Homework Practices

INTRODUCTION

Homework is a valuable instructional tool and research clearly shows that students who successfully complete homework achieve greater academic success in school, especially at the upper grades. At the lower grades homework is very effective in establishing positive attitudes towards school and developing good work habits. We also know that school success is built on a foundation of solid literacy and numeracy skills and there are many ways that parents can assist their children to develop these skills. Studies also show that students achieve academic success more consistently when parents/guardians are involved in their child's education.

Successful completion of homework depends on open communication among parents, teachers and students. All members of this partnership play an important role in developing and supporting positive homework practices. Open and regular communication among all partners is the most effective way to ensure understanding and success.

Homework is directly connected to the Ontario Curriculum and thus supports the student's achievement of provincial learning expectations in all subjects. Results of homework completion are reported in the provincial report card under the ‘learning skills' section.

DEFINITION OF HOMEWORK

Homework is defined as learning activities that are associated with the in-school program and which are completed outside the classroom.

THE PURPOSE OF HOMEWORK

Homework is intended to:
• reinforce and extend school experiences;
• assist students in assuming responsibility for their own learning;
• develop positive attitudes towards independent study and lifelong learning;
• encourage the development of self-discipline, good work habits, and time management skills;
• enable parents to become involved and to participate in their child's learning;
• encourage regular and on-going communication between parents and students about school;
• assist students in preparing for subsequent learning activities.

THE BENEFITS OF HOMEWORK

There are many benefits associated with homework, some of which are short term in nature and others that have more long term benefits.

Short Term
The short term benefits of homework include:
• an immediate impact on the retention and understanding of the learning material covered;
• the easing of time constraints on the amount of curricular material that can be covered in class;
• an opportunity for parents to monitor how their children are doing in school.

Long Term
The long term benefits include:
• improvement of students' study skills;
• improvement of students' attitude toward school;
• the realization that learning occurs everywhere not just at school;
• the development of student initiative, independence and sense of responsibility;
• the ability of parents to learn about their child's education, the progress they are making and the nature of the school curriculum;
• opportunities to encourage and compliment children on their achievements;
• the development of a life-long love of learning;
• opportunities for parents to communicate that education has a high priority;
• opportunities for students to become more independent problem solvers.

AMOUNT OF HOMEWORK

The rule of thumb for assigning homework is ten minutes per grade; children in grade one would benefit from ten minutes per day, while a student in grade four is expected to do about forty minutes per day.

Grades one to three: An average of 10-30 minutes per day.
Grades four to six:An average of 40 -60 minutes per day.
Grades seven to eight: An average of 70-80 minutes per day.

Although schools and parents are encouraged to follow this rule, it is important to keep the following in mind:
• This is a guide only.
• The amount of time spent on homework varies with the age and developmental level of the child as well as the child's interests and his ability to focus and to work independently.
• These times will vary from one day to another. There will be more some days while less work will be assigned on other days.
• When a student seems to be spending too much time on homework, the parents should try to find out how much time is spent on the actual task and how much time is taken up with other activities (playing, engaging in delaying and avoidance strategies , phone calls, etc.)
• Parents are encouraged to stick to the agreed amount of homework time even if the child says there is no homework. In this way, children can engage in extra independent reading or work on research projects.
• Homework includes being read to and independent reading.
• Homework also includes time spent on research, for example, the completion of projects.

TYPES OF HOMEWORK

There are different types of homework that are assigned with different goals in mind. The following are the four most common types of homework. It is possible that children will be assigned more than one type of homework a day.

Completion of Work
Often teachers will assign work to be done at home that is not completed at school. This helps students keep up with classroom work and of course will vary from one student to another, depending on many factors (how easy or difficult they find the work; their ability to remain focused on a task and their motivation for school).

Examples:
• completing computational exercises
• practice spelling words or dictée
• completing questions in a textbook

Practice and Application
Provides students with the opportunities to apply new knowledge, or review, revise and reinforce newly acquired skills.

Examples:
• consolidation exercises, e.g. math, including memorization of tables
• practicing for mastery e.g. spelling words
• practicing a musical instrument
• practicing words or phrases learnt in French Language Instruction
• reading for pleasure and essay writing

Extension Assignments
Extension assignments encourage students to pursue knowledge independently and imaginatively. These opportunities enrich classroom experiences, deepen understanding and relate learning to the real world.

