At RES, the school team constantly examines ongoing practices and reflects on whether they are still effective and supported by current research. Several studies in which parents were polled revealed that homework is an important source of family and student stress. In addition, a vast majority of studies show that at the lower elementary school level homework has little or no effect on student success.
Given that evidence, we have established the following homework guideline in order to decrease the amount of unnecessary homework. By doing this, we hope to decrease family and student stress, to encourage positive family discussions, family activities, and a shared family love of reading.
The teachers and staff of Rawdon Elementary School believe that:
- Home family time is precious and valuable;
- Teachers are responsible for covering the curriculum within school hours. Any work that teachers request be completed at home should be work that students can do within a minimum of time and with a minimum of help from adults.
- Communication between home and school is essential for student success. Individual teachers will communicate student progress in different ways such as feedback folders, quizzes, agenda and report cards.
- Should teachers feel that a student would benefit from extra work, they will communicate this directly to the parents/ guardians.
- Should parents/ guardians wish to work with their children on school related activities, they are free to contact the individual teachers for suggested work.
- The benefits of home reading are proven and should be prioritized as a daily home activity along with word study and the learning of basic math facts.
Specific Guidelines for end of Cycle 2 and Cycle 3
- As students near the end of Elementary School; study or reading projects may be assigned to develop autonomy and responsibility.