What about homework for the younger students...

Hey again,
So last time I talked about my philosophy of homework and how I assigned homework to the middle school students that I taught.
Today lets talk about the younger grade levels.  Again I think the most important thing that each teacher must do before assigning homework is to develop a philosophy, a reason for assigning homework.  Sometimes schools/administrators require teachers to assign homework...but teachers still must decide what the purpose of the homework is.
Why assign?  One purpose of homework could be to develop fluency and automaticity, this is vital in the math world!  Students need to be able to recall developmentally appropriate facts.  For example kindergarten and first grade students could be assigned dot patterns cards to allow them to subitize numbers. This is a very important skill to be able to visually recognize numbers. Subitizing is a building block of addition, subtraction and multiplication. 1st and 2nd graders could be assigned addition and subtraction basic fact flash cards for home work, while 3rd and 4th graders could use multiplication flash cards.  Teachers should clearly communicate to parents the expectations and different ideas for using flash cards.  For example teachers could assign one or two related facts and parents with students could go through the cards the first time making two piles: "I know it", "I need to work on it".  The parents/students could then find creative ways to only review the "work on it pile".
Another purpose for homework could be to encourage family involvement in math. For this type of homework several grade level teachers could work together to create these assignment. An example of this type of homework might be for each family to choose their favorite meal/dessert and write out the recipe.  The students could record each ingredient and the amount needed.  Then the students could write out a set of step by step directions. (Works great for ELA).  A fun thing to do is to have the parents follow the directions the student has written.  An activity for older students is to take the recipe and determine the needed ingredients if the recipe were doubled, tripled or even halved. Another family math activity could be to record measurements of room sizes and draw rooms using school measures. Family participation is the key to such assignments. Family assignments are not necessarily every night activities.  Grade levels could develop a calendar of activities and help the families develop portfolios of completed projects.
The bottom line....homework needs to have a developmental purpose and should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER be busy work!  If it is not something that you would want your own child to do...then don't assign it!  Keep in mind many parents are stressed by their own work....home should be a safe haven...know your philosophy before you assign anything....
Until next time....
Wendy