Our district has recently revisited the practice of assigning homework. I have never been a huge proponent of assigning tons of homework. My philosophy is that homework is helpful if it provides students with meaningful practice, helps to build confidence, and helps students to acquire and maintain critical skills.
Over the last year, all educators have really dialed back on homework in an effort to attend to students' social/emotional wellness and in the interest of maintaining parent sanity. I know you join me in hoping that next year will really be a return to normal. Typically, our fifth-grade team has also shared the philosophy that homework should be reasonable and meaningful. I fully anticipate that all fifth graders will have homework in the fall. Now that we are back fully in person, I will start to insist that students fulfill some minimal homework expectations. Beginning this week, homework expectations are as follows:
Reading: 20 minutes of silent reading Monday through Thursday evenings (silent reading is recommended seven days a week) There will be occasional accountability checks. PLEASE support your child in developing this important habit. Truly, reading will help your child to excel in ALL curriculum areas. Students who do not develop a reading habit will be more apt to fall behind their peers across all subjects, including mathematics.
Math: 20 minutes of STMath daily completing a minimum of 12 puzzles (You can check your child's progress as they work...ask him or her how. I am also happy to show you how. Please contact me if you need assistance. As you know, the STMath goals are often completed IN SCHOOL. Students are asked to work toward their time and puzzle requirements at home if the work was unable to be completed in school.
Practicing math facts as needed. We have finished our unit on division and fractions. Students with fact fluency have had a much easier time with these units. As the year concludes, we will continue to work with fractions as they are a major fourth-grade focus. (We'll also be studying geometry and measurement.) I can't emphasize how important multiplication fact fluency is to the mastery of our fourth-grade fraction standards. Please continue to encourage your child to practice and learn his or her multiplication facts. Knowing their facts by heart will make tackling the content in future fourth-grade units, as well as fifth-grade units, so much easier for the students. Students who know their facts by heart are far more confident and take more risks in math class. Anything you can do at home to build fact fluency will be greatly appreciated by the teachers at Hogwarts. Working on fact fluency twice a week for about five minutes each session is enough for the typical fourth-grader.
I will email parents to let you know if your child is NOT completing homework from week to week. Frequent parent check-ins with students will help to show your child that you care and that this small amount of homework is important.
