Homework
Homework
Each child in Phase 3 has a red homework book. Homework is given out on Wednesdays. Every child is expected to complete a maths and a literacy activity in their homework book and return their book to school by the following Monday. At least 5 times each week the children are also expected to read at home, practice their times tables and Rocket words. Each time they practice these they are to colour in a star featured at the top of the homework sheet page.
Every time a child completes and hands in their homework they will receive an additional star. The children who complete their homework every week to gain 30 stars will have the opportunity to take part in an end of year treat.
Copies of all the homework set for 2010/11 are available from your child's class teacher. Do encourage your child to catch up on any missing homeworks before it's too late!
We hope that by sharing activities at home your child will be encouraged to:
- Enjoy learning
- Work independently
- Be responsible
- Show an increased interest in learning.
Encourage your child to use the Learning Zone for further activities.
Children in Key Stage 2 need to keep up the habit of reading regularly. Your child has been issued with a yellow reading diary which needs to go home each night and brought back into school everyday. Children should read every night and have their reading diary signed by an adult. Children don't just have to read their library book - it can be the newspaper, tv guide, comic etc.
If your child is still getting to grips with de-coding skills (e.g. breaking up words, using letter sounds, making guesses to fit the sense of the sentence etc.) then reading to you will give him/her plenty of practice in this. But don't let it feel like a test. If your child gets stuck then simply say what the problem word is and move on.
As your child becomes fluent he/she will still gain enormously if you continue to read together. Maintain an interest and discuss your child's choice of books. Think together about the plot, the characters, the facts (if it's an information book) and swap thoughts about what you're reading. You can do this with any of the books your child reads - not just his/her 'school reading book'.
Above all enjoy books together. And remember, no primary school child is ever too old to enjoy being read to. Ten to fifteen minutes a night will be truly valuable and will certainly make a difference to your child's progress in school.
Practising number facts frequently makes them stick for good.
Spend time revising addition and subtraction facts, e.g. pairs of numbers that total 10, 20 or 100.
Practise times table facts. Help your child to see the patterns in the multiplication tables. Start with 2's, 5's and 10's, then progress to the 3's, 4's and 9's and only think about the rest when these are truly secure.
Details of number facts and multiplication tables for children in Year 3 and 4 are available in the Mathematics Facts Booklet. Try to keep it all fun!
Spellings for year 3 & 4 are covered through our Reading Rockets scheme - Blast of to Reading. Spellings are split into groups of words named after planets which get progressively harder. All Children have a green Reading Rocket booklet which goes home every Friday with the homework folder. Encourage your child to spend time learning these words and they will be tested weekly in school. When satisfied that a child can spell all the words in a group, the teacher will sign their certificate and children can then move onto the next planet.
A useful routine we encourage for learning spelling is Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check.
Look at the word ~ Say the word ~ Cover the word ~ Write the word ~ Check.
It helps children to say the word as they write it. The final check is important of course. If the word has been written incorrectly, notice the bits that are correct and then try again... Please do help your child by checking spellings with them. It's best to notice slips sooner rather than later.
Our homework projects
You will be kept informed by your class teacher on up and coming homework projects. These will be based around designing energy saving inventions, setting up ‘apprentice style’ mini enterprises and projects based around our ‘take one book’ initiative.