The Gag is… Podcast
The GAG is" is a powerful podcast that takes you on a journey through the life of a remarkable black woman who defied the odds. Charli Shanta became a teen mom and a widow by 21. Now in her mid 30’s life has been unpredictable, she’s faced unimaginable adversity yet she's never given up. Join Charli as she shares her inspiring story, offering a message of resilience and hope even if it isn’t always perfect. Discover that even in the darkest times there are better days ahead. Laughter can always follow tears.
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The Gag is… Podcast
Creating Effective Homework Spaces: Tips for Academic Success
We explore essential back-to-school strategies for parents navigating the transition from summer to the academic year, with practical tips for creating successful homework routines and balancing academics with extracurricular activities.
• Create a dedicated homework space free from distractions with good lighting
• Consider adding ambient elements like fish tanks, instrumental music, or essential oils to enhance focus
• Determine the optimal time for homework based on your child's schedule and energy levels
• Make yourself available during homework time to answer questions or provide guidance
• Don't hesitate to reach out to teachers when your child doesn't understand an assignment
• Always prioritize academics over athletics, even when sports are important
• Establish consequences for missed assignments, including limiting electronics until work is complete
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Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the Gag is Hot. I am your girl, charli Chanté. Thank you for joining me on another episode. And if you're listening to this, like I always say, it must be Friday, because new episodes are released on Fridays and if you have not already, please make sure you subscribe. You download, you subscribe and you hit that notification bell. So every time a new episode is released, you are one of the first to get it. Make sure you're telling your friends, you're telling your family, because over here we got good information that you can use each and every day. And, like I always say, grab your drinks, grab your snack or whatever it is you do when you listen to this, and we're going to go ahead and jump in and get started. We're going to go ahead and jump in and get started.
Speaker 1:Now, y'all know we well into the school year. We're going to start talking about some things of how do we get through the school year. Kids are still in that mind frame of summer, which is okay, because summer go, you get into a routine. It takes 21 days to form a habit. They'd be out of school for two months. So, whatever they was doing over the summer, they have mastered the art of this. So we got to break them out of that cycle. So today I'm going to give you some tips and tricks that I utilize that helps new face get through the school year. I've also done this with Marco Polo, so some of these are tried and true. Okay, I feel like my lighting is bad today, I don't know, but we're going to go ahead, we're going to make it, we're going to make it work, we're going to make it do what it do. So the first week of school has already come and gone and let me tell you have I laughed a little bit? Yes, I have, because I said I'd be in my head, I'd be like if you were to listen to my episodes on that back to school prep, like in June, end of June, july. Some of this could have been avoided.
Speaker 1:I had a situation Well, not I had a situation, but I seen a situation where a couple of kids showed up to play sports and they couldn't play sports because they didn't have their physical. It was outdated. And then they went and rushed and got it done, but it had not been approved. So for like a week they were unable to participate. I told you, I think back in one of the episodes about sports physicals and making sure you get them done on time. Sports physicals and making sure you're getting them done on time because once the school year starts you get it done. The approval authority is already moved on to the next sport, different things like that. You can't rush those people when it comes to getting that paperwork done. I have told y'all that again and again. And just make sure you get the paperwork done on time, even before it's due. I know sometimes you gotta wait for insurance because they won't. They'll only cover it for a 365 year and not per se a calendar year. So just make sure that you're getting that done.
Speaker 1:And I also seen a situation where a kid was not picked up from after school care and they couldn't get a hold of whoever was supposed to pick this child up because the number was not correct. Then they had to call somebody else and then that person was like well, I'm still at work. I don't know if I can get there. Let me try to reach out to the person that's supposed to pick him up so that we can get this taken care of. I also thought about making sure your contact information is up to date in the event that your child gets sick or they don't get picked up, need to be able to get in contact with you. These things are important. I talked about these things a month before school started, so I'll link those down. If you're watching on YouTube, I'll link those down in the description box so that you can have access to those, so you can go back and watch those, so that you get your tips and tricks. Pass those on and then you'll be ready for next year. All right, so now that we got that out the way, I just wanted to tell y'all about that because I seen it and I was like, oh my god, like I literally have a whole series of episodes dedicated to back to school prep. You know and dang, I did it in July this year. Do I need to do it in June to allow time for the episodes to circulate, like goodness.
Speaker 1:But one of the first things that I want to talk about today when it comes to academic strategies is picking a good time to do homework, because it's just like with anything else, you've got to have that good time to do stuff because, like you think, oh, we can do it at this time or we can do it at this time. Make sure that you are picking a good time to do homework because you want to make sure that your child's in the right mental space, they're not sleepy, they're not drowsy. So you know, determine what your after-school routine is, because sometimes after-school kids go to after-school care and I do know that in after-school care they do allow them time for homework. But you know kids want day with their friends and you know they just want to get to the plane and the plane outside and different stuff like that. But you know, like I said, some programs they allow the homework. Well, not they allow, but they do have the opportunity for kids to do their homework. But in the event that your child doesn't do their homework at afterschool care, determine when you get home what's the appropriate time. I know when a lot of kids get picked up it's time to go to practice or they have something else. They don't go directly home. So make sure you determine that with new phase Um I have like a split homework schedule due to him having um swim practice after school.