Examples:
• writing a book review
• making or designing something for art
• investigations related to science and social studies
• researching topic related to history or local news and which may involve surfing the net.

Preparation
Provides opportunities for students to gain background information on a unit of study in
preparation for future lessons or units of study.

Examples:
• background reading and studying for tests
• reading parts of a novel or piece of literature for classroom discussion
• researching topics for an upcoming unit of study
• organizing notebooks and completing notes.

WHEN SHOULD PARENTS CONTACT THE SCHOOL ABOUT HOMEWORK?

When your child is consistently spending more than the recommended time on homework.
If your child is taking a long time to finish homework, it's important to investigate how he is spending his time. If you determine that he is putting forth his best efforts and is attempting to stay focused and on task, then talk to the school. It may be that your child is not using in-class time effectively and as a result is required to take more work home. If this is the problem, then work with the teacher to encourage your child to finish as much work at school as possible. Make sure that the teacher knows how long your child is spending on homework and try to reach a consensus about the best way to deal with this problem.

When your child does not appear to have the skills to complete homework.
Frustration with homework is often linked to not having the required skills to complete the homework. If your child struggles with homework on an ongoing basis and you find it necessary to ‘teach' her the skills needed to complete the required task, it is important to speak to the teacher. Once again, work with the teacher to develop a plan to deal with this problem. Do not hesitate to contact the teacher again if the plan isn't working. Parents are not expected to teach concepts in order for students to complete their homework. The teacher may inform you that your child lacks certain skills and some remedial work may be required or additional support put in place at school to help alleviate the problem.

When your child never brings homework home.
If your child never brings homework home, ask him about the normal practice in the classroom. Does anyone get homework and if so, why not him? It is possible that the only work assigned is to finish work not completed at school. If you wish to investigate further, then speak to the teacher. If your child is keeping up to date with class assignments and the teacher sees no need for additional homework, then the rest is up to you. Your child may benefit from other activities in the areas of sports or the arts that provide many valuable learning opportunities. Visiting interesting places, using the web to investigate areas of particular interest are all ways of providing learning opportunities outside the classroom.

HOMEWORK: A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibilities of the School Board
• Develops a homework policy that addresses the general purposes and expectations about homework to facilitate consistency across the board and within schools.

Responsibilities of the School
• Develops and communicate school guidelines for homework to be used by teachers, parents and students.
• Institutes school-wide practices that support homework - example, the use of an agenda.
• Provides information that will assist parents in helping their children at home (curriculum nights, newsletters, conferences and interviews)
• Provides information to parents on the importance of homework.

Responsibilities of the Teacher
• States clearly how the homework is related to the topic they are studying and states the purpose of the assignment.
• Informs students of the importance of homework and how it relates to school success.
• Assigns homework that is appropriate to the students' age, developmental level skills and maturity level.
• Teaches the study skills necessary for students to be successful independent learners.
• Provides support to parents on establishing homework routines.
• Shares expectations for homework with students and parents early in the year.
• Works cooperatively with other teachers to assign a reasonable amount of homework.
• Provides feedback to students by monitoring or evaluating homework.

Responsibilities of the Student:
• Has a clear understanding of the homework assignment, if not asks for clarification.
• Records the assignment in his/her agenda.
• Does the assignment in a timely manner.
• Studies appropriately for tests and assignments.
• Asks for help when needed.
• Manages in-school time effectively to complete as much work as possible.
• Completes work to the best of his/her ability.
• Checks/edits work as needed.

Responsibilities of the Parent:
• Provides encouragement and support for the completion of homework.
• Schedules a regular time for homework and helps their children plan around extra-curricular activities.
• Establishes a place for homework that has the necessary materials and is free from distractions.
• Provides help with homework as needed but decreases the amount of assistance when the time is right.
• Helps their children see the relevance of homework and acts as a role model, actively engaged in learning activities.
• Helps their children set goals for homework.
• Encourages reading as an important part of homework routines
• Keeps in touch with the teacher and stays informed.
• Helps their children deal with distractions; for example, television and computer games and sets limits when necessary, to ensure homework completion.
• Helps their children organize themselves and checks that the task is understood.

Click here to view this Shared Responsiblities information in an easily printable chart form.