Have you been reading all of the research about homework? Are you thinking about taking the plunge and making changes to your homework program? Maybe you have children of your own, and you are noticing how homework is affecting family time or your child’s confidence. Or maybe you feel like conceptual learning is being outsourced for you to teach your child. Whatever the case may be, it is hard to hide from all of the research being posted to social media and inspiring blog posts all over the internet about homework.
After much reading of research on the effects of homework on young children, we decided to revamp our thinking about the traditional homework we have sent home for years now. In recent years, we used a homework log where children recorded the books they read, how long they read (at least 30 minutes daily), how they studied spelling, and how they studied math facts. We found that children weren’t always honest about their recordings. Perhaps it was because the homework log was not a meaningful exercise. It is also very possible that the homework log discouraged children from being authentic learners. Parents communicated they were setting timers to ensure their children read for at least 30 minutes.
As we reflected, we decided the homework log wasn’t an effective measure of accountability. Most importantly, the log didn’t encourage a love of learning. We wanted to send the message to parents that we truly wanted to partner with them to encourage children to learn through play, meaningful family time, and the natural curiosity children have if we give them time.
Our chalk talk to/with you is all about how we are trying to make it happen in our 2nd grade classroom. We hope you will be able to use this post as you rethink homework, create meaningful ways for your children to share their learning lives with one another (and with you!), and create an authentic way to embed accountability.
We have 66 families who have participated in our new program, and only 4 parents expressed the desire to have worksheets sent home (and we were able to redirect their requests by sending home one of our take home math kits). With any shift in thinking, there will always be some who voice concern- colleagues and parents. The request for worksheets was motivated by efficiency. They wanted a homework model that didn’t require time of them. These parents needed some support and ideas to help them understand we were not asking them to do more. By and large, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It all started with the following letter:
Dear Parents,
As we will be working closely as partners ensuring your child makes great home/school connections. We value you as your child’s first teachers and know you have wonderful, enriching conversations at home as a family. We also value the time and activities you plan beyond the school days and on weekends. We are not asking you to do more. We are hoping to capitalize on the wonderful experiences you already have with your child every day- with math, reading, science, and social studies. Our hope is to encourage a love of learning, curiosity, and social justice. So much of this can happen right at your dinner table, and through sharing our experiences from home. The only traditional homework will be unfinished classwork, and it will travel in a homework folder. This work will almost always be due the following day.
Next week, your child will have a menu to choose from each day (Tuesday-Thursday). Each day, they will share something they learned about either math, science, social studies, or reading. They will share something they learned at home about math by adding to a class padlet on the computer. They will create a “Did You Know” science fact, which will be used on a “Did You Know” Board inside our classroom (These facts will rotate until all of our facts have been shared). Each child will recommend a book they enjoyed at home on a recommendation display. For Social Studies, each child will create a picture with labels detailing their understanding about something they learned about history, notable people, geography, government, or economics. Every week the students will choose from menu items representing different subject areas.
The children thought of creative ways to do this. Here are some of their ideas:
- Read, read, read, and read some more- for the fun of it!
- Counting allowance- They said this is math, but when you start talking about who is on the coins and their significance, it adds social studies!
- Looking at a Map- This is about geography, and there are a lot of great tools on a map- compass rose, map keys, and coordinates (which adds math!)
- Reading Nonfiction- This could be a blend of reading and science/social studies/or even math!
- Going out to eat! This creates an opportunity to read a menu, compare prices of items, or use a phone calculator to help add up the family’s orders!
- Visiting our 2nd grade website for some purposeful technology:http://casis2nds.weebly.com/
- Cooking! They were quick to point out that cooking blends science, math, and reading! We read Cook-A-Doodle-Doo. Attached is a picture of the recipe from the book.
We would love to have some pictures of your child growing their thinking about reading, science, math, and social studies at home!
Thanks,
Stacey and Brennan
**Here is one of the menus the children get at the beginning of the week. They choose 3 of the 4 activities during the week.
We have only experienced a couple of months of our “Home-School Connection", and we have been busy saving student samples, parent reflections, and the pictures parents are sending of their children learning at home. Next year, we will be armed with so many visuals and testimonies from children and parents, which will be a great help as we orient our new families. This year we have seen so much enthusiasm from the students about their work at home and the conversations at school are inspiring other students to create, talk, and explore at home. Here are some pictures of our children learning at home.
This student was given the time and his parents’ trust to mix the ingredients for an organic glass cleaner. He was able to read the recipe, use fractions to measure the ingredients, and experience chemistry in a meaningful way as he built a sense of autonomy helping his family.
Below, this student combined purposeful play to create a pulley system using her own body weight to lift her little sister in a homemade chair made from a rope. With supervision, time, and some simple household items, this proud 2nd grader built her own machine! Unbeknownst to her, she was using play to learn about force and motion.
The students below used a weekend afternoon to make lemonade. They shopped for the ingredients, read the recipe, measured ingredients, decided on a price, and sold lemonade to neighbors. They made change, and when the day was done, they counted their money. What a great way to learn economics, mixing solids and liquids, counting money, and saving money!
To help students and parents, we have created a check out system for math games. We call them our Take Home Math Kits. Most of the games have been recreated from the book Well Played by Linda Dacey, Karen Gartland, Jane Bamford Lynch. To organize a self checkout system, we have a bulletin board, and each child has a clothespin labeled with their name. Each game has a notecard with the game’s name on it, and when a child checks out a game, they place the card in their clothespin. This helps us know who has games checked out. These games generate strategic math discourse.
Just like our students, we are growing our thinking. We know we will continue to refine how we tap into the wealth families offer at home. The beauty of it is time with children doesn’t cost families anything. Something as simple as a dinnertime conversation can enrich children, and when they bring this enrichment to school, it enriches the classroom community. WIN-WIN!
Articles we read:
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