing and progressing. So it is used to measure students’ ability to grasp what they’re being taught.

Each and every student is supposed to complete the assignment given to them in order to get good grades. On the other hand, there are students who might be having difficulties in learning. Therefore, what teachers do to help these students is that they go an extra mile to put more effort while teaching them. These students with special needs require help to finish their assignments. Below are five homework strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities.

1. Simple homework

The assignment that students are being given is usually designed by the teachers. What teachers need to do is that they should design those assignments in a way that students won’t have a difficult time handling them. The instructions of the homework should be very clear and simple. Categorize the assignment into parts for the students to comprehend easily. Ensure that the objective of the assignment is understandable for the students. Set flexible submissions dates and keep reminding the students about the requirements.

2. Ensure homework flexibility

Teachers need to be more flexible while dealing with these students. Whenever there are changes that need to be done, teachers should be more than willing to do the modifications. They should be there to offer them individual time. Also, they should be allowed to submit reports in a format they’re more comfortable in. The evaluation and checking criteria should also be a little lenient for such students. Overall they should reduce the strictness in the assignment and homework regime for students with special disabilities of learning.

3. Improve their study technique

When students are studying and doing homework, they usually get distracted by a lot of things. And this applies to all students, be it the ones with learning disabilities and general students. So teachers should play an important role to improve their study routine. How this can be done, is by teachers inquiring about their study location and environment at home. They should also enquire about the resources they have for doing their assignments, time frame for completion of the assignment, and the notes written in their lectures.

4. Introduce a work planner

Students need to plan themselves well so that they won’t get overwhelmed by the assignments. As a result, they end up not submitting certain homework. This is more likely to happen to students with learning disabilities. So parents and teachers should work together to ensure that these students are have a calendar. The purpose of this calendar is to highlight all the assignments that they have to finish within a given time frame. It will also reflect milestones for them to achieve. This way doing work and assignments would be more sequential and systematic.

5. Open Communication

Teachers should always open their doors for students to communicate with them. They should be there in case students want to ask questions about their homework. Mostly for those students with learning disabilities, teachers need to be extra observant. This is because they need to keep checking their work and be there every time to guide them.