Dear Parents, 

We are revising our Homework program in response to feedback from some parents. We also surveyed our students on their homework experience. Our biggest take-away is that, just like the range of students we have in our classroom, we received a wide range of responses in regard to students’ experience with homework. 

While the majority of students feel positively about the homework system, we see that we have room for improvement and we want to ensure that all students feel connected to and supported in this work. 

To reiterate, our goals for homework are as follows: 

  • Preview or review information in class. This can serve as a pre-assessment or a formative assessment of understanding, which informs our instruction, either for the entire class or individuals.
  • Build content skills through practice. Examples include working with new formats from the Bridges math curriculum, reading and writing fluency (increasing vocabulary, comprehension strategies, practicing mechanics) or spelling patterns.
  • Develop executive functioning skills. This includes time management, organization, and discipline. 
  • Create a school to home connection Encourage conversation about school, both the celebrations and the challenges. 

Equally important to the goals, are the expectations we have of students, parenting adults, and ourselves:

Teachers 

  • Review homework daily with students. 
  • Ensure that the blog is up to date for student and parent reference. Typically,
    • Spelling/WordlyWise is assigned on Mondays due Friday. 
    • Math is assigned on Monday due Wednesday, and on Wednesday due Friday.
    • Writing will be assigned twice a week on average, and may be across subjects, for example a Science journal response. 
  • Assign homework that is reasonably accomplished within the 45 minute frame including 20 minutes of reading. 
  • Differentiate assignments based on demonstrated need and/or communication with parenting adults. 
  • Schedule an average of 40 minutes of class time between Monday and Thursday for students to work on assignments.
  • Provide feedback about homework that is encouraging and specific. 

Students  

  • Record assignments and due dates in hardcopy planners at the end of most days. 
  • Spend time at home and in allotted classroom periods to make progress and/or complete the assigned work.  
    • Please note the time expectations: no more than an average of 45 min/night,  including 20 min of reading, 10 min of writing or spelling, and 15 min of math  
  • Communicate directly with teachers with questions, aha!’s and challenges. 

Parenting Adults

  • Ensure a quiet space for work with a tabletop and tools such as pencils, erasers, and a sharpener.
  • Help your child plan for their work throughout the week. Refer to the homework blog as necessary for the current week’s assignments. 
  • Allow your child independence: 
    • Encourage your child to bring questions to teachers, and/or send an email about patterns you observe.
    • If your child procrastinates or resists doing homework, encourage persistence in order to build stamina. If she/they/he regularly spend over 45 focused minutes on homework, encourage them to disengage and note this on the homework. 
    • Set up a timer that your child can manage independently as needed. A timer can help for signalling breaks while working.
  • Please do not correct your child’s homework. The temptation is strong, as it often feels like a teachable moment, but it sends the message to your child that homework is about getting it right, instead of intentional practice. In fact, errors, or effort without success, are a much more productive lens for teachers into what a child needs to make progress in skills and concepts. 

Additional Resources for Teaching and Learning Visibility

  • Explore this resource to help you understand better how students learn math with the Bridges mathematics curriculum. 
  • If your child has additional time to strengthen academic skills, we encourage spending time 
    • reading independently
    • writing creatively (journaling, stories, poems, graphic novellas, persuasive letters, etc.)
    • playing DreamBox with their personalized account
    • working on vocabulary on Wordly Wise website with their personalized account
    • trying out activities at ReadWriteThink
    • checking out Google Earth together
    • exploring other recommended math sites