What Does Homework Look Like at iLEAD?

by Kendra Scanlon, 4th Grade Facilitator

Have you ever heard there is no homework at iLEAD? We as a school community would like to clarify what this means. At iLEAD we do not have “traditional” homework. We do not send home packets on Monday and expect them to come back Friday. However, your partnership and support at home are an essential element in our iLEAD culture and your child’s success.

You can support your child’s learning at home in a variety of ways. One way is to read together every night. This a great way to spend time together and is extremely beneficial to your child’s growth in school. A study by Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) shows that a child who reads 20 minutes every night will read 1,800,000 words. The study also shows that a child who reads one minute every night will learn 8,000 words. These words are the difference between the 90th percentile and the 10th percentile of learning outcomes.

There are many math games that can be played at home, especially practicing math facts to develop number fluency. Khan Academy and BrainPop are also great online resources. We also strongly encourage you to help your children to research and read through information that relates to the projects they are working on in class. This forms new questions that your child will be thrilled to bring to class and share. Having an engaging conversation with you about different topics is invaluable and expands your child’s thinking. Here is a great article about developing critical thinking skills.

Learning does not stop when school gets out. Develop a plan with your facilitator that works for your family and ask what you can do to support learning at home. Let’s redefine homework together!