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Back to School - Again!!

© Irene Taylor

It's that time of year again - Back to School time! If your school hasn't opened yet, it will soon!

Just this weekend, I was reading in the paper about the high costs of "going back to school" shopping. School supplies, notebooks, special calculators, clothes - those were just some of the things mentioned in the article, with the typical family spending well over $300 per child to get ready for the big day.

That got me thinking of some of the less-expensive ways to get ready - things parents can DO rather than things they need to buy. One of the things that the start of school brings is getting back to homework, an area that parents can definitely impact - for free!

Homework - now there's an interesting topic. We seem to have a bit of schizophrenia in the US about homework. On the one hand, we want our students to do well and excel in their studies, but on the other hand, we don't want to infringe on their "free" time with homework assignments.

So - why do teachers give homework anyway??

Here is a list of some of the reasons that teachers assign homework:

Review and Preparation

1. Homework can be given to review work that was taught in class.

2. Homework gives students the opportunity to practice skills they have already learned.

3. Certain assignments can help to get ready for tomorrow's lesson - perhaps reading a chapter for discussion, or preparing a piece of writing to be shared in class the following day.

4. More: http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17914...

Evaluation

1. Completed homework assignments can give teachers feedback on the effectiveness of a given lesson.

2. Homework also gives teachers feedback on the individual performance of students in order to design extra practice or enrichment lessons, and for grading purposes at times.

3. Homework can show areas that need to be re-taught, or areas that are already mastered, both for the class as a whole and for individuals.

Responsibility and Planning

1. Homework teaches students to be responsible for their work. That includes assuming the responsibility for knowing what the assignment is, having the necessary materials to complete the assignment, and getting the assignment back to school the next day.

2. Teaches students to plan and work with deadlines.

3. Teaches students to accept consequences for their actions, both positive when they complete assignments, and negative when they do not.

4. More: http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17914...

Enrichment

Any of the follow can be used as forms of enrichment homework:

1. Projects, reports, book reports

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