Good Study Skills – What To Look For
Homework
Homework completion is important for three different reasons.
There has been a recent movement away from homework, based on some recent reviews of research that showed no study has ever found evidence of benefit in early years and modest evidence of benefit in the later years. Grade 7 is situated right at the transition between these two periods. My homework policy has shifted in recent years from “making sure there is some” to “assigning it when I feel it is needed”. If in doubt, I will err on the side of less rather than more. In practice, there is still almost always things on the planner board, but the volume of homework in my class is less than it was 5 or 6 years ago. The actual amount of homework your child will have will depend on their abilities and how they are using class time. Unfortunately, the net result is that if your child seems to never have homework, they are either doing particularly well, or they are on the opposite end of the spectrum.
So how do you know whether things are going well or not? Below are three concrete things to look for. We all want each student to do as well as they can in school, which means getting all assignments completed to the best of their ability. But if your child is not completing assignments and falling behind, I strongly recommend focusing on the three items listed below. There is little point in focusing on homework completion if your child is not doing these foundational study skills.
Homework completion is important for three different reasons.
- Some assignments are collected on the due date in order for me to provide feedback and/or to assign a grade.
- Some homework due dates are in place to help students keep up with a complex series of tasks.
- Some homework is given to prepare students for the next lesson either cognitively or to make sure they have certain material to work with.
There has been a recent movement away from homework, based on some recent reviews of research that showed no study has ever found evidence of benefit in early years and modest evidence of benefit in the later years. Grade 7 is situated right at the transition between these two periods. My homework policy has shifted in recent years from “making sure there is some” to “assigning it when I feel it is needed”. If in doubt, I will err on the side of less rather than more. In practice, there is still almost always things on the planner board, but the volume of homework in my class is less than it was 5 or 6 years ago. The actual amount of homework your child will have will depend on their abilities and how they are using class time. Unfortunately, the net result is that if your child seems to never have homework, they are either doing particularly well, or they are on the opposite end of the spectrum.
So how do you know whether things are going well or not? Below are three concrete things to look for. We all want each student to do as well as they can in school, which means getting all assignments completed to the best of their ability. But if your child is not completing assignments and falling behind, I strongly recommend focusing on the three items listed below. There is little point in focusing on homework completion if your child is not doing these foundational study skills.
Signs of trouble
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