Homework

Clipart from Discovery Education

Homework.  Some of us love it...some of us not so much.  Most of our school work will be completed at school.  There may be times when your child has not completed work at school and they may need to take it home to complete.  If that is the case, you will be notified via the daily calendar in the Polser folder.  

Very rarely, maybe once or twice this year, the grade level will have a project your child will complete at home.  You will be notified of that in advance.  

Other than that, I do not have a required homework policy.  I advocate and celebrate self-directed learning at home.  I do have some suggestions for you and your child to consider.  Again, these are suggestions.  I am sure you and your child will have even better ideas.  

Spelling:
Every week that we are in school on a Monday, your child will bring home a collection for words for spelling practice at home.  Feel free to practice these any way you would like.  I will send home some suggestions of researched based ways to study that have proven to be effective.  I have also created a Spelling City online website on which your child may practice their words.  Your child does not need to bring anything back to school saying they practiced.  I will know if they have practiced when we have our weekly spelling checks on Friday, but more importantly your child will know.  


Reading:
Good readers read both in and outside of school.  They read many things--books, magazines, newspapers, even comic books.  They read things that interest them.  I suggest that your child read (or better yet, you read with them) for at least 20 minutes every day. Your child will have a book in their Polser folder starting the week of September 16th that is on their reading level. (We are still currently conducting reading assessments.) Your child may choose to read the book I provide or any other reading material that is of interest to them.  I would love hear about great books your child is reading.  There are many ways your child could share this with me such as tweeting or emailing me (with parent supervision), drawing a picture, writing about their favorite books, recording themselves reading using free creations apps such as Audio Boo, creating a book trailer using a free creation app such as Educreations, or even just having a good old fashioned face to face conversation with me.  I do not require that your child keep a reading log or even do any of the previously mentioned things.  I will know if your child is investing time at home reading when I listen to him/her read at school, but more importantly, your child will know.   

Math:
Mathematicians practice and apply their skills both inside and outside of school. I suggest that your child spend some time each week reviewing what they have learned in math.  Your child will have online access to FASTTMath at home so they can practice their facts soon.  (I am waiting for the district to finish setting this up for the current school year.)    I will send home a review sheet on Tuesday that covers concepts we learned the previous week.  Your child may return this sheet if he/she would like me to see it or if they have any questions. I do not require this to be turned in.  I will know if your child is investing time practicing math concepts at home when we are solving problems at school, but more importantly, your child will know.  

Happy learning!