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Home Study -- A Copy of the Parent Notice

At Home Study

Parent's and Guardians will receive this notice by the middle of September. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me at school. Below is the opening page of the notice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Parents or Guardians

The purpose of this notice is to form a stronger link between work done at home and classroom work, and the relationship between parents, students and school work. This and other information is posted on my web site at https://kingerbc.tripod.com/. You will find more in-depth information regarding student, parent and teacher expectations as well as important dates for our class and links to fun, child safe sites and the Burnaby School District web site.

Firstly, let me say that as a general rule I do not assign homework. That is to say that I do not assign separate work specifically for home study. Generally speaking, any homework your child brings home is work that was assigned and taught in the classroom. Secondly, generally speaking, time is given in class to complete all or most of the work that is assigned. Finally, please remember that if your child is coming from grade three last year, there are 30% more students in the class this year and consequently far less time to ask the teacher questions and get individual support. Your child's ability to attend to instructions and focus on school work in class will be very important factors this year.

Work done at home does not just supplement the classroom lessons, but also teaches students to be independent learners. Home study gives students experience in following directions, making judgments and comparisons, raising additional questions for study, and, most importantly, developing the life skills of responsibility and self-discipline

To help foster your child's independence and self-discipline it is important to set aside at least 30 minutes per day, five days a week of at home study time, Monday through Friday, for home study. (Please note that this is a general average and may be more or less depending on your child's ability to focus on tasks during class time. As a general rule, other than corrections and on occasion, I usually don't assign work that might require weekend time until the third term, after Spring Break. Other teachers may assign homework that requires time on the weekends.)

This at home study time should be utilized everyday, even when no specific homework needs to be done for that day. (This may help avoid those "I have no homework today" days.)

A routine of home study can enable your child to achieve their very best, and will become an essential part of their learning in the coming years, especially in high school.

Please take the time with your child to plan when it is best to block in at least 30 minutes of home study per day. Blank schedules are provided on the attached sheet. It should be the same time each separate day of the week (i.e. 5:00 every Mon.,7:30 every Tues. and so on) and not necessarily the same time every day of the week. It is the routine of a schedule rather than the time of day that is important.I know that there may be many other activities that your child or children may need to schedule around.

I also realize that there will be exceptions and that there may be days when it is not possible to have your child study for 30 minutes, but from my own classroom and personal experience,too many exceptions often ends up making the rule. I hope the following suggestions are helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this notice please do not hesitate to call me at school (664-8758) between 08:00 - 16:00.

Sincerely,



Mr. King