Homework+&+Practices



__Homework & Practices__ What is the meaning and purpose of homework? Does it really help your students make progress in your class? How do can I get my child to overcome the "Homework Blues"? media type="youtube" key="LTkGg_IZECE" height="315" width="560" align="center"

There are two definitions for the term "homework". The most common that we say to our children or students is, school work that a student is required to do at home. But have you ever told them that homework is work or study done in preparation for a certian event or situation.

One of the benefits of doing homework is it gives children the opportunity to enhance their abilities to reach a higher level. They can practice, review and apply any knowledge they contain. According to research Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock's book indicated students need to practice a skill 24 times to reach 80% competency, with the first four practices yielding the greatest effect.

One of the websites I looked over and explored is called Homework Hub. They offer multiple opportunities for your children to practice homework skills and to expand their knowledge to the next level. One of the practices I tried out was called "Vocabulary Quiz". They give you ten questions to answer; you fill in the blank within the sentence that provides the correct spelling of the word. Examples:  9.) I've __ out swimming in the lake.   a) bean   b) bin   c) bine   d) been   The correct answer would be "d"   "I've been out swimming in the lake."    Also, on Homework Hub, they have ways to help boost your children's vocabulary skills. The saying they use is "For your vocabulary to grow bigger and stronger, you have to feed it daily with new words."   [|Homework Hub]

Another website I looked at is called FlashcardExchange. This is where students of all ages can go online and create their own unlimited amount of flashcards and share them with friends through the internet. **Features:**  Create an unlimited number of flashcards. [|Flashcard Exchange]
 * Create flashcards in any language.
 * Share your flashcards with everyone on the internet.
 * Import flashcards from text files, Microsoft Excel and other sources.
 * Create flashcards with images. Currently jpegs can be used for image flashcards.
 * Create audio flashcards. Currently mp3 files can be used for audio flashcards.
 * Include a “hint” to assist in the study process.
 * Create three-sides flashcards.
 * See the flashcard creation help pages for more information.

The last website I looked into is called Brain POP. This offers hundreds of videos to teach children about all varieties of subjects that they may be learning about in school. Once a child is finished with their homework this is a great practice to help reinforce the material they've just learned. The following video helps to teach about cells.... media type="youtube" key="GDSpGGufMNU" height="315" width="420" align="center"

[|Brain POP]

As you can see, homework can be taken from dull and boring to fun and exciting all thanks to the internet. Our generation is very technilogical and we rely heavly upon to help us in our everday lives, but it can be used to advance the homework department within the classroom. Taken from an artical by the [|Confidence Bound] website; What are the pros of homework? Reviewing material covered during the day can help students to better retain new information, and to explore a subject more fully than classroom time permits. Homework also encourages students to study independently, and to learn how to use outside resources such as the library, reference materials and the Internet to do research. Homework helps to enhance a child's skills and to reinforce material.