HOMEWORK POLICY

Homework policy:

Mr. Gonzenbach and I thought it would be helpful to write out our homework policy to avoid any confusion.

Believe it or not, most recent studies have shown that homework which is overly elaborate and/or repetitive squashes the student’s (especially the gifted student's) love of learning and interest in the subject matter. Specifically, studies have shown that any gains in achievement that homework may facilitate are undone if the student spends more than 1 hour per night on homework.

Thus, our policy is to keep homework minimal and meaningful. Homework should never take more than 20 minutes per subject, per night, and most assignments will take 5-10 minutes. In addition, students will never have more than two homework assignments per night, plus reading. Any long-term, ongoing projects, such as Science projects, book reports, Social Studies research papers, etc, may or may not be included in the nightly assignments; but it is our intention that students never work for more than an hour in a night on homework.

Mr. Gonzenbach and I will be working together to designate certain nights for each subject. An example might be, Spelling homework is always on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This will help you to have an idea of what homework your child might have on a given night. It will also help Mr.. G. and me not to overload students with too much homework in a night. I’ll share those details with you as soon as possible.


Please note:
If your child is struggling with a particular assignment, please let me know. Students don’t generally volunteer that they had trouble with an assignment on the previous night's homework and if the assignment comes back completed and looking good, with no note from you, we can only assume all was well. If your child is struggling and just does not understand something, that is vital information for us to know. Please just draw a line after 20 minutes. Working on a homework assignment "until it’s done, no matter what” can be much more damaging than helpful. I greatly appreciate your assistance on this.


As a parent, I know that there are family activities which occur on a particular evening each week. Often, a family activity suddenly "comes up". It is certainly understandable that these activities could preclude homework completion. If you could please let me know what days your child has scheduled after school activities; or, if an unexpected activity has prevented your child from doing the homework, then please send me a note regarding this. I greatly appreciate it!


Hopefully, all of the above clears up any questions you might have regarding what homework will be like this year. If you have further questions, please let me know. I am available via e-mail:bgseabury@yahoo.com or at school: 253-952-3111. My blog is up and running at: http:// seaburyexplorers.blogspot.com and as soon as I get a new section of my new "Explorer" class on the

I look forward to a very successful year with you and your Explorer.