Homework

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Homework will include a range of learning from what is happening in the classroom through to what the students will be learning. Homework helps students to

Homework will be uploaded as often as possible. Usually the upcoming weeks homework will be available on Sunday night for students to print off or read from.

> THE IMPORTANCE OF HOMEWORK IN YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATION

> By

> **Dr. Sam Goldstein**

**Dr. Sydney Zentall** Homework is important because it is at the intersection between home and school. It serves as a window through which you can observe your children’s education and express positive attitudes towards your children and their education. As children grow older, homework and the amount of time engaged in homework, increases in importance. For teachers and administrators, homework is a cost effective way to provide additional instruction in practice. Lets examine the six constructive purposes for homework in the context of your child’s educational experience. The first two are the most important and obvious. Through (1) practice and (2) participation in learning tasks, homework can improve your child’s achievement. Thus, it would be expected that if homework were completed accurately, not only would your child’s general knowledge and grades improve but your child would also increase mastery of basic academic skills, such as reading, writing, spelling and mathematics. Homework can provide other benefits. Your child’s ability to bring an assignment home, gather and organize necessary materials to complete the assignment, return the assignment and receive a grade, strengthens his or her sense of responsibility. Time management skills are learned. There is also improved (3) development of personal skills such as time management gained by completing homework. Further, when homework proceeds smoothly it can become (4) a positive aspect of your relationship with your child. Finally, although we often do not consider that homework serves a school administrative role, it offers schools an opportunity to let parents know what their children are learning. Thus, homework can play a public relations role by (5) keeping parents informed about class activities and policies. Homework can also fulfill (6) an administrative role in helping schools achieve their overall mission of improving student’s achievement. Homework is a bridge that joins schools and parents. From the school’s perspective there is the opportunity to monitor students' independent progress. For parents there is the potential to gain a greater appreciation of education and to express positive attitudes towards their children’s achievement. In this weekly column we will provide tips, guidelines, suggestions and solutions to common homework problems. Homework is an essential part of your child’s education and can serve not only to enhance your child’s achievement but also to enhance family relationships. >> This column is excerpted and condensed from, **Seven Steps to Homework Success: A Family Guide for Solving Common Homework Problems** by Sydney S. Zentall, Ph.D. and Sam Goldstein, Ph.D. (1999, Specialty Press, Inc.), available from the ADD Warehouse.

The above article is displayed on this site, with the kind permission of

Sam Goldstein Ph.D

ROOM 2 HOMEWORK

Before beginning homework

 * **Take the time to unwind after school **


 * **Decide how long the homework will take **
 * **Have a snack and drink before you start **


 * **Choose a space that is comfortable and reasonably quiet - turn off the TV **


 * **Check you have everything you need before starting. **



If you get stuck. . .  Try the internet, encyclopedias, family, talking to Miss Wilton.

**Homework help**


 * Try your best with your homework. Do what you can. If you do not understand . . .it's OK . . . Miss Wilton has a HOMEWORK HELP box on the whiteboard. Bring your homework along to school at the beginning of the week (don't leave it to the last minute, that's when we can get stressed) and write your name up onto the box. Miss Wilton checks this daily and will find time to help you one on one. Write down any questions you may have. OR you could ask your parents, brothers/ sisters or grandparents for help.**


 * __I do expect you to make a good effort and attempt with your homework.__** [[image:child_standards width="113" height="194"]]

**Reading** Children should be reading for **__at least__ 10-15 minutes each night** and recording this in their Reading Diary. Year 4 students are expected to be taking their own responsibility for recording their reading. There are examples in the diaries to show the layout. It is important your child has a range of reading to you, reading with you and reading for themselves. A range of texts will keep students interested; books, magazines, travel brochures when away on holiday, newspapers, recipes, modelling instructions for toys. . . any type of reading is great!