Speaker 1:So when he gets out of school, um only onays, because here they have early release on Mondays, so on Mondays he's able to do his homework before he goes to swim, because he gets out of school at 2.30. Swim is not until 4.30. So he has about an hour and a half after he gets off the bus to do his homework. Tuesday through Friday, depending on which practice we go to, because if it's stormy we'll go to the later practice so he may get time after school Tuesday through Thursday, tuesday through Friday to do homework, but if not, we typically do that after swim. That's what works best for us. So when he does it for after school, I try to offer a snack, because just depend and then take a look at what your child's breakfast lunch schedule is, just to see what time they've last ate I always offer a new face up a snack. One thing he does is he brings a granola bar and an apple or apple slices with him in his lunchbox and then on his way home from school he'll eat his granola bar and an apple or apple slices with him in his lunchbox and then on his way home from school he'll eat his granola bar and his apple on the bus. This is also beneficial for him doing homework, but it's also beneficial for when he goes to swim practice as well. He has a little extra energy with him.
Speaker 1:Once you create what time is a good time for your child to do your homework, create a dedicated homework space. This is very, very important with New Face. New Face gets distracted easy. So I let him at the beginning of the year I do this every year. I always let the schedule evolve in the workspace evolve into itself. Let the schedule evolve and the workspace evolve into itself. Now I let him start doing his homework in his room. But I noticed when I let him do his homework in his room he gets distracted. The homework doesn't necessarily get done.
Speaker 1:So what I've done is we have a spare room, not a bedroom, but a spare flex room downstairs. He's allowed to go in there, kind of set the scene. There's a fish tank in there so that can be kind of quiet and allow him to kind of focus more in different things like that. It's in the front of the house, it's away from a lot of the noise. It is about the front door, but we don't have people coming in and out, so that's not a big distraction. He also can sit at the kitchen table. We move the place, mats and everything that's on the table so that he can have all the space he needs. There's a light overhead that way, if he's doing his homework later in the evening and it's dark outside, he can flip the light on. He also has the opportunity to do it sitting at the counter.
Speaker 1:I don't think he personally likes sitting downstairs to do his homework, because he's more visible to me and then I can see him more, I can hear him more. Listen, I'm just trying to help you get good grades, trying to help you just make it. So if you're visible to me it'll be like oh, mom's watching me, so let me kind of stay on track. Now, that's not to say that once he starts doing his homework, I'm like don't you make a peep, like he'll stop, he'll ask me questions. I don't make him sit there and just dredge and just do homework, homework, homework. We stop, we talk, he have a conversation. When his brother comes in, he stops. He has a conversation with his brother, he talks and then it's back to his homework. So when you're creating this homework space, make sure, like I said, his has one of his spaces has a fish tank in it.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of kids like music when they do their homework, so music is a good option, not loud, just something low. You can do instrumentals. I find channels on YouTube that say, like study music, it gives a nice good flow. I also use them when I am working. It's just a little something to help keep the concentration up and, you know, just help keep them mellow.
Speaker 1:And if you want to take it a step further which what I have, um, in my workspace is I do essential oils and a diffuser, um, find you a nice scent, calming scent, like a lavender or bergamot or orange or lemon, just something. They have different blends, they have like focus blends, just something that'll awaken the senses, keep the senses, you know, up tip top shape, but it's not something that's going to relax you too much to the point where you are going to fall asleep. Sorry y'all, I got to give me a drink of water. Y'all hear I sound a little hoarse. Tell you what these allergies in Florida. They real, they real crazy. So I wake up in the morning sometimes I be sounding like he man, but as the day progresses it gets better. All right, and so this next tip I feel like is the most important, and I think sometimes, as parents, we get lost in the sauce, and I was like this for a while.
Speaker 1:When New Face would do his homework, I would be like OK, he's doing his homework, this is my time to shine, this is my time to have me some free time, have me some quiet time because he's doing his homework and he's not going to disturb me. My time because he's doing his homework and he's not going to disturb me. I realized that although he is doing homework in this time, although I can have free time, quiet time, I also make myself available to assist with any homework questions. Now, these questions may not always be homework per se related. New Face may have the concept and he may be like so, mom, what do you think about this? Or when you were in school, how did you guys learn about this topic? I always make myself available. So when we come home, I make myself available for the first hour. This time it allows me to be right there if he has any questions. And then, if we go beyond the hour, I'm still available. But I have transitioned to doing you know, things for me, the things that I do to unwind. When I come home from work, I take a shower, getting my clothes ready for the next day, but I'm still available. So if he has a question, you know he can still come to me. I'll stop what I'm doing and I'll go assist him with his homework. Assist him with his homework Now.
