Type of homework

What your child does

……….and what you could do

Learning

Here the task is to remember certain words, facts, details or rules.

Question and/or test.

Completing

Work already started in school is to be finished at home.

Look at the whole piece of work and perhaps make helpful comments. 
Ask what the task is about.

Writing-up

Your child will use homework time to write about work done in school or write a finished version of rough work done in school.

Again look at the whole piece or even better, talk about it briefly first to jog his/her memory. 

Questions

Answering questions after a lessons work.

Check the answers.  Do they appear to contain the exact information wanted in the question? 

Finding out

Searching for information on a given subject. 

Part of this homework might be done in the Library in the pupil’s own time.

Don’t do too much for him/her here!

But do encourage and help if he/she gets stuck.

It is obviously better to suggest where he/she might find the information rather than find it for him/her. 

Reading

Usually a passage of some pages from a book, or a set time will be given for reading.

Try to build up a general reading habit at home.  If everyone reads then the homework becomes a natural activity.  Why not hear your child read aloud? 

Revision

Learning a section of work for a test or examination.

Get your child to explain the work to you.  You can ask questions, when he/she is ready and even ‘mark’ the answers if you like. 

Reading ahead

Reading on ahead to get some idea of what is yet to be done.

Be aware of what your child is doing in the subject at the moment; be interested in what he/she has found out.

Preparation

Here the pupil is asked to prepare for a lesson to come by making notes or sketching ideas on paper, collecting ingredients or resource material.

Suggest a starting point.  Once finished, ask him/her to read the work to you.

Even if it is ‘rough work’ the rules of spelling and punctuation still apply.

Check against any lists.  Monitor the quality of presentation. 

Coursework

Researching/investigating a topic and presenting findings

Initially talk through the brief and suggest starting points.  Help to sift through and organise information.  Prompt to ensure work is adequately focused.  Monitor presentation.

Designing

Generating a range of solutions in response to a given situation

Act as devil’s advocate – “How will that work?”.  “How will it join together? 
Test the pupil’s depth of thinking.