 **Spelling** This year students will be working on the essential lists. The spelling lists make up three quarters of their writing, so they are important. These lists have been arrange din alphabetical order and arranged in lists to how often they are used. The words in List 1 re used most often, List 2 next often and so on. **Because they are used so often, it is important your child learns to spell and correctly use each one.** You can assist your child and their teacher by not only having your child instantly recall the spelling words but also by supporting them to use them in their recreational writing. It is expected the students will be able to spell them not only on the following Friday spelling test but for the rest of their writing time in the classroom. Some students can learn them for a week but then forget how to spell them correctly. We want children to hold onto the correct spelling all the time.

 **Maths** The Maths homework set for students each week derives from the “Help Me At Home Student Workbook” which has been written to support the Numeracy Project taught in NZ schools. It will all be what is known as “number knowledge.” To see the New Zealand Curriculum Numeracy stages expectations, please open the PDF below. It shows the expected stage of Maths at each year level. To gain a deeper understanding please have a look on the **nzmaths website**. Games and Activities that reinforce and consolidate numeracy learning

The Strategy Section
The Strategy section of the Number Framework describes a series of stages that children progress through as they develop their understanding of a range of strategies for solving number problems. There are eight stages altogether, with the first three often grouped together: There are three areas, or 'domains' within the Strategy section, which describe a child's ability to solve different types of problems (additive, multiplicative and proportional). Your child is likely to be learning a broad range of strategies in their classroom mathematics programme. One of the ways that you can most easily support them is to help them develop the knowledge that they will need to be able to use these strategies.
 * **Stage 0-3: Counting from One** - children can solve problems by counting from one, either using materials or in their head.
 * **Stage 4: Advanced Counting** - children can solve problems by counting in ones, or by skip counting, starting from numbers other than one.
 * **Stage 5: Early Additive** - children can solve simple problems by splitting up and adding together the numbers in their head.
 * **Stage 6: Advanced Additive** - children use a range of different methods to solve more challenging problems in their head.
 * **Stage 7: Advanced Multiplicative** - children use a range of different methods to solve multiplication and division problems in their head.
 * **Stage 8: Advanced Proportional** - children can solve complicated problems involving fractions, decimals and percentages using a combination of methods.

The Knowledge Section
The Knowledge section is usually broken down into five areas, referred to as 'domains': Numeral Identification, Number Sequence and Order, Grouping/Place Value, Basic Facts, and Written Recording. We have provided a collection of suggested activities that parents and families can use, grouped under three domains: The activities in each domain are grouped by the stage of development they are most suitable for. To choose the appropriate stage, either use the brief descriptions under the Strategy Section above, ask your child's teacher, or choose a range of activities to see which are suitable. Click to select [| activities by stage and domain].
 * **Number Identification and Order** - activities to help children learn to read numbers and know the order of numbers.
 * **Place Value** - activities to help children learn how 10s, 100s, 1000s, tenths, hundredths, thousandths etc are used.
 * **Number Facts** - activities that will help children learn their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.

Without the ‘knowledge,’ that is knowing the basic numeracy facts, it is difficult for a student to progress through the strategy stages being taught in the classroom. Students move through the strategy stages at different rates and may be working on different stages given a certain problem. This is often a result of gaps in key knowledge; hence it CANNOT be stressed enough the importance of learning the basic facts. How your child learns their basic facts is not as important as knowing them.

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Seacoast Mental Health Center, Portsmouth, NH
Homework has been around as long as public schools have, and over the years considerable research has been conducted regarding the efficacy of homework practices. While the results are not uniform, most experts on the topic have drawn some common conclusions.

**Background**
Harris Cooper, a leading homework researcher, examined more than 100 studies on the effects of homework. Despite mixed research on homework effects, many teachers believe that assigning homework offers other benefits besides contributing to school achievement. Homework teaches children how to take responsibility for tasks and how to work independently. That is, homework helps children develop //habits// //of mind// that will serve them well as they proceed through school and, indeed, through life. Specifically, homework helps children learn how to plan and organize tasks, manage time, make choices, and problem solve, all skills that contribute to effective functioning in the adult world of work and families.

