I developed these concepts while raising a child who was homework
trapped. I shared my ideas with clients in my practice as a clinical
psychologist. I had more success with the parents I counseled than I had for my
child, largely because I was discounted as being a parent who could not see my child
clearly. Etta Kralovec, author of The End of Homework, concludes her review of
my book with the words “Where was this book when my son was growing up?” I ask
the same question, and wish I had this book in hand, written by somebody else,
to give to my child’s teachers for the discussions we had. I wrote the book to be
short and to the point, and easy enough to for you to read, understand, and
then hand to your child’s teachers with a reasonable expectation that they will
read it before your next discussions take place.
In the end, you may need to ask for a 504 plan to implement the concepts of the Homework Trap. The law allows for 504 plans so that your child can receive needed accommodations without going the full route of a child student team evaluation. The problem with 504 plans is that they are only as good as the ideas put in them. Typically, it is easy to get "more time," as an accommodation, but more time does not have value for homework. More time during class means redistributed time, some extra minutes for your child to finish his assignments during the assigned class time. More time at home just means working into the night, or it is possibly reduced penalties for late work. But that just keeps the work piling up. You want your child's 504 plan to include less time, that is, a fixed amount of time to do the homework and then be done.
Contact me
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In the end, you may need to ask for a 504 plan to implement the concepts of the Homework Trap. The law allows for 504 plans so that your child can receive needed accommodations without going the full route of a child student team evaluation. The problem with 504 plans is that they are only as good as the ideas put in them. Typically, it is easy to get "more time," as an accommodation, but more time does not have value for homework. More time during class means redistributed time, some extra minutes for your child to finish his assignments during the assigned class time. More time at home just means working into the night, or it is possibly reduced penalties for late work. But that just keeps the work piling up. You want your child's 504 plan to include less time, that is, a fixed amount of time to do the homework and then be done.
Contact me
Return to website
