homework

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Home : 2001 : December : 27

homework
By Julianne

I teach in a central city school. We send homework four days a week. On Mondays and Wednesdays it is reading related, on Tuesdays and Thursdays it is math related. We've been sending home spelling words for practice and
word work activity sheets, but after the break we'll start sending home book packets much like what Cathy Dee describes. Our math homework this year has been almost exclusively worksheets from our math program as they are available in Spanish.
The classic rule of thumb is 10 minutes of homework each night per grade level - so first graders get 10 minutes a night, sixth graders would

get 60 minutes. I do think ten minutes a night is a good goal for inner city first graders. We get back probably 80% of what we send. Some kids bring it back every single day. Some kids NEVER bring it back. We bribe them with 'school money' that they can spend for prizes at the school's little store. We do mention homework to parents often and hope most of them will make the effort to see that it gets done and returned. I feel like most of these parents really want to see their children succeed and if you make homework do-able they will try. We also stress reading to their children, though we don't keep track of it.

In your situation you might not want to match your six day cycle if you think it would be confusing. Because our homework policy is so unvaried it is difficult for parents or students to claim they didn't know when something was due. Keep in mind that most homework should be review, not new material. It should give children a chance to work with their parents on skills like responsibility and self-direction. Ask yourself often, "Why am I assigning this? What will the children learn? Is there a better way to do this?" A final question I also ask myself is, "Who is doing the learning?" If the assignment is too difficult you can be sure a parent will do most of it. And if you find yourself working too hard to prepare homework maybe YOU'RE doing the learning, not the kids.