**Strategies to Make Homework Go More Smoothly**
There are two key strategies parents can draw on to reduce homework hassles. The first is to establish clear routines around homework, including when and where homework gets done and setting up daily schedules for homework. The second is to build in rewards or incentives to use with children for whom "good grades" is not a sufficient reward for doing homework.

**Homework Routines**
Tasks are easiest to accomplish when tied to specific routines. By establishing daily routines for homework completion, you will not only make homework go more smoothly, but you will also be fostering a sense of order your child can apply to later life, including college and work.
 * //Step 1. Find a location in the house where homework will be done.//** The right location will depend on your child and the culture of your family. Some children do best at a desk in their bedroom. It is a quiet location, away from the hubbub of family noise. Other children become too distracted by the things they keep in their bedroom and do better at a place removed from those distractions, like the dining room table. Some children need to work by themselves. Others need to have parents nearby to help keep them on task and to answer questions when problems arise. Ask your child where the best place is to work. Both you and your child need to discuss pros and cons of different settings to arrive at a mutually agreed upon location.
 * //Step 2. Set up a homework center.//** Once you and your child have identified a location, fix it up as a home office/homework center. Make sure there is a clear workspace large enough to set out all the materials necessary for completing assignments. Outfit the homework center with the kinds of supplies your child is most likely to need, such as pencils, pens, colored markers, rulers, scissors, a dictionary and thesaurus, graph paper, construction paper, glue and cellophane tape, lined paper, a calculator, spell checker, and, depending on the age and needs of your child, a computer or laptop. If the homework center is a place that will be used for other things (such as the dining room table), then your child can keep the supplies in a portable crate or bin. If possible, the homework center should include a bulletin board that can hold a monthly calendar on which your child can keep track of longterm assignments. Allowing children some leeway in decorating the homework center can help them feel at home there, but you should be careful that it does not become too cluttered with distracting materials.
 * //Step 3. Establish a homework time.//** Your child should get in the habit of doing homework at the same time every day. The time may vary depending on the individual child. Some children need a break right after school to get some exercise and have a snack. Others need to start homework while they are still in a school mode (i.e., right after school when there is still some momentum left from getting through the day). In general, it may be best to get homework done either before dinner or as early in the evening as the child can tolerate. The later it gets, the more tired the child becomes and the more slowly the homework gets done.
 * //Step 4. Establish a daily homework schedule.//** In general, at least into middle school, the homework session should begin with your sitting down with your child and drawing up a homework schedule. You should review all the assignments and make sure your child understands them and has all the necessary materials. Ask your child to estimate how long it will take to complete each assignment. Then ask when each assignment will get started. If your child needs help with any assignment, then this should be determined at the beginning so that the start times can take into account parent availability. A Daily Homework Planner is included at the end of this handout and contains a place for identifying when breaks may be taken and what rewards may be earned.

