Homework: A chance to build responsibility!

October 26, 2021 | Posted in: Class Updates

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In fourth grade, homework serves two important purposes: It’s an opportunity to practice skills learned in class or to set the stage for new learning, and it also gives students an opportunity to develop the skills of being responsible for managing their assignments. In this post, I’ll review homework expectations in case you weren’t able to join us for curriculum night in September. (I think it’s relevant now that we’re “in the swing” of homework in class.)

What does a typical homework assignment look like?
As you’ve probably seen, most homework assignments are assigned toward the beginning of the week and are due later in the week. Typically there are up to two written assignments per week. One is usually a math assignment and gives students the opportunity to review different skills they learned the prior week. The second assignment could be a reading activity, a writing task, or even an assignment tied to social studies, science, social-emotional learning, etc. Additionally, students should dedicate about 30 minutes to independent reading each night, as well as nightly time to practice their basic math facts. (More on these last two items in a future post.)

How does my child know what’s for homework? (And how do I know?)
Whenever I assign a homework task (again, usually on a Monday or Tuesday, though there are exceptions), students copy the assignment from the board into their planners. (It’s important that they bring their planners each day.) They should be copying down the name of the assignment AND the due date in their planners. I try to make it around the room to check to make sure that students are accurately copying down the assignments. I do not have students write down the assignments of the 30(ish) minutes of nightly reading and the nightly math fact practice, as these are ALWAYS homework assignments. But I remind them that, just because it’s not written, they shouldn’t think it’s not expected.

Families sometimes ask me if I can post the homework assignments online. This is something that I purposefully don’t do. As students get older, their teachers will most likely post the homework assignments online for them, particularly as more and more assignments are completed online. But in elementary school, we see this as an opportunity to help kids develop the skills to responsibility copy their homework assignments into their planner, make sure they take home needed worksheets from their mailboxes, etc.

What if my fourth grader doesn’t have his or her homework on-time?
It happens! Who among us hasn’t missed a deadline on occasion? If your child doesn’t have his or her homework assignment ready on the due date, he or she will complete a homework alert, which is a letter home outlining what assignments were missing, why they weren’t ready, and what his or her plan is to get homework done in the future. Please sign it and send it back to school. We started using these in class last week, so several of you may have seen these come home. Please know that if one of these comes home, it’s NOT time to panic! As I said, this is a NORMAL part of being a developing student. Mistakes happen. If it becomes a habit, I’ll reach out to you to discuss how to best support your fourth grader. (Please note that homework is due in the morning, when they arrive at school. There’s no need to drive in and drop off worksheets left at home. It’s not because I’m looking to be extra tough on the kids, but rather, because it takes away a valuable opportunity for your fourth grader to have an experience that might help them to develop their personal organization skills or time management skills. I’m eager to work with your child to improve these areas, and my goal is never to simply penalize or embarrass a student.)

How can I help my fourth grader with homework?
I welcome your involvement when it comes to supporting your child with homework. If your child is struggling with their work, ESPECIALLY math homework, please encourage him or her to email me. (Again, I want students to learn to be good self-advocates when it comes to seeking out help.) I often have instructional videos and guides that I can send out to help with homework, so please ask! (Even if I don’t have a resource for you, I’m happy to work with your child in class. Plus, Google can be a good resource! :-D) If you’re finding that your child is regularly struggling with work, please let me know! I want to work with you to make homework a VALUABLE part of the learning process.

If you ever have questions about homework, please don’t hesitate to ask me!