Local Radar

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Reported letter from Edgefield County School District

web posted March 29, 2007
March 26, 2007

Dear Families,

What would it be like if we didn’t have homework?  We have had some discussions around here about this very topic.  I am sure you have heard this subject discussed on the news shows lately.  This is topic that swings back and forth if you trace its history.

We work very hard during the day while your child is here at school.  We no longer have enough time in the day to do all we need to do so every minute has to count.  By the time school is out your child should be exhausted.  Many children are involved in after school activities-which we wholeheartedly support.  Every child needs an opportunity to participate in a sport, dance or church activity.

We hear very often that parents and children “fuss” over the homework.  It is often frustrating for parents because you did not hear the actual lesson and instructions, and it upsets your child that you “don’t do it like my teacher”.

Homework not only causes fussing in many homes, but it causes problems here at school.  Children that do not follow the directions of completing homework lose points off their grades.

Yet another reason homework causes problems is just because a child needs the time to be a child.  Children need time to be able to run around outside, swing, play with the neighborhood children, etc.  Extensive homework takes away from the opportunity to just be a child.

We are proposing that for the remainder of the year (beginning after spring break) that we stop the practice of giving written homework for children.  This does not mean that you and your child should stop working on things together.  It does not mean that you should not question your child every day about what goes on at school.  You should still have your child read at least 15 minutes- either they read to you or you read to them.  Even 5th graders enjoy someone reading to them (no matter how they pretend they do not!).  The more a child reads the better reader the child will become.  READ to SUCCEED!

Your child will still have spelling words and vocabulary words they will be responsible for learning each week.  We do a lot of work with these words in class daily, but you still need to make sure that your child knows and understands the words for the week.

Many of our children will have a page of a reading passage that they practice daily.  This is to improve fluency.  We “cold” read it one day, practice it daily at school and at home, and then “hot” read it 4 or 5 days later.  (A cold read is the 1st time a child sees the passage.)  This passage needs to be read every night at home.

Math facts memorization is another activity that parents can work on at home.  Children that have not memorized their math facts will most likely score poorly on timed tests.

Help your children to understand that they play a part in this also.  They are responsible for paying close attention to everything that happens in class.  They must ask questions when they do not understand something.

We will monitor things closely on this end and ask that you do the same at home.

We would love to hear your comments about homework.  Please take the time to write down some of your thoughts or call and share them.  If you will, toward the end of the school year, please let us hear from you again about how you believe this went.  Al least for now, you can enjoy the ballgames, playing outside, etc. without the guilt of “not enough time in the day”.

Thank you for your strong support of our school.  Looking forward to hearing from you!


  

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