Speaker 1:If you have trouble or you are unable to assist your child with your homework, parents I cannot stress this enough Please, please, please, please, reach out to the teacher. As someone who used to work in education, we will never, ever, I will never, ever, or I never did get upset at a parent that goes hey, little Johnny didn't understand. I attempted to help, I don't understand. Can you assist little Johnny and can you assist me as well? When parents did this, I would email back. I would tell them you know, this is how we do it, you know. And then when that child comes to class, I would show that child how to do it as well. And I would never take off points if a child turned in their work late because their parent has emailed me and said they don't understand.
Speaker 1:I have several times, especially with math. Now, some math I understand, like sixth, seventh, eighth grade math, like up to middle school math. I'm pretty good at it when it comes to high school, like this calculus and trig and all of that I've taken those classes for college but they were not my best subject. So I you know I couldn't help with some of that stuff and so I would email the teacher from my Canvas account. I'd be like hey, miss Susie Q, you know New Face is working on this and I didn't quite understand. You know, are you able to assist? This is the problem that we were having trouble with. You know, we understood X, y, z problem, but this one we're not quite understanding. Never had an issue with a teacher going. Thank you for reaching out. You know I'll I'll pull new face to the side. We'll work with a little bit so we can get the concept.
Speaker 1:New faces thing is with math. New face is very, very smart and from middle school all the way up, I would even say in elementary Newface has done good at math. But he has not done good at math at the same time. Newface's problem is he can do math in his head, and I'm talking big numbers. He can do things in his head and he cannot write it down. Teachers today want to see how you come up with the answers. His big issue where he gets points deducted is because he does not show his work. Teachers have even said I've asked him a question. He's given me the correct answer off the top of his head. But I need to see that work out. So when he gets points deducted in math, it's not because he can't do the work, it's because he does not show his work. So for over the years, that's one of the things that we have strategically worked on. For over the years, that's one of the things that we have strategically worked on. We have strategically worked on him writing it out, step by step, so that you can show the teacher yeah, I know this stuff, you know. But let me write it out so that I can get full credit for these assignments.
Speaker 1:But parents, never be afraid to reach out to your teachers, your kids' teachers, to ask for help or for understanding on an assignment. Like I said, it'll go a long way. Like New Face missed an assignment a couple of weeks ago because he said he didn't know and I said remember, use Canvas, email your teacher. So he ended up doing that, he ended up taking, he ended up turning into work late and she ended up giving him full credit for it because he had reached out to ask for help. It's just as simple as that. There's never anything to be ashamed of. Teachers are there to help.
Speaker 1:And I told New Face, I said look, I said as a teacher, like last year, he went to Saturday school for different subjects, just all around history, math, not because he needed help, but just so he can get that little bit better understanding. Because kids don't always get the best understanding in class. There may be distractions from the other kids or, you know, they may have fire drills or different stuff like that assembly, so they may not always get that focus. And I told him, I said your teachers are going to see that you're coming and you're putting forth the effort in their classes. And I said that makes a difference to us. And so at the end of the year I think he had like an 88 in a class and a teacher rounded it up. He ended up getting an A in the class.
Speaker 1:I said because that teacher knew that you were putting forth effort to get better in that class. I'm not saying that you know every teacher is going to do that and I'm not saying have your child do that to play the system. But if a child is getting up for six Saturdays in a row to come to ask questions, to get better understanding, get test taking tips and different stuff like that. If I see that there are two now, if he had an 81, no, I'm not going to round you up to a 90, but he had like an 88.6 or something. He ran at him a point and a half. A point and a half is not going to kill anybody. I'm not saying a child should go from a C to an A, but he was merely that close. But that teacher had seen him coming week after week after week to get that extra understanding and went ahead and boosted him up because he did not have to. Now, in another scenario it may have been another student in that situation and he may not have rounded them up. That's at that teacher's discretion.
Speaker 1:You can say that the teacher was wrong. I mean, you know, to each his own, you know, but it's all in. When in doubt reach out to the teacher, the teacher is going to always understand that what they are there for, they have 24 to 48 hours. They have 24 hours to respond to your message. So you know that you're going to get a reply. You know. Don't message them at midnight, you know, and, like I would say, I've had teachers message me back at seven or eight o'clock at night and it's like oh, thank you for reaching out. You know, here's this, you know. Tell him to come see me when he gets to class tomorrow. Just as simple as that. And please let it tell your children that it is OK to go to the teacher to ask for help. The kids might pick and poke and point, but it doesn't matter. Your kids are there to learn. The teachers are there to help them learn, regardless of who is looking at them.
