Want+Homework?

= = = = = **Want Homework? ** =

Reading
A 15-20 minute reading session daily will help your child practice the strategies we teach at school. A good trick, as children bring home books they can read on their own, is to sit behind your child as she/he reads so that the work becomes theirs. They hold the book, they move their fingers under the words, they "mask" parts of words to look for vowels and word chunks, they use the pictures to help determine text.

Conversations about a story or book can encourage good thinking about motivation of characters, the point of the story, the lessons taught and the personal connections children find.

Math
Math will come home nearly every day, but ought to be practice of a skill we've worked on. If homework is particularly difficult, please make a note of it and we will go over it with your child.

Children should make a daily habit of working on basic addition and <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">subtraction math facts until answers can be given in less than 5 seconds.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Spelling
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">When spelling begins, your child will have a list of words to learn to spell <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">and use. We work with these words each day of the week, so children should <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">practically have them memorized by Day 4 in the week. More information about <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">spelling will come home shortly.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">If homework ever brings your child (or you) to tears of frustration, just <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">stop and let us know. There is a difference between work that is challenging <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">and work that is just beyond present capabilities and we want to all be <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">sensitive to the effects of each.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Homework does not need to be generated by a teacher. There are many excelent <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">websites and usually a google serch is the best way of finding what you want. <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">The the LINKS page has several good ideas listed. Other parent generated <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">homework might include reports, experiments, writing letters, following a <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">recipe, building, constructing, making up a dance or song, learning to play <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">a musical instrument, reading children's magazines, learning a new skill or <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">spending time working on an old one. If you want more of the "seat work" <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">type of homework, sheets can be downloaded from the web (Google Kid's Math, <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">or Science or whatever it is you're interested in) and workbooks can be <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">purchased at stores.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Give your child a box and ask what they think could be made from that. It <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">could be a store, car, spaceship, stage, animal body, whatever! Then get the <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">materials they need and offer help as needed.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Give your child a piece of posterboard and two dice. Challenge them to make <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">up a math game!

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Give your child a big piece of paper and suggest they create their own world <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">map of their own made up world!

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">As you drive, look for vowels on license plates and signs. Practice the <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">sounds.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">When you walk, read home address numbers as 1000s (eg. 4672, children would <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">say 4 thousand six hundred seventy two). Is it even or odd?

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Estimate how many steps it takes to get from one location to another.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Have a guessing jar. Fill with coins, jellybeans, marbles, buttons,etc. <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Start small and do often. Children will get very good at estimating amounts.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">When in the car, have your child figure out how many miles you drive.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Take out a map and plan a fake (or real!) vacation. Guess temperatures in <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">cities around the world. Check their guesses on the internet.

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">These are just a few ideas. You have many of your own. Direct them to the <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">parent page people and they can post! = =