**Incentive Systems**
Many children who are not motivated by the enjoyment of doing homework are motivated by the high grade they hope to earn as a result of doing a quality job. Thus, the grade is an incentive, motivating the child to do homework with care and in a timely manner. For children who are not motivated by grades, parents will need to look for other rewards to help them get through their nightly chores. Incentive systems fall into two categories: simple and elaborate.
 * //Simple incentive systems.//** The simplest incentive system is reminding the child of a //fun activity to do// //when homework is done.// It may be a favorite television show, a chance to spend some time with a video or computer game, talking on the telephone or instant messaging, or playing a game with a parent. This system of withholding fun things until the drudgery is over is sometimes called Grandma's Law because grandmothers often use it quite effectively ("First take out the trash, then you can have chocolate chip cookies."). Having something to look forward to can be a powerful incentive to get the hard work done. When parents remind children of this as they sit down at their desks they may be able to spark the engine that drives the child to stick with the work until it is done.
 * //Elaborate incentive systems.//** These involve more planning and more work on the part of parents but in some cases are necessary to address more significant homework problems. More complex incentives systems might include a structure for earning points that could be used to "purchase" privileges or rewards or a system that provides greater reward for accomplishing more difficult homework tasks. These systems work best when parents and children together develop them. Giving children input gives them a sense of control and ownership, making the system more likely to succeed. We have found that children are generally realistic in setting goals and deciding on rewards and penalties when they are involved in the decision-making process.
 * //Building in breaks.//** These are good for the child who cannot quite make it to the end without a small reward en route. When creating the daily homework schedule, it may be useful with these children to identify when they will take their breaks. Some children prefer to take breaks at specific time intervals (every 15 minutes), while others do better when the breaks occur after they finish an activity. If you use this approach, you should discuss with your child how long the breaks will last and what will be done during the breaks (get a snack, call a friend, play one level on a video game). The Daily Homework Planner includes sections where breaks and end-of-homework rewards can be identified.
 * //Building in choice.//** This can be an effective strategy for parents to use with children who resist homework. Choice can be incorporated into both the order in which the child agrees to complete assignments and the schedule they will follow to get the work done. Building in choice not only helps motivate children but can also reduce power struggles between parents and children.

**Developing Incentive Systems**
Once the system is up and running, and if you find your child is earning more penalties than rewards, then the program needs to be revised so that your child can be more successful. Usually when this kind of system fails, we think of it as a design failure rather than the failure of the child to respond to rewards. It may be a good idea if you are having difficulty designing a system that works to consult a specialist, such as a school psychologist or counselor, for assistance. We have found that it is a rare incentive system that works the first time. Parents should expect to try it out and redesign it to work the kinks out. Eventually, once the child is used to doing the behaviors specified in the contract, the contract can be rewritten to work on another problem behavior. Your child over time may be willing to drop the use of an incentive system altogether. This is often a long-term goal, however, and you should be ready to write a new contract if your child slips back to bad habits once a system is dropped.
 * //Step 1. Describe the problem behaviors.//** Parents and children decide which behaviors are causing problems at homework time. For some children putting homework off to the last minute is the problem; for others, it is forgetting materials or neglecting to write down assignments. Still others rush through their work and make careless mistakes, while others dawdle over assignments, taking hours to complete what should take only a few minutes. It is important to be as specific as possible when describing the problem behaviors. The problem behavior should be described as behaviors that can be seen or heard; for instance, //complains about h////omework// or //rushes through homework, making many// //mistakes// are better descriptors than //has a bad attitude// or //is lazy.//
 * //Step 2. Set a goal.//** Usually the goal relates directly to the problem behavior. For instance, if not writing down assignments is the problem, the goal might be: "Joe will write down his assignments in his assignment book for every class."
 * //Step 3. Decide on possible rewards and penalties.//** Homework incentive systems work best when children have a menu of rewards to choose from, since no single reward will be attractive for long. We recommend a point system in which points can be earned for the goal behaviors and traded in for the reward the child wants to earn. The bigger the reward, the more points the child will need to earn it. The menu should include both larger, more expensive rewards that may take a week or a month to earn and smaller, inexpensive rewards that can be earned daily. It may also be necessary to build penalties into the system. This is usually the loss of a privilege (such as the chance to watch a favorite TV show or the chance to talk on the telephone to a friend).
 * //Step 4. Write a homework contract.//** The contract should say exactly what the child agrees to do and exactly what the parents' roles and responsibilities will be. When the contract is in place, it should reduce some of the tension parents and kids often experience around homework. For instance, if part of the contract is that the child will earn a point for not complaining about homework, then if the child //does// complain, this should not be cause for a battle between parent and child: the child simply does not earn that point. Parents should also be sure to praise their children for following the contract. It will be important for parents to agree to a contract they can live with; that is, avoiding penalties they are either unable or unwilling to impose (e.g., if both parents work and are not at home, they cannot monitor whether a child is beginning homework right after school, so an alternative contract may need to be written).