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Homework Folders - This is a great strategy for helping children develop responsibility and for encouraging a strong home/school partnership. First, let each child decorate the outside of a pocket folder. Have them trace around their "left" hand on the left pocket. At the end of each day children put completed work in that pocket and it is "left" at home. Have them trace around their "right" hand on the right pocket. Homework sheets, permission slips, and other papers to be returned "right" back to school are put in that pocket.
Homework Folders
Left and Right
Use a weekly homework sheet similar to the one below.
From a teacher's
standpoint, this
is convenient because after you fill it out and put it in the child's folder
on Monday,
you don't have to worry about homework the rest of the week. From a parent's
standpoint it's also fantastic because you can clearly see what skills
children are working on and keep up daily.
For younger children avoid "paper
- pencil" homework
and focus on activities where children and their parents have quality time,
such as reading, saying
nursery rhymes, etc.
(Check out May,
2004 for parent/child interactive
activities.)
Hint! Save the weekly homework sheets in
the children's permanent folders and give
parents feedback at conference time.
Home/School Weekly Journal - Each Friday afternoon have children write
a letter to
their parents about something special they learned or did at school
that week. The
parents write a response to their child over the weekend. On Monday
morning children
can share their parent's notes with classmates.