Mrs. Haney's First Grade Homework Policy

The primary purpose of homework is to provide extra practice of important skills, such as spelling, reading, writing, comprehension, and math. All skills will have already been introduced and practiced at school. Please discuss the policy with your child so that you understand the expectations of students and parents with regard to homework. Following these guidelines can help decrease homework stress and increase your child’s learning. For your child to be successful with homework, he/she needs:

• A place to do homework – Choose a quiet, uncluttered place for your child to do homework on a regular basis. Your child will need pencils, an eraser, crayons (no pens or markers, please), glue stick, and scissors. Please make sure that your child writes all parts of the homework other than the parent signature.

• A schedule for completing homework – A weekly homework packet is sent home on the last day of each week (with spelling and HF words) and is due one week later. A book in a bag is sent home each night for fluency practice. Schedule the homework to fit in with your child’s activities and to allow for regular, nightly practice. Your child will not benefit fully from completing the entire packet in one session. Include regular practice of HF words, spelling words, math facts, and reading. Math facts can be practiced with flashcards, dice, cards, games, computer software, internet, etc. Signatures indicating at least 4 days of practice during the 6-7 day time period are always required.

• Encouragement, motivation, and prompting – Initially, you may have to sit with your child to provide help. Encourage him/her to do as much as possible independently. Work toward the goal of reading the directions and letting your child complete the assignments with minimal help. Encourage him/her to do neat, careful work, completing all work, and coloring all pictures. Remind your child to use brave spelling, capital letters, and ending marks. Look over the completed work and offer suggestions, signing where indicated. If your child consistently struggles with the homework, let me know.

• Reasonable time expectations – If the homework is spread throughout the week, it should not take more than 30 minutes per night. If your child seems to be spending too much time each night on homework, please contact me. Make notes on the homework indicating the amount of time spent on each page or activity if the time seems excessive. Please schedule homework so it does not interfere with bedtime.

Grading – Homework packets will be reviewed by the teacher for completion, neatness, and timeliness and will not be returned unless requested. Homework that is consistently late or more than one day late may result in a behavior card color change, missing out on fun activities, and/or exclusion from quarterly incentives.

Questions – Please send a note with your child or contact me by phone/email with questions concerning any part of the homework that is unclear, prior to the due date for the homework.