Homework
Beginning the second full week of school, students will begin the regular homework program under the second and third grade homework tabs. The assignments for the week will be in your child’s homework folder each Friday and are due the following Friday.
The Torrance Unified School District has recommended that second and third grade students should spend 20 or 30 minutes per night, respectively, reading independently; and 30 or 40 minutes, respectively, completing written work. You'll find that most often, your child will not have this much homework. I do not feel that homework is always an accurate indicator of your child's learning, and research has shown that having a lot of homework every night actually has a negative effect on student achievement. If your child consistently needs more than 50 minutes to an hour on a typical night to complete homework (including independent reading), please let me know.
Late Homework. Better late than never...students may turn in homework late, but there will be consequences! After the second week of school, if any part of the homework is incomplete or missing (including the reading calendar), students will be fined for each missing piece of homework and the effort grade for homework will drop one grade for the week. Most parents choose to have their children turn in assignments late even though no credit will be given, so the child gains the academic benefits from the work. Occasionally true emergencies come up. Please know that two or three missed assignments each trimester will not hurt a child’s overall grade and students receive no negative consequence for not turning in work for legitimate reasons. I appreciate your cooperation with regards to my late work policy, and I assure you that the entire class benefits from the way it decreases the time devoted to checking homework each day and increases time for learning.
If you notify the office of an excused absence, please let me know that you did so with a quick note in the homework folder or by email so I can send home make-up work. Many of the activities we do in class are hands-on, involve class discussion or teamwork, or are otherwise unable to be duplicated at home. For these assignments, I simply mark the student in my grade book as having had an excused absence so they are neither penalized nor credited for it. No make-up work is provided for unexcused absences. Make-up work for excused absences is due two days after the student returns to school (i.e., for a Monday absence, the student returns to school and gets the make up work on Tuesday and must turn it in by Thursday in order to receive credit).
Students MUST get a parent signature on the homework cover sheet AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK. Due to work schedules and other conflicts, it can sometimes be difficult for parents to check their children’s homework each night. If the child returns to school five days in a row with no parent signature on the reading calendar, a conference may be requested to discuss other ways of meeting the child’s needs. Grandparents, babysitters, adult siblings, and anyone else who can communicate regularly with the parent about the child’s work when the parent is unable to supervise it may sign as needed, upon the parent’s request with the teacher.
The Torrance Unified School District has recommended that second and third grade students should spend 20 or 30 minutes per night, respectively, reading independently; and 30 or 40 minutes, respectively, completing written work. You'll find that most often, your child will not have this much homework. I do not feel that homework is always an accurate indicator of your child's learning, and research has shown that having a lot of homework every night actually has a negative effect on student achievement. If your child consistently needs more than 50 minutes to an hour on a typical night to complete homework (including independent reading), please let me know.
Late Homework. Better late than never...students may turn in homework late, but there will be consequences! After the second week of school, if any part of the homework is incomplete or missing (including the reading calendar), students will be fined for each missing piece of homework and the effort grade for homework will drop one grade for the week. Most parents choose to have their children turn in assignments late even though no credit will be given, so the child gains the academic benefits from the work. Occasionally true emergencies come up. Please know that two or three missed assignments each trimester will not hurt a child’s overall grade and students receive no negative consequence for not turning in work for legitimate reasons. I appreciate your cooperation with regards to my late work policy, and I assure you that the entire class benefits from the way it decreases the time devoted to checking homework each day and increases time for learning.
If you notify the office of an excused absence, please let me know that you did so with a quick note in the homework folder or by email so I can send home make-up work. Many of the activities we do in class are hands-on, involve class discussion or teamwork, or are otherwise unable to be duplicated at home. For these assignments, I simply mark the student in my grade book as having had an excused absence so they are neither penalized nor credited for it. No make-up work is provided for unexcused absences. Make-up work for excused absences is due two days after the student returns to school (i.e., for a Monday absence, the student returns to school and gets the make up work on Tuesday and must turn it in by Thursday in order to receive credit).
Students MUST get a parent signature on the homework cover sheet AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK. Due to work schedules and other conflicts, it can sometimes be difficult for parents to check their children’s homework each night. If the child returns to school five days in a row with no parent signature on the reading calendar, a conference may be requested to discuss other ways of meeting the child’s needs. Grandparents, babysitters, adult siblings, and anyone else who can communicate regularly with the parent about the child’s work when the parent is unable to supervise it may sign as needed, upon the parent’s request with the teacher.