Homework is very important to school success. It is a time for your child to review and practice important skills they learned in the classroom. Studying at home enhances student achievement, helping to develop self-discipline and good work/study habits. Not only does it reflect the concepts that students are learning, but it also gives additional practice to difficult skills while enriching their evening hours. Finally, it encourages responsibility and independence.

Homework will be assigned daily, Monday through Thursday, along with a 20-30 minute reading time from a book, novel, or magazine of the student's choice. Homework should come home in a homework folder; assignments are written down in their student planners. Homework should not take longers than an hour, not including the actual daily reading time. If it is taking longer, please talk to me so that we can find out why.

Homework is not a punishment and should be viewed as a way to improve academics. However, if students do not complete their nightly homework they will not be able to participate in the raffle at the end of the week. Homework needs to be neat and presentable. In cases where it is not, it will be sent back for a second try.

If your child is sick, they do not need to make up the missed homework, unless they have a great desire to do so. If you are going on vacation and will miss school days, please have your child tell me a day or two ahead of time so I can put a work packet together.

Some of the more regular homework assignments are as follows:

Spelling: We will often write the words in alphabetical order, or put the words into sentences or questions. Students must remember to bring their flashcards home and back to school each day. The reason I use flashcards is because they are more easily manipulated. Students who feel they need more challenging words may opt to use the vocabulary words as additional spelling words. They may also do their nightly spelling homework with these vocabulary words.

Math: Students will use both worksheets and problems out of their math books this year. We will switch between these two homework forms.

You will also see the Problem of the Week assignments coming home. These are often higher-level thinking problems. This is a way to challenge students and give them a chance to clearly explain their logic and thinking.

Science: Homework for science will often be long-term and project-based. I will try to send home a parent letter so that you will know the purpose of the project and how you may assist your child. We adopted a new science curriculum this year so we may have some workbook pages for homework as well.

Reading and Writing: I believe that having students read and write independently is vitally important. Students are expected to accomplish between 20-30 minutes of reading every night. Because reading is so important, I don't want students to look at it as a nightly chore. Please make it a fun thing in your house. Read together, make it family time, and explore different types of literature: comics, novels, picture books, newspapers, magazines, etc.