Speaker 1:Always, when in doubt, ask for help, because from being in a classroom, I know that the ones that are poking and prodding are the ones who are barely passing a class. But that's neither here nor there. This one is a very, very big one and I I could actually dedicate a whole episode to this, but y'all would have came for me big time and I I'm gonna always stress this. I'm gonna always stress this academics come before athletics. Let me say it again for the people in the back Academics always comes before athletics.
Speaker 1:And if you don't think athletics is important, I need you to take a look at the new recruiting for these kids. They are looking for students who are academically well as well, not saying that your child should have straight A's, but your child can't come up in there with like a 2.0, 2.1. We've been looking at colleges and different stuff like that, especially when it comes to swim programs and stuff like that. I can't remember what swim program it was, but it said and it was like a prestigious, it was like a good, really good, like D1 college, and it said that student athletes have to maintain a 1.5 GPA. I'm sorry, what A 1.5? That is totally unacceptable. That's like on the low end of a C, if I'm not mistaken. That is terrible. Only in each board, I think, only less than one percent of people make it right.
Speaker 1:So why are we not telling kids hey, even though you're good at sports, make sure you focus on your academics as well, because when sports is no longer there, you're always going to have your degree to fall back on. And you can see numerous of people who've gone to the NBA, have gone to the NFL, have gone back to school and finished their degree. There's nothing wrong with that, because sports is talent-based and Lord forbid you get an injury or something like that. You want to make sure you have something to fall back on. So I will always stress academics over athletes and if I feel like Newface needs some time or I feel like the amount of homework he has is too great for that day, we're not going to practice. Because what good is going to practice when you're not learning?
Speaker 1:There are too many stories out there where athletes have just been getting passed over year after year after year because they're an athlete and they go to certain teachers and these teachers pass them. So then when they become in the league and stuff like that, they're getting taken advantage of because they can't read good, they can't add good, they don't know how to advocate for themselves. You see it time and time again. That is not okay. Parents, please do not put athletics over academics. It never works out. It does not work out. Do not set these kids up for failure. Encourage them to get their education over their athletics. Not saying your child is not good, but if they cannot read, write and do the basic things, what good are they going to be in their adult life? It's not going to be good. It's not going to be good. So make sure, parents, that you are stressing the importance of academics over athletics. Academics going to trump athletics every time. Okay, in this household. It is so for this week's. You can't make this up. Yeah, new faces on semi punishment already because he is, you know, he's in high school but he's duly enrolled and he's duly enrolled through his high school.
Speaker 1:And the dean of the Collegiate academy called me the other day y'all. She was like how you doing? I said I know it ain't good if you calling. She said I never thought I'd see the day that I would have to call you because our boy is on point. I said I know, and this goes back to when I was speaking about reaching out to your teachers. If you don't understand, he didn't turn in two assignments and I asked him about it. He said, mom, I didn't understand. And I said go ahead, reach out to the teacher. You know, still make an effort to try to turn in those assignments. And I told her I said thank you for calling me, I appreciate it. And I told her I said thank you for calling me, I appreciate it. So he reached out to the teacher, teacher explained it to him and he was able to submit it and he got credit for it. And so I feel like he's he's still getting in his algorithm of being back to school.
Speaker 1:So we have limited electronics now, just not as a punishment but as a less keeping on focus, so he doesn't get to take his phone to school, because I do know that he'd be on that phone all the time at school. He's like well, mom, he was like I need my phone so for my authentication when I log into the computer. I said I suggest you get a book, a password book. I said because you're not taking this school, just phone the school for a good little minute. We have phones in school and we survive. Ok, get your password book, write it down.
Speaker 1:And so the other day I said hey, I said that class that you was telling me you needed your phone for to get the authentication. I said you still been able to do work in that class. He was like yes, ma'am. I said oh, okay. I said so you're telling me that you can do work in this class without your cell phone? He was like yes, ma'am. Oh, okay, cool, I knew it, cause I said every kid don't have no cell phone. So I know these teachers ain't creating work for kids with just cell phones. I know that's not happening. So that is my. You can't make this up, so I don't even know when he come off punishment. I say he'll come off punishment when I feel he ready to come off punishment. You know that's just what it is.
Speaker 1:We have come to the end of our episode and please make sure that you are liking, sharing and subscribing these episodes. Make sure you're hitting that notification bell on your podcasting app and on YouTube as well, so that when an episode is released, you are one of the first to get it. Episodes are released at 5 am on Friday mornings, so when you wake up and you go to work and you go to take your kids to school on Friday, the episode is there so that you can listen to. I greatly appreciate it. I am your girl, charla Chante. This is the Gag is Pod. Bye, guys.
