Homework
Your child will be receiving an agenda that he or she will be using to record the nightly assignments in. If there was a problem with that the assignments will also be posted on this website daily. I stick to the Plymouth Public School guidelines which state that you should be getting approximately 45 minutes per night. You can always do more, but not less. Fifth graders need to get into the habit of doing homework every night. Parents certainly can guide through homework assignments but parents please do not DO the homework for your child. Your child needs to do the writing. If you are unable to guide your child through an assignment, please indicate it on the assignment itself. You can always email me with any concerns you are having as well.
Homework made easier!
Find a time and a place for homework. Most kids find that sitting down and doing it right after school works best. That way they will have the rest of the day for play. The place that you do your homework it important too! Where do you get your work done which makes it easy for you to focus? Do you need a quiet place with few to no distractions? Or are you the kind of kid that can tune out the world around you and get it done with talking and television on? Make a homework spot for yourself that works best for you. Once you have your spot, gather your tools. Find a box or something that will hold sharpened pencils, erasers and crayons so that you aren't spending time looking for things instead of getting it done.
General Homework Guidelines
For the most part, the homework stays the same all year. If there are any changes in the week I will let you know through the weekly newsletter. If there is a day of change, I will have your child write it down in his or her agenda. The daily homework assignments will also be posted on the website.
Math homework will usually look like a math worksheet Monday through Thursday nights. You will also see a list of words to practice weekly. By the fifth grade, you child should possess a fluency with multiplication facts. If your child is not quite there yet, I would highly recommend taking some time to get him or her there. Fluency with multiplication just makes the work easier. I would recommend using timestables.com to work on whatever tables your child has not mastered.
We will be working on a variety of skills with our word work this year. I use both the Words Their Way spelling program and a vocabulary program called Wordly Wise. Each night of homework your child will have to work with his or her list of words. Once a list of words has been practiced, a word work test will be given.
I want your child to read every night for at least 20 minutes. This reading can be done independently or with a grown up. The book should be "just right". A just right book is one that can be read without hesitations, but still has several words that will cause your son or daughter to stop and think.
There is usually no homework on the weekends EXCEPT for projects. I will give projects out periodically during the year. These may need so additional time during the weekends to complete.