Homework Policy
Your child's most important jobs at home are....PLAYING and RESTING! Therefore, our homework policy in 1st/2nd grade is very minimal. Your child works hard throughout the school day and needs time for those brain connections to solidify and strengthen through rest and free time. With that being said, we want to encourage a few things for engaging learning at home while building confidence and responsibility.
1. Math Page - this should be quick and easy for your child to accomplish (independently and in less that 5 minutes). This one page is not meant to challenge them, but rather get them used to working through problems outside of the classroom and without teacher help. Although we know that students could finish the entire packet of math questions at one time, we ask that they only do the page correlating to the day of the week. They will only have a page M- Th and will turn it in on Friday. This is also a way for you to see the subjects we are working through in math!
2. Spelling Sort - if you have questions about the way that our curriculum, Words Their Way, works please refer to the Literacy tab. There is a link to an awesome resource that explains the reasoning and procedure behind it. At home, Spelling Sorts should be worked on quick each day, again less that 5 minutes is plenty. Students need to first sort out their words, then pick an activity from the "homework menu" in their blue take-home folder. This should be creative and fun! Students will get new words every two weeks.
3. Reading time - I hesitate to even call this "homework" because hopefully reading time is already a natural part of your at home routine. We suggest at least 20 minutes a day. This time can include reading aloud to others, reading alone, or being read to. If your child is hesitant to read to you, try to come up with a "I read, then you read" system. THIS graphic represents the impact that reading time can have on development and vocabulary.
We understand that after school activities can quickly fill up the extra free time that students have and at times homework takes the backseat. Please help be consistent in giving the message that these short activities, although minimal, are important! You will notice that we do not ask students to work on any school related math and spelling over the weekend :) If you have more questions about at home academic work, please feel free to contact me via email!
1. Math Page - this should be quick and easy for your child to accomplish (independently and in less that 5 minutes). This one page is not meant to challenge them, but rather get them used to working through problems outside of the classroom and without teacher help. Although we know that students could finish the entire packet of math questions at one time, we ask that they only do the page correlating to the day of the week. They will only have a page M- Th and will turn it in on Friday. This is also a way for you to see the subjects we are working through in math!
2. Spelling Sort - if you have questions about the way that our curriculum, Words Their Way, works please refer to the Literacy tab. There is a link to an awesome resource that explains the reasoning and procedure behind it. At home, Spelling Sorts should be worked on quick each day, again less that 5 minutes is plenty. Students need to first sort out their words, then pick an activity from the "homework menu" in their blue take-home folder. This should be creative and fun! Students will get new words every two weeks.
3. Reading time - I hesitate to even call this "homework" because hopefully reading time is already a natural part of your at home routine. We suggest at least 20 minutes a day. This time can include reading aloud to others, reading alone, or being read to. If your child is hesitant to read to you, try to come up with a "I read, then you read" system. THIS graphic represents the impact that reading time can have on development and vocabulary.
We understand that after school activities can quickly fill up the extra free time that students have and at times homework takes the backseat. Please help be consistent in giving the message that these short activities, although minimal, are important! You will notice that we do not ask students to work on any school related math and spelling over the weekend :) If you have more questions about at home academic work, please feel free to contact me via email!