Homework Procedures

Students copy their homework assignments from the board into their home-school journals as soon as they enter the classroom in the morning.   During the first month of school, I check whether assignments were copied correctly and after that point students are expected to do this independently with only occasional checks.  Children who have consistent difficulty with this task are partnered with another child to help them.  Students then turn in their home-school journals.  All papers to be turned in should be placed in the front pocket, and the pocket should be emptied nightly so there are no older papers left in.  If they are missing homework assignments, they fill out a Missing Work Form and put it in their journal.  The form requires them to document what work they are not turning in as well as a reason why.  These forms are kept on file at school for your review during conference time.  Students who are absent have 2 school days to turn in the work they missed- all assignments will be on their desk in an Absence folder and all they need to do is copy the missed homework assignments from a friend's home-school journal.  Occasionally students forget their work at home and ask to call home.  Because we have a phone in the classroom, I do allow this.  It is up to your discretion as a parent whether you to bring the work to school so your child can turn in assignments on time or teach him/her to be responsible for his/her own things.  (It’s a tough call!  You can decide on a case-by-case basis).  While they complete their morning work, I call them up to my desk individually as I check their homework.  If I see any glaring errors, I discuss them briefly with the child and may have him/her make corrections right then or as homework.  I check to see that all work has been completed and ask if there are any notes from home (it is the child’s responsibility to inform me if there are and carry the notes back and forth from school to home).   If I notice that multiple children are making the same mistakes, we go over the assignment as a class after morning work is completed.  (You may see this done in red crayon as your child corrects the work, or sometimes the mistakes are simply erased and the child puts the correct ones in their place).  Students who turn in all of their assignments during the week earn the right to participate in Fun Friday, which is a time to play logic games and work in centers from 1:30-2:00 on the last day of the week.  Students who did not turn in all of their work that week stay at their seats and complete the missing assignments or review work.