Great news! There is NO HOMEWORK!!!

Well.....not in the usual sense anyway! After a wonderful pilot and a few test years behind me, I have very confidently, and with excellent feedback, decided to continue with a new practice that supports "ditching the traditional homework notebook" for a more successful and enjoyable parent/ student engagement practice program. It is a philosophy that I have felt for many years and that more teachers are beginning to share based on qualitative research studies, professional discussions, and annotative evidence in their own classrooms. Our world and society is a changing place and educational practices that once were served well in the past do not necessarily serve our students and families as efficiently anymore at this stage of development. Our classrooms are incredibly complex with a diversity of needs and traditional homework practice is not serving this composition in a fair, equitable, and manageable way for students, families, and teachers.

This being said, there will continue to be an expectation in my classroom that parents regularly interact and engage with their child in "work that supports continued learning at home". I am committed to supporting parents and students at home and ensure that I will communicate what prioritized sequence of skills and objectives will be expected and encouraged at home through good practice throughout the year. It is my hope that the students and I will come up with some new, fun, and engaging practices that they will be wanting to take home and share with you. In the meantime, enjoy exploring more natural and healthy learning practices outside through play, at the table with a game, in the kitchen, on the couch with a book together, exploring questions, and engaging in your communities. Follow your child's interests.....learning is everywhere!

This being said, reading and writing is considered to be the primary goal of academic development at the K-3 level and is supported as such through professional development activities and policies by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Therefore, there WILL BE an expectation that students continue to receive reading support for at least 15-20 minutes each evening and record new learnings and development in a "Literacy Log" (yellow plastic duotang) this year. This will generally be assigned Monday and passed in every Friday unless otherwise specified.

PLEASE be sure to SIGN and CHECK your child’s literacy log, duotang, and bag every night for notices and other important information from the school. This is always an excellent place to establish vital communications between the classroom and the home.