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Homework - For Parents
This page is designed to help you understand expectations on homework, and
how you can help your child succeed. The purpose of this page is to
supplement the information that I give to students.
Click on the links to find out about
Book recommendation
The Parent
Guide to Hassle-Free Homework, published by Scholastic, is an excellent book
for helping parents deal with homework issues (in math and other
subjects). It gives guidance on how to work with your child, plus specific
tips for math (including ways to help even if you don't understand the
math).
The book was written by a team from the Research Institute for Learning
Differences (Research ILD), a
Lexington-based non-profit that helps people of all ages with learning
differences.
How much homework?
I assign homework almost every night. The number of problems varies by
class, but the assignments are designed to take around 45 minutes per
night.
When the subject matter is difficult for the class, there are times when
students may not be adequately prepared to do the scheduled assignment. If
I feel that students will not be successful or may get frustrated working on
problems, I may
 | give a shorter assignment, |
| suggest that students work on their Problem of the Week or Geometer's
Sketchpad assignments, or |
| assign no homework at all. |
I sometimes give students time to start their assignments during
class.
Assignments are listed on my HomeworkNow.com
page. You're welcome to visit that page to check on your child's
homework. I post assignments by around 4:30pm for that evening.
How much is too much?
If your child is consistently spending more than an hour on math homework
each night, please let me know by e-mail (david.srebnick@ssdsboston.org),
by phone, or by sending a note in with your child so that I can follow up.
If a particular assignment is taking a long time (over an hour) and your
child is frustrated, it's OK to have them stop. Encourage them to
| write a brief note on their homework explaining what they didn't
understand, |
| ask questions in class, and |
| see me at a free period for extra help. |
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Grading textbook homework
Full credit on a textbook homework assignment will be given for students who
| make a serious effort to do most or all problems (it is not necessary to
get all the right answers) |
| show how they got their answers |
| hand in the assignment on time |
When the student doesn't understand a question, I ask that they write a
sentence or two to restate the problem, and to indicate what it was that they
didn't understand.
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Late Notices
The software I use for grades allows me to send e-mail notices automatically
for missing work. The format is a little impersonal, but the automation
allows me to send them more frequently so you'll get notified more
quickly. Work may be missing because
| the student didn't do it |
| the student forgot to hand it in or left it at home |
| the student was absent on the due date |
| the teacher made a clerical error |
Late policy
Homework serves several purposes. It reinforces class lessons and
helps build skills. It can be an early-warning system: when students have
trouble with a homework assignment, they can ask questions or get extra help
before they get too far behind. It also helps build time management and
work skills necessary in school and in professional life.
We often go over the answers to assignments in class. Students who
complete homework after we have gone over it in class receive a limited benefit
from it. They lose the opportunity to see a problem fresh and think
through it on their own.
| Daily textbook homework is due at the beginning of class.
Grades on late homework will be reduced by 50%. All homework for a
chapter must be submitted no later than the day of the chapter
test. Late homework will not be accepted after that time. |
| Problems of the Week and Skill Drills will not be accepted late.
I drop the lowest POW score each term. Students may do one make-up POW
per term to replace a missed assignment or low grade. To qualify for
make-up credit, they must also complete the POW or Skill Drill that they
missed. |
| Geometer's Sketchpad assignments will not be accepted after the due
date. I drop the lowest score each term, so that's essentially a
"free pass" for one assignment. I will be a bit more lenient
for the first assignment if students have technical problems setting up the
GSP software on their home computers. |
When a student is absent for 1-3 days, I will accept homework one day late
for each day of the absence. After a longer absence or unforeseen circumstance, please speak with me or send a note
(kid-mail, or send to david.srebnick@ssdsboston.org)
within two days of return and we'll work it out.
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How can you help?
I believe that all parents, regardless of their mathematical skill, can help
students be successful with homework and studying. Some basic things:
| Help your child view homework in a positive way as an important
part of learning. |
| Ensure that your child gets enough sleep. |
| Provide a quiet, well-lit place where your child can do his/her
homework without interruptions from television, telephones, music, or other
distractions. |
| Make sure that they turn off their instant messaging
software (MSN Messenger, ICQ, or AOL IM) while they're working. |
| Make sure that your child has the materials necessary to do
homework. This includes:
 | Textbook, handouts, assignment sheets |
| Access to the class HomeworkNow.com
page. |
| Paper: graph, lined and unlined |
| Stapler |
| Pencils and eraser |
| Ruler, protractor |
| Calculator, batteries |
| Computer (Intel PC or Apple) with software, including Microsoft Word
and Geometer's Sketchpad. Adobe Acrobat Reader (legally available
for free from Adobe) is useful as well. |
|
| Encourage your child to take breaks every so often. Research
shows that people learn better if they study for about 50 minutes, then take
a 10 minute break, and then continue. |
| Sometimes, a student will get stuck on a problem, and won't know how to
solve it. Learning research (and personal experience) tells us that it
is helpful to step away from a problem for a while (a few minutes, an
hour, or overnight). While you are doing other things, parts of your
brain continue to work on the problem even though you're not consciously
thinking about it. If your child is stuck on a problem and is
spending a lot of time on it, encourage him/her to
| Go on to another problem and come back to this one |
| Take a short break |
| Complete the parts of the homework that are easy, do homework from
another subject, and then come back to the difficult problem. |
|
| Find out if your child knows what the problem is asking. Some
problems use terms related to business (stocks, depreciation), money
(interest, discounts) or other fields. Your help explaining the
unfamiliar words might be just what is needed. Even if you don't
understand, make sure that your child...
| Looks in the glossary or index of their textbook for a
definition. |
| Looks up unfamiliar words in a dictionary. |
| Calls a classmate or former student for some help. |
|
| Read the problem out loud, or have your child read it out
loud. You'd be surprised how often this helps. |
| Ask your child to try and explain the problem to you. Even if
you don't quite understand it, trying to explain it may help him/her
understand the problem. |
| Encourage your child to write down a question to ask in
class. Make sure that the question is specific, and explains what
he/she does understand as well as what he/she doesn't understand. Some
examples:
| I didn't understand what the word ______ means. |
| I was able to set up the table and fill in the values properly, but I
couldn't find the right equation. |
| I looked the words "________" and "________" up in
the glossary, but I didn't understand how they related to the problem. |
|
| Give me feedback. If you have a concern about homework,
please let me know. |
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When the teacher errs
I consider it my responsibility to be clear with students about assignments
and due dates. When I give an assignment, I do the following:
| Direct the students to an assignment sheet that they should have, and
clearly point out which assignment is due. |
| Dictate the assignment to any student who requests it. |
| Post it on the class HomeworkNow.Com
page. |
When there is confusion about an assignment, I expect the students to:
| check their syllabus and do the homework that corresponds to the lesson we
did in class that day |
| check HomeworkNow.Com |
| call their "study buddy" or another classmate for clarification |
I never hold students responsible for my errors. When a student fails
to hand in an assignment due to an error of mine, we will find a way to make it
right without penalty.
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