1. HOMEWORK:
Abscences: Firstly, if your child is sick please, please, please keep them at home. Otherwise, it is just a matter of time before we are all sick too. With that said, obviously if they are at home, then they are missing the lessons being taught at school. Lessons involve a set, objective, input, modelling, checking for understanding, guided practice, independent practice, and closure. Please be aware that the independent practice part of a lesson is usually the task, worksheet, handout, or pages assigned. In some cases they are able to do it without being present for the entire lesson and I can just send home it home; but in other cases, the task may prove challenging, or confusing.
30-45 minutes: I believe it is very important that students have time in their day to participate in extra-curricular activities they love, play with friends, outside, or with their toys, and to relax and “veg” out. I will try to keep homework tasks to about 30-45 minutes each day. This time allotment would include 20 minutes of home reading. If you are finding that your child often spends more than that amount of time completing homework assignments, please let me know.
Home reading: As part of the homework routine, your child should be spending a minimum of 20 minutes reading every night. What they read is also secondary to the practice of actually reading, so fiction or non-fiction books, magazines, newspapers, comics... are all good!
Homework page on website: I will try to keep my homework page on this website updated regularly so that you can see what is being assigned for homework, and when it is due. This is secondary to using the agenda.
2. AGENDAS
The student agendas are an effective tool for communicating between school and home, and for students to develop their time management skills and homework responsibilities. I ask that students write down the assignments due for homework and expect them to be responsible in taking the necessary items home to complete the task. I will sign the agenda each day, ensuring the homework assigned has been recorded. It is the responsibility of the student to take the necessary items home to complete the task. Please use the agenda to write me notes or feel free to call or email me: [email protected]