You can find articles and opinions online to back either side of the homework debate. Conflicting information is not surprising given the differences between schools, school districts, parental involvement, types of homework, and even a school’s definition of homework. Homework is a component of the learning process. The purpose of homework is to help students deepen their understanding of concepts and skills taught in class. Homework provides additional practice opportunities to help increase the student's work towards mastery of new skills. Homework should have a clear purpose and provide feedback for the student. A general guideline to remember is ten minutes for each grade level (5th grade~50 minutes). Students should also be reading each day. If your child is hesitant to pick up a book, then consider other options for them to access text. Can they be readers online, in an automobile brochure, the newspaper, or in print magazines? The following list contains homework tips collected from our teachers: Kindergarten (Mrs. Klatt) Work with your child in an area that is free of distractions. Have pencil, crayons, scissors, and glue available. Use the handwriting sheet from the home visits for proper formation of letters. Writing of name and other letters/words should be done in pencil. Read and discuss directions with your child before beginning work. When completed, have your child place homework back in the red folder and the red folder into his/her backpack. Depending on the assignment, time spent doing work should be 10-20 minutes. Daily reading with your child should be a relaxed, enjoyable shared time. When they begin reading to you, give them lots of gentle encouragement. You want to establish a life-long love for this activity. Rhythm and melody are often used at school to memorize. Review at home with these same techniques will help your child. Let him/her be the leader of these practices by teaching you what was learned in school. Grade 1-2 (Mrs. Pierick) They should have a quiet spot to do their work. They should have a school box of duplicate school supplies that they use at school. Parents need to make sure 1st graders understand the directions before they start to work. Second graders should be allowed to work independently. They should ask questions if they need help with a specific item. Parents should not check the child’s work, rather check to make sure the work is completed before signing the assignment sheets. Listen to your child read aloud. Spend five minutes a day practicing flashcards. Grade 3-4 (Mrs. Kreutz) Find a quiet, comfortable place to study. Stay hydrated while you work. Before beginning your homework, write down an approximate length of time you think it will take to complete each subject. Then, set a timer at the beginning of each subject work time to help you stay focused. Take a 1-2 minute break between subjects to get a drink or stretch. Put a question mark by problems you don’t know and move on. When you finish the subject, go back and try again. If you still can’t answer the question, ask a parent, older sibling, or your teacher the next day at school. Grade 5-6 (Mr. Klatt) The homework snowball. Do homework starting with what is easiest and quickest to complete. Students will see that they are getting work accomplished, subjects quickly checked off the list and motivated to continue. Stay organized. Keep folders clear of unnecessary papers, but make sure your child is part of the process so needed papers are removed. Do not mix graded papers with ungraded papers. Make sure that homework that comes out of a folder goes back into the folder after being completed. Grade 7-8 (Mrs. Hermanson) One important aspect of homework is regular reading. The current recommendation is that students spend 20 minutes of their homework time per day reading. There are many benefits to doing this, not the least of which is: “Students who scored 90% better than their peers on reading tests, read for more than 20 minutes a day – exposing them to 1.8 million words a year.” - Phoenix Academy. (In contrast, students in the 10th percentile read for less than one minute per day outside of school.) It is also helpful in other academic areas since most other classes are based on the ability to read. There is even research to support that a person who reads more can increase their intelligence. Now that’s pretty amazing! This is why many of our ORLS teachers require their students to do regular book reports - to get them reading daily with the hope of them becoming lifelong readers. Please support and encourage their efforts to find books they enjoy and to have regular reading time. It will have long-term benefits! Grade 7-8 (Mr. Peck) Create organized and clutter free space to work on homework. Begin with the student setting time goals to estimate how long each assignment should take. Set a timer so they can monitor their progress. Schedule a consistent time for homework after school. Parents can help with clarifying questions like reviewing directions or project rubrics, but students should be working independently. If students finish all assignments due the next day, use the extra time to read, study for a test, review notes, work on a long-term project, or learn something new through a site like Khan Academy or Crash Course (YouTube). Memorization Techniques & Tips for Hymnology Read and repeat short phrases. Add a chunk at a time. Write the hymn by hand several times. Sing the hymn. Music is a powerful way to engage memory. Listen to a recording of the hymn. Play the eraser game: Read. Erase some words. Read. Repeat. Review the hymn overall several days, don’t cram the day before. Review before you go to bed, and immediately when you wake up in the morning. Speak the hymn in rhythm aloud.