There are many common questions about homework and I wanted to take this opportunity to address some of these questions.  

Procedures

Monday through Thursday, each child in 4JR writes assignments in his/her Homework Assignment Notebook (HAN).  Each assignment is explained and there is time for questions about the assignments.  I do ask that the HAN be signed every night by an adult as a check for children.  This is to ensure that children are recording the assignments, referring to the HAN each evening, and it becomes a place where you can see what we are doing in class.  

First thing each morning children unpack their backpacks and place their HAN on their desk.  I walk around and check to see that they had them signed.  This is also when I check their HW from the previous night (usually a math page and a reading response) and answer any questions.

If an assignment is not turned in, the student will stay in from recess to complete the assignment. If completing the assignment is not an option (the materials needed are at home, for example) I ask the student to write me a note to tell me how they plan on finishing the assignment.  If late homework becomes a chronic problem, I will call home to be sure that parents are aware.  

Common Questions:

How much should I help?

The first thing to remember is that homework belongs to your child.  It is her/his responsibility to complete the work.  Guidelines such as, “read the assignment yourself” or “try the first one on your own”, are good starters for some children.  If a child is unable to complete an assignment, please write me a quick note indicating that they had trouble with the assignment.  

When reviewing work with your child, it can be difficult to abstain from pointing out spelling or grammatical errors.  Many parents have successfully used techniques such as saying, “I notice three errors in the first paragraph”.  Often putting a check mark in the margin on a line that needs editing work is helpful.  This way you are not actually pinpointing the word, and instead are letting the students find and correct the mistake. This will also help students develop their editing skills.

*With regard to mathematics homework, if a student is stuck on a question, they have a plethora of references I have made in their SAB folder that they can refer to. The homework closely matches the content of daily lessons, so another suggestion is to have students look back at problems they recently solved to remind them of what they have been learning.

What do I do if my child says, “I don’t get it?”

Often this is a blanket response of frustration for a child.  S/he is not confident of her/his ability or is not sure of all the parts of the assignment.  Work with your child to have her/him tell you what s/he does know or understand, then come up with the questions that s/he has.  It is very empowering for a student to be able to come into class and say, “I was able to do the first part of the assignment but I have these two questions” or ”I really struggled because I am still learning my multiples…could I have help with these?”  A child owns the assignment and is learning to self-advocate at that point.

What do I do if my child just sits and stares at the work?

Some children have difficulty getting started with work.  One strategy is to attack the “easy” part first.  Perhaps for one child this may be to do the math first and for another to do the grammar first.  Another strategy is to ask, “What don’t you understand?” or to suggest that they try writing two sentences on their own before you will assist them.  Time limits sometimes work.  For example, “I will give you 20 minutes to work on the assignment and then I will be back.”

My child rushes through her/his work and shows no pride in it. What should I do?

The first questions to ask are, “Is this your best work?  Does this reflect who you want to be as a learner?”  If your child is seemingly satisfied with the work, let her/him turn it in the first time and receive a low score. Afterwards discuss what happened.  How does s/he feel about getting a poor grade?

My child spends too much time on homework – what should I do?

At the fourth grade level, children should be spending an average of 45 to 60 minutes a night on homework.  However, this varies by night and by child.  The 20 minutes of staring at the work adds time to the assignment.  Some assignments are longer term.  Depending on how families break up the work, some nights are lighter than others.  During the year there are projects and these may take more time.  However, a child consistently spending many more hours than other children needs assistance.  It is necessary to assess the quality of time a child is spending.  Is all of the time focused work time?  Is the work too hard and what aspects are difficult?  Does the child need to practice math facts because it is impeding other math learning?  Does the child need modified assignments?